ASGA highlights dangers of parallel importing

The Australian Sporting Goods Association (ASGA) believes Australian laws around trademark protection and parallel importing need to be fixed.

Australian Sporting Goods Association Executive Director Shannon Walker told Australasian Leisure Management "parallel importing is bad for Australian consumers, bad for Australian companies authorised to supply specific products and bad for retailers. We call on Labor and the Coalition to hold an enquiry into the dangers of parallel importing as part of their election commitments."

Parallel importation, also known as importing 'grey market goods', is a method where companies purchase products offshore "usually of an unknown provenance", according to Walker, from a non-authorised supplier.

The recent case involving Target selling 'grey market' MAC cosmetics, which have been alleged by Estee Lauder to actually be counterfeit, shows the dangers of parallel imports. While parallel importing is not currently illegal, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to determine if the grey-market goods are really genuine or if they are counterfeit.

Walker adds "companies that purchase from authorised suppliers know they are getting the real deal" and consumers can also be assured they are purchasing exactly what they expect. Companies purchasing from an un-authorised supplier often have no idea if they are getting genuine products or not, or from just where those products may have originated.

"If the goods are counterfeit, they can be potentially dangerous and almost certainly badly made, meaning that even if the unsuspecting consumer isn't potentially injured by those products once they use the goods, they still aren't getting what they paid for."

Parallel importing and counterfeiting are not the same. Parallel importing is currently legal, counterfeiting is not, but the fact is the two often go hand-in-hand, with a too-good-to-be-true story of goods being 'grey' only masking their counterfeit nature.

Walker continues "even when the goods aren't counterfeit, parallel importing hurts Aussie companies that have worked hard to secure distribution deals with international brands. There are a lot of international brands who don't set up their own companies in Australia. Rather, they authorise one or two companies to sell their products into Australian retailers. Every time a retailer purchases from a non-authorised supplier they are hurting those companies."

"Both the ALP and Coalition claim to care about the success of small business. Well, looking into how parallel importing hurts Australian business and consumers is one way both parties can really help those small businesses who try and do the right thing.

"On behalf of the sporting and active lifestyle goods industries I call on both parties to give an election commitment to fix Australia's parallel importing laws, starting with a bipartisan enquiry."

ASGA is a leading industry voice on issues impacting the health, trade, regulation and taxation of the sporting and active lifestyle industries. ASGA aims to foster market growth, provide services and advocate for increased participation in sport and physical activity.

Image: Counterfeit goods such as sporting shoes can closley resemble genuine products.

6th April 2013 - SPORTS LICENSING SHOW 2013 TO BRING TOGETHER MAJOR AUSTRALIAN SPORTING PROPERTIES