§ Mr. HarrisTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what proposals he has for dealing with counterfeit goods and pirate tapes.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 already contains far-reaching provisions for dealing with counterfeit goods and pirate tapes. The Government are currently considering whether any new provisions are needed to strengthen the anti-counterfeiting measures introduced by that Act.
The Government also support the proposals to extend Council regulation (EEC) 3842/86, which already provides effective controls at the external borders of the EC against counterfeit goods, to cover goods that infringe copyright.
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§ Mr. HarrisTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will give trading standards officers power to seize counterfeit cassettes and goods under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.
§ Mr. McLoughlinTrading standards officers were empowered by section 300 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to enforce the new offences relating to counterfeit goods, where this entails the fraudulent application or use of a trade mark. There are no plans to extend these powers to tapes which infringe copyright but do not use a counterfeit trade mark.