§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the meeting between the Minister of State for Industry and the hon. Member for Christchurch, together with a delegation from the Publishers' Association, concerning the problem of book piracy and its effects on the exports of British publishers.
§ Mr. Pattie:The Government have noted with concern, representations made at the meeting about the severe effects of book piracy in overseas markets. I stressed that we would continue to support the efforts of all sectors of industry to combat this sort of problem by pressing for comprehensive and enforceable copyright law in countries which lack it, and by participating in international initiatives against piracy and counterfeiting, for example, within the general agreement on tariffs and trade, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and the European Community.
I am concerned that our support should be as effective as possible and we shall be looking at ways in which it might be made more so. Industry can help by keeping us well-informed about the nature and scale of the problem and its effect on United Kingdom exports, and I was grateful for the evidence provided at the meeting.