SECU Committee Report

RECOMMENDATION 1

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada designate the Minister of Public Safety as the minister responsible for the Canadian strategy to combat the counterfeiting of goods.

RECOMMENDATION 2

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada create a committee composed of assistant deputy ministers and chaired by the assistant deputy minister of Public Safety to develop a coordinated strategy to fight counterfeit goods. This committee must also be charged with coordinating the strategy.

RECOMMENDATION 3

The Committee recommends that the Interdepartmental Intellectual Property Working Group submit its recommendations on how the Government of Canada should respond to the threat of counterfeit goods to the Minister of Public Safety, before October 2007.

RECOMMENDATION 4

The Committee recommends that the Trade-marks Act be amended to include a criminal remedy similar to that provided for in the Copyright Act, prohibiting anyone from knowingly engaging in counterfeiting by manufacturing, reproducing, distributing, importing or selling counterfeit products.

RECOMMENDATION 5

The Committee recommends that the Trade-marks Act and the Copyright Act be amended to make it a criminal offence to knowingly possess counterfeit goods for the purpose of sale.

RECOMMENDATION 6

The Committee recommends that the Trade-marks Act and the Copyright Act be amended to formally prohibit the importation of counterfeit or pirated products into Canada. The penalties for this offence should be sufficiently severe to deter potential offenders and neutralize convicted offenders. The government should also provide harsher sentences for repeat offenders.

RECOMMENDATION 7

The Committee recommends that the Regulations Excluding Certain Indictable Offences from the Definition of "Designated Offence" (Proceeds of Crime) be amended to allow the police to seize income and property derived from copyright piracy.

RECOMMENDATION 8

The Committee recommends that the mandate of the Canada Border Services Agency be expanded to permit border officers to conduct searches and to seize counterfeit or pirated goods, and to impound such goods and destroy them in accordance with due process and Canadian law.

RECOMMENDATION 9

The Committee also recommends that the Government of Canada allocate additional financial and human resources to enable the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to perform these new functions.

RECOMMENDATION 10

The Committee recommends that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) adopt regulations to facilitate the detection of counterfeit or pirated goods in accordance with due process and Canadian law.

RECOMMENDATION 11

The Committee recommends that the federal government amend the Customs Act to permit information to be exchanged between Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers and intellectual property owners affected by counterfeiting and piracy. The new powers should enable the CBSA to establish a registration system that intellectual property owners could use to register their rights with the CBSA. The Act should also allow intellectual property owners to alert the CBSA when they suspect that counterfeit or pirated goods are being shipped to Canada.

RECOMMENDATION 12

The Committee recommends the allocation of additional financial and human resources to the appropriate departments and agencies to allow them to take effective action against counterfeiting and piracy.

RECOMMENDATION 13

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada institute a campaign to raise awareness of counterfeit and pirated goods to make the public aware of the economic and social costs associated with this scourge, and emphasize the public health and safety hazards they represent. The campaign should also raise Canadians’ awareness of the involvement of organized crime in the counterfeiting and piracy of goods.

RECOMMENDATION 14

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada develop a monitoring mechanism that can be used to collect, analyze and disseminate information about counterfeiting and piracy in Canada.