After the passage of the Customs Management Bill in the House of Assembly Thursday night, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has warned that there will be a national crackdown on the sale of counterfeits and pirated goods.
The new Customs legislation bolsters the power of the agency to seize counterfeits at border entry points.
Straw vendors’ excuses that they should be allowed to sell counterfeit products seeing as they were imported into the country legally, are put to rest.
“No one will be able to argue anymore that, ‘you collected my Customs duty and now you say I can’t sell them’. They (Customs) will have the power when they arrive to confiscate them or alternatively, if they find them subsequently, to detain them and dispose of them,” said Ingraham Thursday night in the House.
“And so people ought to be warned – The Bahamas seeks to become a lawful state insofar as copyright is concerned from (items) being imported into The Bahamas.” Mr Ingraham did not address the rampant lawlessnes in virtually every other sector of society.
The straw market is one of several sites in The Bahamas where counterfeit goods are openly sold.
The new law would put in place a mechanism blocking the entry of these goods, including pirated DVDs and music.
It is assumed that Super Video, the store that made millions selling pirated movies will remain doing so.
