Queensland Marine Industry Fights Back On Grey Imports

The marine industry in Queensland is hitting back hard at those intent of seeking to undermine an important industry in this state. There has been much hype about grey and parallel imports of supposedly cheap product into the local market. But the reality to the hype when put under the microscope is a very different story.
Marine Queensland has initiated a three pronged campaign against the hype and misinformation to ensure consumer’s interests are protected and that the industry is not damaged by those interested in a quick buck at the expense of long-term industry participants.

The campaign focuses on three contexts:

•  Compliance;
•  Education and awareness; and
•  Regulatory reform.

Compliance
Products are manufactured to comply for the markets for which they were intended. Therefore products manufactured for an overseas market needs to be bought into compliance when imported into Australia. Examples of common issues include electrical compliance, gas and refrigeration compliance, c-tick compliance, Australian Builders Plate compliance as well as compliance with the Australian Design rules for trailers. A further significant issue is compliance with the new Australian consumer laws that came into force in January 2011, particularly in respect to product liability. Marine Queensland has commenced a program of making formal complaints to relevant authorities to ensure that issues that authorised suppliers routinely comply with also apply to importers of overseas products.

Education and Awareness
A program of consumer education and awareness on the pros and cons of importing products themselves and issues to look out for on imported products. Many consumers are led to believe that vast savings are to be made from grey and parallel imports, which is often far from the truth. Some specific initiatives that have commenced include the publication of a brochure which is provided to dealers and brokers and distributed at boat shows to the boating public, commencement of a series of talks and presentations to boat clubs, dealer nights, community groups and at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show and the Superyacht Conference. In addition to this local campaigns are being implemented in regional areas with advertisements in the local press.

Regulatory Reforms
In our discussions with government we have also identified a number of regulatory anomalies that the motor vehicle industry, agricultural sector and some other industry sectors enjoy, yet do not apply to the marine industry. A number of proposals are currently in development and negotiation to address the specific anomalies that have been identified. Like most forms of regulatory reform, it will take time, however as these reforms materialise it will further support the ongoing growth and development of the Australian industry in the global market. Similar reforms have in many cases already been implemented in some of our overseas competitors.

The Marine Queensland Board has decided to tackle this problem head on and dedicate significant resources to protecting the interests of its members. A situation where non-compliant product is flooding the market, the boating public is being subject to deliberate prejudice which damages the image and reputation of the industry as well as the industry being overtly disadvantaged and many fly-by-nighters who are seeking a free ride is intolerable.

As a result we have deliberately embarked on a campaign that takes a zero tolerance approach to those who knowingly seek to advantage their own personal interests over that of the industry.  We have heard many of the spurious arguments advanced by those advocating the grey and parallel option. The test of those arguments is progressively unrolling as compliance with existing laws is being applied let alone the future reforms in the pipeline.

Marine Queensland has also teamed up with an alliance of like minded organisations addressing some of these issues. These include the Boating Industries Alliance Australia (BIAA) and the National Retail Association. With the appointment of Nik Parker as GM at the BIAA and his significant international experience in the marine industry we are also seeking to leverage key national organisations in this fight. The National Retail Association too has an active campaign on foot which also has many synergies with the marine industry campaign.

We are confident that this campaign will make a real difference to ensuring that both the consumer and industry interests are protected.