Cliff Brigstocke calls for action on book import debate

Printers are still at risk of losing out following the Productivity Commission’s Discussion Draft on the parallel imports of books, according to OPUS Print Group.

The Commission has put forward a draft recommendation to keep the current restrictions but to limit them to 12 months from the first publication of a book. This threatens a vital stream of revenue for Australian book printers who also print back catlogue titles.

Mike Woods, the Commission’s deputy chairman, believes that the decision not to alter the price paid for new-release books will have a positive flow-on effect to Australian authors and publishers.

“The changes will preserve some certainty for local publishers to market new books,” he said. “But the changes will also allow booksellers to seek out and import cheaper versions of ‘back list’ novels, texts and other books, to the benefit of book buyers.”

The contents of the Discussion Draft have been met with fierce opposition from members of the printing community.  Cliff Brigstocke (pictured), group CEO of OPUS Print Group is currently preparing a submission to both Printing Industries and the Commission which he intends lodging in the coming weeks.

Brigstocke believes that the Recommendation goes too far in addressing the concerns of some booksellers and consumer groups who believe that books in Australia are too expensive.

“We would rather have seen the 30-day rule in place for new publications applied equally to backlist publications,” he said.

“The Australian book printing industry is just as dependent upon the reprinting of existing publications as it is on printing new books, and now it looks as though this revenue stream of books published overseas and printed locally is in jeopardy.”

These thoughts were shared by Printing Industries CEO Philip Andersen, who said that the recommendations ignore the fact that no problem existed with the Parallel Import Restrictions (30-day rule) before this latest attempt by the federal government to railroad people into believing they had found a miracle cure for a non-existent condition.

 “What we need is a prescription to stimulate economic recovery and good health rather than the half-pregnant diagnosis proffered in this report,” he said.

Andersen noted that the Productivity Commission’s recommendation that parallel import restrictions apply for only 12 months would “have the effect of reducing the number of books printed in Australia, particularly reprints.”

The Commission is proposing that the impact of the changes be assessed in five year’s time and that better data on the books market be collected in the meantime. Submissions to be considered for the Commission’s Final Report close on 17 April.