Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

02 September 2012  

International Reputation Threatened by Trademark Breaches

New Zealand First is calling on the Government to take immediate action to protect our good name internationally in light of the serious trademark infringements in China.

Rt Hon Winston Peters says the New Zealand brand is being prostituted by the actions of unscrupulous China-based manufacturers.

“New Zealand First repeatedly warned of aspects about a Free Trade Agreement with China.

“One of our main concerns with the FTA was that a section of Chinese society does not respect international trade laws.

“That can be seen through China’s reputation as one of the leading countries for manufacturing fake goods which illegally use established international brand names.”

Mr Peters says it would be disastrous if any of these Chinese-made baby formulas falsely claiming to be made in New Zealand caused infants to become sick.

“You only have to look at the melamine scandal of 2008 to see the damage it could cause if New Zealand was linked in any way to the death or hospitalisation of children.”

ENDS

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