The Copyright Amendment Act and Trade Marks Amendment Act, which came into force recently, give increased powers of search and seizure to the New Zealand Customs Service and the National Enforcement Unit of the Ministry of Economic Development in respect of counterfeit and pirated goods. The increased powers will allow Customs to seize goods at the border without a warrant where Customs staff reasonably believe that those goods are relevant to investigating offences under the Trade Marks or Copyright Acts and will allow the National Enforcement Unit to investigate goods that are being offered for sale in a public place and to seize any counterfeit or pirate goods.
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