INDUSTRY INSIDER: GERARD EMERY
D-Photo: For those who don’t know, what
role do you play in the industry?
Gerard Emery: I am the managing director of
CR Kennedy (CRK) and have been in this seat
for 14 years. We import and distribute a wide
range of products in different industries and
represent some top brands of photographic
products.
I am also the chairman of the Photographic
Industry Association (PIA), and work on ways
to grow and support the local industry.
What are the biggest changes the
industry is currently dealing with?
The biggest change the industry is going
through is fraudulent parallel imports — ones
that are coming in undervalued to try and
bypass GST. This is squeezing the lifeblood
from the industry and the retailers, and leaving
consumers vulnerable, with no recourse in the
case of faulty product. While consumers may
think they are saving a dollar or two by simply
seeing the non-payment of GST as a discount,
they are in fact losing the protections afforded
to them by government regulations that were
put in place to safeguard them.
Do you have a position regarding parallel
imports of photographic products?
Since 1988, parallel importing has been
legal, and it can only be described as a good
thing for the country, allowing customers to
buy a wider range of products and creating
healthy competition among the registered
distributors. It has kept everyone honest.
There are, however, rogue traders who import
product into New Zealand as new or thegenuine product when it clearly is not. Trying
to get any form of support from these overseas
companies can end in tears.
Unfortunately, we have noticed a huge growth
in the number of overseas companies and
some in New Zealand, outside of our local
industry, falsifying their import documents to
bypass paying GST on the import of the goods.
Consumers see this as cheap pricing, and I believe
that many are unaware that it is even happening.
A $4K local product could cost $3400 if GST is
excluded. That’s a $600 saving, and it puts the
government out of pocket. Those who are GST
registered get this money back anyway.
What responsibility do you see online
marketplaces, such as Trade Me, having
regarding this issue?
Trade Me makes money out of these fraudulent
traders. Every time someone purchases a
product through Trade Me, the company
takes a commission. We have been liaising with
Trade Me on this for some time now and it is
wilfully blind, because of the financial benefit
of these rogue accounts. We believe that
Trade Me and the others have a duty of care to
ensure that all their advertisers are complying
with the trading laws of New Zealand.
The harm done by this is multifaceted. It
significantly impacts not only on honest, law-
abiding companies but on all the retailers,
and their families, who are missing out on this
business. It affects many industries, including
apparel, sports equipment, and automotive, to
name a few.
Ideally, what would you like to see done
about GST-dodging importers?INDUSTRY INSIDER