A JIMBOOMBA bookseller has welcomed the competition policy review's recommendation to remove restrictions on parallel imports.
The current law prevents retailers from importing books published overseas if an Australian edition of the title exists.
That Book Place owner Christina Graham said the laws meant customers could purchase books from overseas web sites for a fraction of the cost in store.
"I frequently have customers in here saying 'I could buy it online cheaper'," she said.
"People come in here and take photographs of the ISBN numbers on the back of the book.
"It would be nice to be able to be competitive."
Ms Graham said she was unable to make a profit selling new books and relied on second-hand books to keep her business viable.
"If this bookstore just relied on new books I would have closed ages ago," she said.
Ms Graham said the current trade restrictions did little to protect Australian authors as the publishing industry had changed so dramatically.
"A lot of Australian writers are not getting a good deal from their publishers so a lot of writers are independently published," she said.
She said any change to the parallel import laws would have to ensure protections for the Australian industry.
"I support changes if it means that the readers in our country can get their hands on comparatively priced books," she said.
"But I wouldn't want it to happen at the cost of our local market, a lot of our authors are doing it hard."
The review was commissioned by the Abbott government to investigate competition policy.
Authored by professor Ian Harper, the review outlined 56 recommendations to reinvigorate the economy.
