Frequently Asked Questions - The Relationship Between a Convention
on Cultural Diversity and International Trade Rules
1. What is cultural diversity?
Cultural diversity reflects the multiplicity and interaction of the cultures
which co-exist in the world and which therefore form part of the common
heritage of humanity. It involves on one hand the preservation and promotion
of existing cultures and on the other openness to other cultures. The
Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity adopted by UNESCO in November
2001 deals with cultural diversity in a wide variety of contexts and the
International Network on Cultural Policy (INCP) draft Convention on Cultural
Diversity would provide for cooperation among the parties on a number
of these issues.
Its binding and enforceable provisions would specifically cover one important
dimension of that broad definition: diversity of cultural expression,
that is diversity in the creation, as well as the production, distribution,
communication, exhibition and sale of cultural content, whatever its medium
or form, existing or to be invented. The proposed Convention does not
cover measures, such as agricultural policies, that do not involve cultural
expression through cultural content
2. What would a convention on cultural diversity do?
The convention would re-affirm the right of states to take measures to
preserve and promote cultural diversity, provide a basis for enhanced
international cooperation in exercising those rights and, through the
creation of obligations between signatories, enhance the transparency
of cultural policies, their objectives and their development.
The Convention would also serve as a point of reference for other international
organizations, including those dealing with international trade negotiations.
It would highlight the policy space governments' need to preserve and
promote cultural diversity through the elaboration of rights and obligations,
with binding provisions for measures with respect to the creation, production,
distribution, communication, exhibition, and sale of cultural content.
It could thus contribute to coherence between the objectives of preserving
and promoting cultural diversity and the on-going processes of trade liberalization.
In doing so, the Convention would fill the vacuum that currently exists,
from the perspective of cultural diversity, in international governance
regarding international cultural policy cooperation and rights and obligations.
It would address the international implications of domestic cultural policies
designed to respond to the challenges and opportunities raised by new
technologies and globalization, and to the specific challenges faced by
developing countries. It would also help countries ensure that they retain
the ability to undertake needed cultural policies in other international
fora, in particular in trade agreements.
3. Why do cultural goods and services need special treatment under domestic
policy or an international Convention?
It is now widely accepted that cultural diversity is part of the common
heritage of humanity and that the production and availability of a diversity
of cultural goods and services from domestic and foreign sources brings
positive externalities, that is, social and cultural benefits beyond the
purely commercial value of those goods and services. It is for this reason
that UNESCO's Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, for example,
recognizes that cultural goods and services should not be treated simply
as commodities or consumer goods. Ministers participating in INCP discussions
have considered the ways in which cultural diversity contributes to social
cohesion, to the vitality of democracy, and to the identity of peoples,
all essential components of social and economic development.
Governments therefore must foster a wide availability of diverse cultural
content. An effective international framework would ensure that their
international rights, and obligations under international agreements accommodate
and support their ability to realise domestically the benefits of cultural
diversity.
4. Why should a Convention be developed in UNESCO?
With its longstanding cultural mandate, its expertise in cultural diversity
and its universal character, UNESCO is the appropriate institution to
develop an international cultural policy framework. The framework of a
UNESCO Convention would also serve as a point of reference in the WTO
and other international fora to strengthen the capacity of the international
system as a whole to bring coherence to distinct but interconnected policy
objectives.
5. Would the Convention permit protectionist measures?
The logic of the Convention is to equip governments with an international
framework to ensure that a diversity of cultural goods and services, both
domestic and foreign, are created and available to their publics. Cultural
diversity by definition assumes that there is access to diverse cultural
content, both domestic and foreign. It is not designed to restrict international
trade in cultural content.
Governments would be assured that they retained access to the policy
tools necessary to promote the production and availability of domestic
content to their own citizenry. Cooperation under the Convention could
also help governments make the best use of those tools, and, in addressing
the particular needs of developing countries, improve the capacity of
those countries to make use of them. The resulting enhancement of production
and distribution would therefore add to the diversity of cultural content
available both domestically and internationally. The proposed Convention,
moreover, provides specifically for cooperation in increasing the diversity
of cultural content circulating in international cultural exchange.
The draft Convention is founded on the principle of balance between the
right to promote the production of, and access to, domestic cultural content
with an obligation to remain open to cultural content from other countries.
The Convention would in this way provide a framework for the policies
that are needed to preserve and promote cultural diversity, and not a
carte blanche for any kind of measure with any kind of motive.
6. If one of the goals is to enhance international exchange of diverse
cultural goods and services, why shouldn't countries simply be liberalizing
the cultural sector under the WTO or other trade agreements?
Because of the particular characteristics of domestic and global markets
in the creation, production, distribution, communication, exhibition and
sale of cultural content, specific cultural policies are often required
to promote cultural diversity. These characteristics create such challenges
to diversity as the distortions resulting from high levels of concentration
in industries involved in the production and distribution of content;
differing levels of access to economies of scale because of population
size or language; the lack of capacity in developing countries to commercially
develop and promote their creative talent; or the ability of established
producers to sell distribution rights to audiovisual content at low cost
in foreign markets once production costs have been recouped in domestic
markets. These and many other dynamics that are particular to cultural
markets require regulatory, institutional and financial measures to ensure
the availability of diverse domestic and foreign content.
Making binding market access or national treatment commitments could
result in the loss of the ability to maintain or introduce the kinds of
measures required to address the particular dynamics of cultural markets.
This is particularly the case for developing countries which may not,
at present, have extensive cultural policies but which, through making
binding market access commitments, could lose the ability to introduce
them in the future once they have the capacity to do so. The result could
therefore be a reduction, rather than an increase, in the diversity of
the goods and services available for international exchange.
7. If countries wish to retain cultural policy space, why do they not
simply take advantage of the flexibility of the GATS and not schedule
commitments that conflict with their cultural policies?
It is important to note that it is not just the GATS that could affect
cultural policy measures. With WTO consideration of such issues as investment
and competition on the horizon, both of which could affect cultural policy
measures, it is clear that the challenge of maintaining cultural policy
space extends beyond the services disciplines of the GATS and into other
WTO agreements. Indeed, the same challenges are present for other regional
and bilateral negotiations and agreements. A Convention would provide
an international point of reference on cultural policy that could be put
to use to determine the appropriate treatment for cultural goods and services
as the rules-based international trading system evolves through bilateral,
regional and multilateral agreements.
The GATS does indeed have a certain flexibility. WTO Members can choose
those sectors in which to schedule market access and national treatment
commitments, and can choose the extent of their commitments. Article XIX
of the GATS states that the "process of liberalization shall take
place with due respect for national policy objectives...," providing
WTO Members with the ability to ensure that domestic cultural policy objectives
are reflected in their commitments or absence of commitments in their
GATS schedules. Moreover, the INCP draft would not remove the cultural
services or audiovisual services sectors from the scope of the GATS, nor
would it alter the horizontal Most Favoured Nation (MFN) and transparency
obligations for any services.
In other words, a Convention on Cultural Diversity would provide a new
forum of multilateral cooperation, consultation, and of rights and obligations
among parties that would allow signatories to be better informed as they
engage in the domestic decision-making envisaged under Article XIX.
8. How would this Convention relate to other international treaties?
The proposed Convention would be developed from a cultural perspective
and take its place alongside other international agreements and treaties.
As noted above, it would serve as a point of reference to strengthen the
ability of the international system as a whole to achieve coherence between
the goal of promoting cultural diversity and other public policy goals
such as trade policy. Therefore, it will be necessary to ensure the proper
articulation between this convention and other international agreements,
including the WTO.
9. What provisions does the draft convention make for the promotion
of cultural diversity in developing and least developed countries?
Social cohesion, affirmation of national identity and promotion of peaceful
coexistence are integral to cultural diversity. The convention attempts
to address these issues by encouraging developing and least developed
countries to develop and implement policies, and creating a forum for
developed countries to assist them in this endeavor.
Cultural goods and services from developing and least developed countries'
difficulty in penetrating developed country markets is acknowledged through
the convention's encouragement of balance and openness. Developed country
parties will place strong emphasis on facilitating the access of cultural
content from developing and least developed countries to their territories,
by giving them and their cultural industries, professionals in the field
of arts and culture, and cultural institutions such beneficial treatment
as may be possible, including, if appropriate, national treatment.
The convention also recognizes that the situation in developing and least
developed countries necessitates maximum flexibility in the domestic implementation
of laws and regulations. It has the objective to reinforce international
cooperation and solidarity aimed at enabling developing and least developed
countries to preserve and promote cultural diversity and maintain cultural
industries that project their cultural expressions on their national territory
and throughout the world. To this end, the convention aims to promote
cooperation for the development and strengthening of resources and capacities
of developing and least developed countries in the preservation and promotion
of cultural diversity. This will be achieved through development cooperation
enabling technical assistance and capacity building. A Development Fund
would be established to ensure concrete cooperation for technical assistance
and capacity building in this regard.
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