International
Network for Cultural Diversity
Newsletter 14
October 2001
Following
is the press release sent out after the second conference of the INCD,
announcing the Lucerne Declaration which can be found on our redesigned web
site (still at ). The full report is being written
and will be disseminated among our members as well as posted on our web site
within the next few weeks.
International Network for Cultural Diversity
takes a step Towards a Global Cultural Pact
The
International Network for Cultural Diversity (INCD) emerged from its second
annual conference, Towards a Global Cultural Pact, with a declaration
calling for a global treaty on cultural diversity. The meeting, held in Lucerne Switzerland, regrouped artists and
their organizations from 35 countries.
Over the course of two days, discussion ranged from broad topics like
culture as an antidote to globalization, to the specifics of how to structure
an international culture treaty.
The
declaration which was delivered by INCD delegates to a parallel meeting of the
ministers of culture network, (the International Network for Cultural Policy),
called on national governments through their trade and culture ministers to
resist making any trade commitments which would impact on culture.
“Before we
discuss our ideas for the new instrument, let us make it clear that we continue
to insist governments must not make any commitments at the WTO or in bilateral
or multilateral trade negotiations that would restrict their ability to
implement or develop cultural policies.”
(The full text of the declaration on the INCD web site at www.incd.net.)
Thanks to
the support of two American foundations, the Rockefeller and Arts
International, about 30 participants from developing countries received support
to attend the conference. One of the funded
participants, Dr Mohan Agashe, Director of the Film and Television Institute of
India, noted in an aside about the nature of developing countries, that the US could also be called a
developing country since it was still developing its culture. The participation
of so many artists, producers and cultural workers from countries like the
Congo, Singapore, India and Thailand provided a detailed perspective on the
impact of globalization which had been absent from the first meeting of the
INCD held in Greece in the year 2000.
While many
who intended to travel to Switzerland had their plans interrupted by the
tragedy in the United States, those who did arrive insisted that the INCD’s
work of promoting communication among world cultures had assumed a new importance
and sense of urgency.
Hong‑Joon
Kim from the Coalition for Cultural Diversity in Moving Images spoke about how
Korean film makers had joined together to promote screen quotas so that
American films would not overrun their domestic market. Motivated at the outset simply to save their
jobs, the film makers have come to realize the importance of cultural diversity
at different levels. Coming from a
homogeneous society with a 5,000 year‑old culture, their advocacy work
has led them to realize how fruitful cultural exchange can be and how insights
from other cultural traditions can lend richness to their work. The advocacy
work done by the Coalition for Cultural Diversity in Moving Images has helped
the Korean trade minister, who had been apprehensive about reprisals from
trading partners, to marshal arguments in support of domestic screen quotas.
The Film
Commissioner for West cape, South Africa, Pinkie Mseleku spoke in support of
the cultural treaty by referring to the loss of identity South Africans
suffered under apartheid: “During times of upheaval, we look to the arts to
give normalcy to our lives,” she said.
Ms Mseleku believes the work of the INCD in developing international
consensus on the structure and content of a cultural treaty could be best
accomplished in Africa through a caucus of African nations. Similarly, other
conference participants spoke about the importance of activating their networks
at home to enlarge the discussion of the cultural treaty, including working
with organizations in other sectors such as the environment and social justice.
In
discussing where the cultural treaty might be housed, INCD members pondered the advisability of setting up a separate
body to administer the treaty, but opted instead to examine in the short
term the role that UNESCO might play,
urging it to become a more active participant in developing the treaty. The INCD summed up its message to UNESCO
this way:
“We are
committed to working with you but we need far more than a statement of
principles, we must establish a legal foundation for actions that promote
cultural diversity. Its scope must
extend beyond the arts and heritage, we are concerned about all aspects of
human culture, including mass media and popular culture, language, folklore and
cultural survival. But we must also remember we are discussing culture, not
science or agriculture.”
Mme
Katérina Stenou, UNESCO’s Director of Cultural Policy, attended the meeting and
will be taking the message from the INCD back to UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
Canadian
Heritage Minister Sheila Copps addressed the NGO group, expressing her support
for the NGO process and reiterating the commitment of the Canadian Government
to avoid any cultural commitment under the WTO. Ms Copps acknowledged that the cultural treaty should complement
the work of intergovernmental organizations like the United Nations and UNESCO,
but she did suggest that there might be a need for a new organization to focus
on strategic issues in the cultural sector, not limiting itself to trade issues
but also addressing capacity building and sustainable development.
As the
meeting drew to a close, the INCD adopted a plan of action for the next year.
“We will
take these principles of a new instrument and develop a draft that can be debated at the local, regional
and national levels. We will expand the dialogue within our communities, with
governments, with other civil society movements and with international
institutions. We will continue the difficult process of building a civil society
movement that can make a difference.”
A set of by‑laws
was adopted so that the INCD could prepare to incorporate and a new Steering
Committee was elected to guide its work towards the next meeting, scheduled to
be held on Robin Island, off Capetown South Africa, in the fall of next
year. The Steering Committee members
are: Rafael Segovia, Mexico; Tiburce Bidounga, Congo; James Early, U.S.A.; Nina
Obuljen, Croatia; Alexander Cacavas, Greece; Mireille Gagné, Canada; Megan
Williams, Canada; Japan Mthembu, South Africa; Atul Kumar, India; Peter Curman,
Sweden; Yolanda Schweri, Switzerland; Garry Neil, INCD Coordinator, Canada;
Lucianna Castellina, Italy; Nitis Jacon, Brazil and Richard Letts, Australia.
Latest Action Against Canadian Cultural Policy:
Several associations in the United States
have launched a formal petition calling for the US government to impose
countervailing duties against movies and television programs filmed in
Canada. The petition alleges these
films are lured to Canada by the government subsidies offered to both Canadian
and foreign producers and seeks to nullify these by applying an equivalent
tariff when they are imported into the US.
In a recent highly public fight, the U.S. government applied tariffs of
almost 20 percent to imported Canadian softwood lumber on the grounds Canada’s
system of stumpage fees amounted to an unfair “subsidy.” The film industry petitioners cite this as a
precedent.
While no existing trade rules prohibit
domestic cultural subsidies and there are no countervailing duty provisions in
services agreements, Canadian cultural activists see this as a political
challenge, rather than a legal one. The
US petition is part of a strategy that includes the US WTO proposal to include
audiovisual services under GATS and efforts to negotiate a Free Trade Area of
the Americas. As Canada’s production
capability has developed over the past decade, there is a growing concern in
the U.S. industry about what is considered to be “runaway” production,
production that is sold into the U.S. market, but is produced outside
Canada. A U.S. study estimated the
value of productions in Canada and other foreign countries at US $10 billion in
1999.
Building
Cultural Solidarity:
The Coalition for Cultural Diversity (CCD)
in Montreal, Canada hosted The First International Meeting of Professional
Associations from the Cultural Milieu this September 10 to 13. Representatives
of the film, radio/television book and music sectors from ten different
countries shared their concerns about the shrinking space of local producers in
the global economy. Representatives from Chile and Argentina expressed concern
about the glaring lack of cultural policy and cultural support measures in
their countries, while the Korean delegation resolved to continue fighting the
American effort to eliminate the screen quota system. A presentation on the
cultural instrument by international Law professor Ivan Bernier was very
well-received presentation, and representatives vowed to continue working
together on these issues. Please contact: coalition@cdc-ccd.org
Upcoming
Events:
This fall is jam packed with events related
to culture and globalization - though it is possible that some of them will be
cancelled because of the difficult international situation. UNESCO will hold
its General Conference of members states from October 22 to November 10 in
Paris. A draft declaration on cultural diversity will be reviewed and possibly
endorsed. The Francophonie plans to hold its summit October 26 to 28 in Beirut,
Lebanon, and the Iboamerican summit will take place shortly afterwards,
November 23-24 in Lima, Peru.
Meanwhile, trade negotiations continue at a
frenetic pace. We will be keeping a careful watch on them. An FTAA Trade
Negotiating Committee will meet in Nicaragua Sept. 25 to 28, the WTO’s Council
for Trade in Services will meet October 8-12, and to date the WTO Ministerial
Conference is still planned for November 9 to 13 in Doha, Qatar. The INCD will
be sending a representative if the conference is not cancelled.
Announcements:
The Centre for Trade Policy and Law (Carleton University and University of
Ottawa) are sponsoring a one day conference on Trade and Culture on November
28th, 2001at the Congress Centre, Ottawa. Details of the program and
registration can be found at
The African Itinerant College for Culture and Development (AICCD)
will, in collaboration with UNESCO and the United Nations African Institute for
Economic Development and Planning (IDEP) and with the financial support of the
International Development Research Centre of Canada, hold an international conference on the cultural
approach to development in Africa. To be held from 26-30 November in Dakar,
Senegal, the conference will address the promotion of culturally sensitive
develoipment in Africa, and establish frameworks for collaboration with other
groups. For more information, please contact Burama Sangnia at the AICD, Tel:
221 823 10 20, Fax 21 28 42 68, email:
The European Union, the Hungarian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and
the Hungarian National Commission for UNESCO are holding a conference entitled Bigger...
Better... Beautiful? which will look at the impact of EU enlargement on
cultural opportunities across Europe. The conference will take place in
Budapest, Hungary, February 14-17, 2001. For more information, please contact:
info@kulturpont.hu