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 Mogan Agasse, 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: (clockwise from left) 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 not shown)

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: