[Ecommerce] FT.com: US isolated over cultural diversity

[Manon Ress]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/09155628-40c9-11da-b3f9-00000e2511c8.html

US isolated over cultural diversity
By Frances Williams in Geneva
Published: October 19 2005 19:12 | Last updated: October 19 2005 19:12

United NationsA United Nations treaty to protect and promote cultural
diversity is likely to be overwhelmingly approved on Thursday in the
face of lonely opposition from the US, which fears the impact on
exports of US films and television programmes.

In an emotional debate in Unesco (the UN Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation) that preceded Thursday's vote, supporters of
the treaty - led by France and Canada - said it would help countries
defend domestic culture from the homogenising influence of
globalisation.

In a preliminary vote this week, 151 countries backed the pact, with
the US and Israel the sole opponents. Australia and the Pacific
island of Kiribati abstained.

The treaty affirms the =93sovereign right=94 of countries to protect and
promote the diversity of cultural expressions and requires this to be
taken into account in applying other accords, such as the rules of
the World Trade Organisation.

France and Canada have backed the pact as a way of reinforcing their
claim to keep the =93cultural exception=94 they enjoy at the WTO.

Louise Oliver, the US ambassador to Paris-based Unesco, told the FT:
=93The foundation of cultural diversity is freedom. The main proponents
of this convention seem more interested in control over international
trade flows and the lives of their citizens than in promoting freedom
and cultural diversity.=94



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Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

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