[Ecommerce] The Independent story on UNESCO CCD

Thu Oct 20 20:23:08 2005

The Independent online
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article321124.ece

20 October 2005 20:11

Hollywood the loser as global culture plan backed
By Hugh Schofield in Paris
Published: 21 October 2005

Not for the first time, the United States has found itself in almost
total isolation in an international body, as the rest of the world
adopts a convention which supporters say could help stop the
"steamroller" of Hollywood globalisation.

The "Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions" was approved in Paris yesterday by an
overwhelming majority of 191 member countries of the UN Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). Only Israel joined the
US in opposing the text.

Britain - the current president of the European Union - voted in
favour of the 40-page document. The British ambassador to Unesco,
Timothy Craddock, described it as "clear, carefully balanced, and
consistent with the principles of international law and fundamental
human rights."

But the US ambassador, Louise Oliver, said the convention, adopted
during the UN cultural organisation's general conference which is
held every two years, was "deeply flawed". According to Washington -
which only rejoined Unesco two years ago after a 19-year boycott - it
is a charter for unscrupulous governments to erect trade barriers,
suppress minority cultures and block the free flow of information.

Vigorously backed by France, which tends to lead the world in
cultural protection, the convention authorises nations to take
"regulatory measures" to promote diversity. Under Article 8 they may
identify "situations where cultural expressions ... are at risk of
extinction and may take all "appropriate measures" to preserve them.

Arguments are certain to rage for years over the text's judicial
scope, but the French for one are confident it is an important marker
which will help it keep cinema, publishing and music out of the next
round of talks at the World Trade Organisation. The convention
enshrines the French policy of subsidising the arts and imposing
quotas on American films and music.

Indeed, the Paris press could hardly contain its glee at America's
isolation in the 60-year-old assembly, which was set up after the
Second World War to promote peace via the interchange of ideas.

"The incredible mobilisation of member states of Unesco ... will stay
in the memory as a rare moment," gushed Le Monde. "They have
reaffirmed loud and clear that culture is not a merchandise like
others. They have called on the creators of tomorrow ... to rise up
against the dominant culture and block the American steamroller."

Opponents of the US believe it is motivated by the sole urge to
impose Steven Spielberg and Mariah Carey on the world and strangle at
birth any alternative foreign film or music industry.

The Americans have been careful to base their opposition to the
convention on higher arguments. They have been helped by a text which
- with its use of terms like "interculturality" - lays itself open to
charges of ambiguous banality. According to the US State Department,
the convention could be wilfully misinterpreted to put up all sorts
of trade barriers - only this week France officially designated foie
gras as a "cultural item" - while repressive regimes could use it to
justify "measures that would interfere with human rights and
fundamental freedoms".