VIRTUAL FORUM ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE HEMISPHERE

CIVIL SOCIETY'S REFLECTIONS ON THE FIRST MINISTERIAL MEETING

DECLARATION
OF THE PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS FROM THE CULTURAL MILIEU OF THE AMERICAS

Declaration of the professional organizations from the cultural milieu of the Americas
Presented to the Ministers and High Authorities of Culture
Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, July 12-13, 2002

WE, representatives of Argentinean, Brazilian, Canadian, Colombian, Chilean, Mexican professional organizations of writers, composers, screenwriters, directors, performers, independent producers, distributors, publishers, broadcasters and distributors from the film, radio/television, book and music sectors of our respective countries, on the occasion of the First Meeting of Ministers and High Authorities of Culture within the framework of CIDI affirm that:

only with access to a broad diversity of artistic expression reflecting the richness, complexity and variety of human experience can culture be enabled to play its true role;
¨ by virtue of their unique and irreplaceable role, artistic works, cultural productions and cultural goods and services are not commodities like any other and can therefore not be reduced to economic terms alone;
¨ free market forces cannot guarantee that culture is able to fully play its role and that the objective of cultural diversity is attained within every society and worldwide, even less so in this era of globalization;

It is for us essential that:
¨ while respecting freedom of expression, States and governments have both the right and the duty to preserve, develop and implement their own cultural policies, which are essential to cultural development and to the support of the diversity of cultural expression in every society and worldwide; the exercise of such a right must not be subject to retaliatory measures;

We declare that:
¨ in applying the rules that usually govern international trade agreements to the cultural sector, there is a risk that many key cultural policies would be dismantled.

We urge all States, within the context of the ongoing WTO services negotiations or all other bilateral, regional or global trade agreement or treaty negotiations currently underway, to:
¨ refrain from making commitments of any kind that would limit the rights of States and governments to set their own cultural policies in the sectors of creation and interpretation of artistic works, as well as the production, dissemination and distribution of cultural goods and services; and,
¨ firmly oppose the establishment of any negotiating or discussion group dealing with audio-visual matters or any other cultural sector, within the WTO or any other forum for the negotiation of international trade agreements or treaties;

We believe it necessary that professional organizations and public authorities maintain a dialogue and pursue a process of reflection with respect to mechanisms or instruments that could provide an international legal basis for the fundamental right of States and governments to freely adopt the cultural policies they deem appropriate; as a working hypothesis, we consider that such a right could only be effectively implemented in a framework in which the importance of defending, protecting, promoting, disseminating and preserving the cultural expressions of all countries were predominant;

We firmly wish that the aforementioned concerns of the professional organizations from the cultural milieu be integrated in the Declaration and Plan of Action of Cartagena de Indias endorsed by the ministers and high authorities of culture.

Presented in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), July 12, 2002

Signatories