New Zealand government’s position on GATS confusing to international
coalition
“The New Zealand government’s hypocrisy
on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) becomes more extraordinary
by the day,” Professor Jane Kelsey told the Second International Meeting of
Cultural Professional Organizations in Paris yesterday.
This followed disclosure by the Member of
the European Commission responsible for culture, Ms Viviane Reding, that New
Zealand was one of five countries that have lodged an “aggressive” request for
Europe to commit its cultural services to the GATS rules. Both Ms Reding and
the EC’s Director General of Trade Hervé Jouanjean expressed their dismay and confusion
about New Zealand’s position.
Professor Kelsey told delegates how, back
in April 2000, our Prime Minister said it was “ridiculous” that the GATS could
prevent “perfectly legitimate calls for local content” (NZ Herald 10 April
2000). Just two months ago she
acknowledged that concerns about the GATS were valid and the National
Government’s failure to reserve culture from the GATS was a “matter for regret”
(Morning Report, 6 December 2002).
“If it has been a disaster for New
Zealand, why on earth is our government demanding that Europe make the same
mistake?” Jane Kelsey asked.
“This lack of principle is quite
staggering. While our Prime Minister portrays herself as the champion of
national culture at home, she has apparently endorsed the opposite position at
the World Trade Organization (WTO).”
Professor Kelsey was invited to Paris by
the International Coalition for Cultural Diversity to explain to the meeting of
actors, directors, publishers, musicians and other creative artists how the
GATS rules are preventing the Labour government from implementing its mandated
policy of compulsory local content quotas.
Kelsey explained that there are exit
routes but the government lacks the political will to take them. “New Zealand’s
right to control our essential services continues to be sacrificed for the
illusory goal of free trade in agriculture.
Our challenge is to create a climate where that trade-off is no longer
politically sustainable.”
Speaking to the conference delegates,
French President Chirac vowed “steadfastly and fiercely to defend culture and
creations of the mind from market rules that reduce them to the rank of
ordinary merchandise” as the negotiating position of the EC, and endorsed an
International Declaration on Cultural Diversity being developed by culture
ministers as a vehicle to promote genuine internationalization of culture
diversity.
Lebanon’s Culture Minister Mr Ghassan
Salamé insisted that understanding between civilizations was essential to
reduce conflicts and promote peace, and condemned the cloning of US nationalism
which the GATS represents.
Senegal’s Culture Minister Mr Abdou Fall
summed up the sentiments of the meeting: “Culture is life and no government has
the right to deny that to their people,” he said.
Released by ARENA (Action, Research, Education Network of Aotearoa).