Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
October 11, 2005

The Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
is holding its General Conference in Paris, October 3-21. At the Conference,
Member States will consider a draft convention entitled the "Convention on the
Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions". The United
States believes that the draft text of the Convention that has been submitted
to the General Conference was hastily drafted and its final consideration has
been unnecessarily rushed. The United States is a multicultural society that
values diversity. We are urging UNESCO Member States to take more time to
address serious concerns raised by the draft Convention.

Respect for Free Trade

The United States is concerned that Member States could misinterpret the
Convention as a basis for impermissible new barriers to trade in goods,
services, or agricultural products that might be viewed as being related to
"cultural expressions." The possibility that the current draft of the
Convention could be misinterpreted in this way is due to:
vague definitions as to the scope of the Convention;
potentially sweeping provisions as to measures that parties may take to
defend ill-defined cultural objectives; and,
an ambiguous provision on the relationship between the Convention and other
international agreements, including those related to trade.
The Convention should be redrafted so that it cannot be misinterpreted to
authorize governments to impose protectionist trade measures in the guise of
protecting culture.

Respect for Human Rights and the Free Flow of Information

The draft is ambiguous and contradictory in its treatment of the flow of
cultural information and goods. Some paragraphs emphasize freedom of
expression, information, and communication, while other paragraphs imply that
there are acceptable governmental controls on such freedoms. For example,
Article 8 of the draft authorizes states party to the Convention to take "all
appropriate measures" to protect and preserve cultural expressions under
serious threat. The U.S. believes that such an action-oriented provision needs
to be carefully circumscribed to ensure that it could not be misinterpreted to
justify measures that would interfere with human rights and fundamental
freedoms. At a minimum, the Convention should be redrafted so that it cannot be
misinterpreted to authorize measures limiting freedom of expression or
restricting the flow of information.

The United States is a culturally diverse country and a vigorous proponent of
cultural diversity, which is based on individuals' freedom to choose how to
express themselves and how to interact with others. Governments deciding what
citizens can read, hear, or see denies individuals the opportunity to make
independent choices about what they value.