Dilemmas And Countermeasures Of Cultural Exception In International Trade

This paper aims to examine the reasons for the difficulties of "cultural exception" in international trade,analyze the application of the WTO and UNESCO under the two systems,and summarize the existing problems.On this basis,we should seek reasonable countermeasures to improve the difficulties of the application of "cultural exceptions".In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this article has the following four chapters.The first chapter is the "cultural exception" in international trade.This chapter first defines the nature and meaning of "cultural exception",and secondly,from the most extensive international debate on "cultural exceptions",by refuting the opposition's claims,in order to clarify the nature and value of "cultural exception" and consider it worthy of support and persistence.Since the "cultural exception" is applied to cultural products,the scope of cultural products is not clearly defined in international legal documents.By contacting the relevant authoritative documents,it can be inferred that cultural relics do not belong to cultural products,thus excluding the study of relevant laws related to the protection of cultural relics.Because of the diverse and collected characteristics of cultural products,a specific category of goods or services need to be analyzed specifically.From the wto case,a measure may apply both the rules of trade in cultural goods and the rules of trade in cultural services.Digital cultural products are intangible and involve the implementation of trade obligations,as are traditional cultural products,and the Expert Group determines specific cases often in accordance with the interpretation of the provisions.Finally,the focus of this paper is that the direct reason of the "cultural exception" application dilemma is the lack of special protection of cultural products in the WTO legal system and UNESCO's inability to provide effective support for "cultural exceptions".The second chapter is "Rules and Analysis related to Cultural Exceptions in WTO".The rules related to "cultural exceptions" in the WTO legal system include THE QUOTA for screening in Article 4 of GATT 1994,the GATS Commitment Form and The Immunity List,and the "Public Moral Exception" of GATT 1994 and GATS.In a multi-party game,article 4 of GATT1994 is retained as the only provision directly reflecting the concept of "cultural exception",but the scope of application is limited to "films for cinema screening" and cannot provide exceptional support for other cultural products.While members may exempt cultural products from national treatment obligations through the GATS commitment form and the exemption list,the application of such exceptions is limited for a period of time and at the expense of compensation in other areas.The connotation of public morality can be explained by the member party itself,which seems to be conducive to the realization of the effect of "cultural exception",but its harsh applicable standards make it difficult to invoke the article.Due to the inadequate protection of cultural products by the existing WTO regulations,the change of the internal environment of WTO and the differences among members,it is difficult to apply "cultural exceptions" in the current legal system of WTO.The third chapter is "Rules and Analysis related to Cultural Exceptions in UNESCO".The rules embodying "cultural exceptions" in the UNESCO legal system include the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and the Convention for the Protection and Promotion of Cultural Diversity,which are not subject to de facto bindingness and the latter do not directly regulate cultural trade,and therefore provide limited support for "cultural exceptions".It is also difficult to apply the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Cultural Diversity in conflict with the relevant WTO rules.The fourth chapter is "improving" cultural exceptions and "countermeasures to apply the dilemma".First of all,based on the framework of WTO and UNESCO,try to make some alternative applications,such as the establishment of a special committee on culture and trade within the framework of wto,the establishment of the WTO and UNESCO Convention procedures.In addition,based on the judgment of the development trend of international trade rules,the search for regional and bilateral trade agreement cooperation has become the main ground of the current negotiations on cultural and trade cooperation.China should embody "cultural exceptions" in the formulation of the Basic Law on Domestic Culture,and advocate the exception of digital cultural products in regional or bilateral trade agreement negotiations.