Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback Edited Legal Collections Data

Frankel, Susy --- "Attempts to protect indigenous culture through free trade agreements" [2012] ELECD 1168; in Graber, Beat Christoph; Kuprecht, Karolina; Lai, Christine Jessica (eds), "International Trade in Indigenous Cultural Heritage" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012) 118

Book Title: International Trade in Indigenous Cultural Heritage

Editor(s): Graber, Beat Christoph; Kuprecht, Karolina; Lai, Christine Jessica

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857938305

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: Attempts to protect indigenous culture through free trade agreements

Author(s): Frankel, Susy

Number of pages: 26

Abstract/Description:

The fundamental purpose of most modern free trade agreements (FTAs) is to extend the commitments, which may mean to further liberalise trade, that Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have made in that multilateral forum. FTAs also frequently include commitments in areas that are outside the WTO obligations. Protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) are not specifically part of the WTO framework, in particular the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement).1 Some FTAs expressly provide that the parties, or at least one of the parties, retain the ability to protect certain aspects of cultural heritage, including the protection of traditional knowledge. Other FTAs limit the possibilities for protecting traditional knowledge. This chapter analyses how FTAs might affect the aspirations of indigenous peoples, in particular, to protect their traditional knowledge. First, the chapter discusses the problems that have led to a call for the protection of traditional knowledge. The chapter then assesses the international agreements that provide varying protection for traditional knowledge and issues arising from the implementation of those international agreements in domestic law.