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AFC Trade Bulletin 3 June 2003 |
CONTENTS
1. Valenti's cultural standstill confirmed by trade negotiatiors
2. Kim Dalton: "Valenti's words no comfort for Aussie industry"
3. Trade Minister Vaile: "We will ensure our capacity to support Australian culture is not watered down"
4. FTA timeline: "a comprehensive agreement by the end of 2003"
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1. Valenti's cultural standstill confirmed by trade negotiatiors
In the previous bulletin we noted comments on bilateral trade negotiations from Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) president Jack Valenti. In Variety on 18 May, Valenti attempted to assure Australian film and television stakeholders that the US entertainment industry was not aiming to further increase its already dominant share of the Australian audiovisual market.
US chief negotiator Ralph Ives has since echoed Valenti's statements in announcing existing local content rules will not be targeted in bilateral trade deals. "We're not seeking, as some in Australia have indicated, to abolish either the broadcast quota or the subsidies. Let's make that clear," Ives stated at a media briefing on 23 May.
Some reports in the Australian media have mistakenly declared that Valenti and Ives' comments heralded a comprehensive victory for Australia's film and television industries. While the abolition of current regulation and subsidy is now unlikely to transpire through current bilateral negotiations, Australian audiovisual culture is still on the table and under threat. A standstill agreement would restrict Australia's right to enact cultural policy into a future in which emerging broadband and digital networks are predicted to become the primary medium for the distribution of audiovisual services.
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2. Kim Dalton: "Valenti's words no comfort for Aussie industry"27 May 2003
By Lawrie Zion, first published in the Hollywood Reporter.
MELBOURNE, Australia
The head of one of Australia's main film bodies says he is not comforted by recent pronouncements by the head of the MPAA, Jack Valenti, that the United States won't be striving to abolish local TV quotas or film subsidies.
Valenti's remarks came last week in response to fears expressed by the Australian production sector that a proposed free trade deal with the United States would jeopardize the ongoing viability of the local screen industry.
But Kim Dalton, who is the CEO of the government-funded development agency the Australian Film Commission, believes that the protection of industry support mechanisms remains a hot issue despite the ostensibly soothing tone of Valenti's remarks.
While some in the Australian industry have expressed concerns that the free trade agreement might sound the death knell for local content quotas and funding arrangements (Hollywood Reporter, 13 May 2003), Dalton argues that such anxieties are exaggerated. Yet he believes that critical issues remain on the table.
"It's unrealistic to say that the Australian government will abandon its regulatory framework, and the Americans know that," Dalton said in an interview at the Festival de Cannes last week.
"But the Americans want two things: firstly, to get a standstill arrangement to the existing regulatory framework, which means no ramping up of funding mechanisms or content quotas. And secondly, they want to get an agreement that there will be no regulatory arrangements on new and emerging services such as broadband. This has always been the American position. For Valenti to make it sound like they're being sympathetic to local cultures or arriving at the table with a position of compromise is disingenuous."
Dalton added that "the position that the AFC has always taken on this matter and that is run through the industry is that Australia will reserve the right to use regularity mechanisms on existing and new services to achieve the cultural outcome that we want."
Current provisions include the requirement that free-to-air TV networks broadcast 55% local content, while pay TV networks must spend 10% of their programming budget on Australian productions. But like many in the industry, Dalton believes that any attempts to curtail an extension to these arrangements could see a dilution in the local production sector, particularly if newer delivery forms with looser regulations develop an increasing market share of the audiovisual sector.
Americans, he claims are increasingly aware of the growing concerns within the Australian industry "and that there will be huge concern among the Australian public when they realise that they're asking for winding back of Australian content."
Dalton's response to Valenti's remarks follows increasing conjecture in Australia about both the intentions of the American negotiating team and the tactics that might be adopted by the Australian government, which is keen to see greater opportunities for agricultural and industrial sector products.
With the second round of talks between the two countries concluded in Hawaii on Friday, the stage is expected to be set for the unraveling of the official American position on film and television issues.
"They want us to feel relaxed, but we're not feeling relaxed at all," Dalton concludes. "But to suggest that this story is now over is a complete misreading of the situation -- the story has barely begun."
For its part, the AFC says that it is not opposed to free trade agreements, but in a briefing at Cannes last week, it stressed that it is arguing for the recognition of the special status of culture in any trade agreements. "It is internationally recognised that Australia already has a liberal services trade environment, as evidenced by the local audiovisual industry's acknowledged place in the global economy and the amount of non-Australian, especially U.S., material already on our screens."
Studies cited by the AFC point to the dominance of non-Australian (and mostly American) programs on Australian television, current quotas notwithstanding. They indicate that 63.4% of new television programs in 2002 originated from outside the region and that only 28% of new hours of TV originated from non-U.S. sources. This compares to approximately 1.5% of new television programs being foreign-sourced in the United States and 4.3% in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the United States dominated the Australian box office, where only about 5% of the total takings are for local product.
Reprinted by permission of Lawrie Zion and the Hollywood Reporter.
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3. Trade Minister Vaile: "We will ensure our capacity to support Australian culture is not watered down"
On Friday 23 May, Federal Trade Minister Mark Vaile again affirmed Australia's intention to safeguard cultural policy objectives in trade negotiations. The AFC welcomed comments made by Minister Vaile in a speech delivered to the St George Bank luncheon in Canberra:
"Many critics of an FTA with the United States believe that the Americans will use the negotiation to force changes to important public policy programs in Australia. I think they over-estimate US objectives, and under-estimate Australian resolve. We will ensure that our capacity to support Australian culture and national identity, including in audiovisual media, is not watered down in the negotiations."
Trade Minister Vaile's full speech
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4. FTA timeline: "a comprehensive agreement by the end of 2003"
The just-completed May trade negotiations were considered an 'exploratory round', aimed at securing agreement on a broad working framework, and clarifying commonality in approach. Crucial audiovisual issues will be negotiated in relation to the general area of market access and will commence in the third round starting 21 July in Hawaii. At the conclusion of July talks an intensive series of contacts and ongoing negotiations will be carried out right through to a subsequent formal fourth round starting 27 October in Canberra. An additional round has also been slated for December if needed. Negotiators from both sides have committed to working towards a comprehensive agreement by the end of 2003.
The AFC will ensure that the concerns of the Australian film and television industry will be heard at the highest level of trade negotiations.
Read the transcript of the media briefing given by Australian Chief Negotiator Stephen Deady and US Chief Negotiator Ralph Ives on the recently completed May second round. |
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