Trading Cultures : Appellate Body Report on China – Audiovisuals ( WT / DS 363 / AB / R , adopted 19 January 2010 )

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Copyright Year	2011
Abstract	In China–Audiovisuals, a series of Chinese restrictions on the importation and distribution of certain ‘cultural ’ or ‘content’ goods and services were found to violate GATT, GATS, and China’s Accession Protocol. This paper reviews the definition of what is a ‘good’ (is a ‘film’ a good or a service?) and the extent to which GATT Article XX exceptions can justify violations under WTO instruments other than the GATT itself. We argue that trade volumes are unlikely to significantly rise as a result of this ruling as it does not affect China’s right to keep out foreign films and publications if China finds them objectionable. However, foreign producers of audiovisuals can now gain potentially large economic rents, by being able to export and distribute their products into the Chinese market. Finally, we discuss the issue of the protection of cultural goods and review the recent literature on trade and culture that has put forward economic arguments to justify, under some conditions, the protection of cultural goods. Summary of the dispute China–Audiovisuals1 is a complex and broad-based dispute filed by the United States in April 2007 against a series of Chinese restrictions on the importation and distribution of certain ‘cultural ’ or ‘content’ goods and services : (i) reading materials such as books, periodicals, and electronic publications; (ii) audiovisual home-entertainment products such as DVDs; (iii) sound recordings; and (iv) films for theatrical release. More particularly, the dispute concerns problems faced by the US ‘content ’ industry trying to obtain the right to import and distribute within China on a nondiscriminatory basis. This dispute is closely related to the one on * Email: pconconi@ulb.ac.be **Email: joost.pauwelyn@graduateinstitute.ch 1 Appellate Body Report, China – Measures Affecting Trading Rights and Distribution Services for Certain Publications and Audiovisual Entertainment Products, WT/DS363/AB/R, adopted 19 January 2010. World Trade Review (2011), 10 : 1, 95–118 f Paola Conconi and Joost Pauwelyn doi:10.1017/S1474745610000479
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/145502/1/ChinaAudiovisuals.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Accession Number (identifier) Accession number (bioinformatics) Book Clarify Compact discs Email Emoticon Entity Name Part Qualifier - adopted Genetic Heterogeneity Government Instrument - device Internet Manufactured Supplies Movies Pain Periodicals Privacy Public-Private Sector Partnerships Review [Publication Type] Rule (guideline) collision
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Report