Barbados and its regional neighbours have seen little benefit from market access to the European Union for their cultural offerings after nearly 15 years of the Economic Partnership Agreement, according to a new study.
The study conducted by United Nations cultural agency UNESCO – “Culture in the CARIFORUM-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement” – found that little headway has been made in cultural trade since the agreement was signed in 2005.
Among the key findings of the report, it said: “Despite the significant commitments undertaken by the EU, the EPA has not substantially improved market entry and export earnings for CARIFORUM states thus far.
“It also has not redressed the imbalance in the trade in cultural goods and services between the two parties. The expected increase in cultural exchange, contributing to an increased diversity of cultural expressions, remains unseen.”
There were also no dedicated funding or cultural cooperation programmes that have been put in place to implement the EPA’s cultural provisions, it added.
While European and North American performers have practically no hassles in plying their trade in Barbados and the rest of the region, the same does not apply in reverse, declared Minister of Culture and the Creative Economy John King at the official launch of the study, which also featured a panel discussion on the way forward.
King said: “One thing for me that has always been and still remains, is the accessibility of other markets to Caribbean artistes and I am speaking about Europe and North America in particular.
“Often times we can have artistes from all over the world, come into the Caribbean with no hindrances.
“We are talking music, jazz festivals and all sort of things and there has never been anything that would impede this cultural exchange.
“However, it is not reciprocated in Europe nor in North America. Instead, there are bundles of stumbling blocks, hoops and loops that you have to get through.”
The report appears to place much of the blame on a lack of implementation on both sides, suggesting that neither party is taking sufficient advantages of the offerings within the agreement.
The study continued: “To improve market entry, both the EU and its member states, as well as the participating CARIFORUM states, must take decisive steps to mobilize creative industry actors in order to have increase transparency and simplify procedures, particular in cross-border mobility.”
But King insisted the region has made efforts to take advantage of these provisions but with little success.
He said: “Often times we do not have access to mainstream televisions or mainstream radio stations.
“There are stations that are designated for specific category but the one in which Caribbean music will find itself lumped in is called World Music.
“Often times, from my own experience, none of the copyright societies will go after pirates who play our music because they claim that what they would collect is like a drop in the bucket. [email protected]
