NEW ZEALAND ON UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION

SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND ON UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION

REF: STATE 149077

Post on August 18 delivered reftel demarche to the New
Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). James
Hartley of MFAT's Legal Division reported August 24 that the
ministry still was consulting with various government
agencies before developing a final position on the UNESCO
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity
of Cultural Expressions. A Cabinet decision on the
government's position is likely to be required . New Zealand
hopes to send Crawford Falconer, its ambassador to the WTO,
to the August 25 informal meeting to discuss the convention,
but his schedule has not yet been confirmed.
Burnett