Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Fair Trade: Voluntary Certification Standards in the Light of WIPO and WTO Law and Policymaking

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ INNOVATION. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PATHWAYS TO DEVELOPMENT, Peter Drahos and Susy Frankel, eds, pp. 95-119. Canberra: ANU E Press, 2012

Prometheus, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 287-308

I-call Working Paper No. 2011/01

24 Pages Posted: 27 Mar 2011 Last revised: 16 Sep 2013

See all articles by Christoph B. Graber

Christoph B. Graber

University of Zurich, Faculty of Law

Jessica C. Lai

Victoria University of Wellington

Date Written: 2011

Abstract

Private initiatives of voluntary certification standards appear to be an attractive alternative to top-down approaches in the field of ICH and development. Over the last 50 years, many different Indigenous communities have attempted to use certification trade marks to promote their authentic cultural products, while at the same time marginalising those that are not. These different schemes have had varying success, but arguably none have been as visually unsuccessful as the government-funded Australian system, which collapsed within two years of its inception. On the other side of the scale, the Fairtrade Label is considered to be an international triumphant success. This paper assesses why the Australian Authenticity Label system failed, as compared to the success of the Fairtrade Label, and how these conclusions can be used for existing and future endeavours. It further discusses whether such a voluntary certification system would be compliant with WIPO and WTO law and policy. It concludes by looking towards the future and the possibility of the Fairtrade Label being extended to meet the interests of Indigenous communities.

An updated version is published in INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ INNOVATION. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PATHWAYS TO DEVELOPMENT, Peter Drahos and Susy Frankel, eds, pp. 95-119. Canberra: ANU

Keywords: Indigenous cultural heritage, fair trade, Fairtrade, voluntary certification, WTO, WIPO

JEL Classification: F19, K33, K39

Suggested Citation

Graber, Christoph B. and Lai, Jessica C., Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Fair Trade: Voluntary Certification Standards in the Light of WIPO and WTO Law and Policymaking (2011). INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ INNOVATION. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PATHWAYS TO DEVELOPMENT, Peter Drahos and Susy Frankel, eds, pp. 95-119. Canberra: ANU E Press, 2012, Prometheus, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 287-308, I-call Working Paper No. 2011/01, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1792382 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1792382

Christoph B. Graber (Contact Author)

University of Zurich, Faculty of Law ( email )

Treichlerstrasse 10
Zurich, 8032
Switzerland

HOME PAGE: http://www.ius.uzh.ch/en/staff/professorships/alphabetical/graber/person.html

Jessica C. Lai

Victoria University of Wellington ( email )

PO Box 600
Wellington
New Zealand

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