By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas is developing “cutting edge, trailblazing” intellectual property (IP) rights protection for its cultural industries and uniquely Bahamian products, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday.

Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, told Tribune Business that protecting bush medicine, straw plait and cultural activities such as Junkanoo was “a necessity” if the Bahamas was to properly develop its cultural economy.

His ministry, together with the Attorney General’s Office and Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, began this process via yesterday’s workshop with industry participants - the initiative being part of a project spearheaded by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

A WIPO consultant was present yesterday, and Mr Pinder said the initiative was linked to the ‘bigger picture’ of the Government’s new IP regime. That is being developed to bring the Bahamas into line with its World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) obligations.

Confirming that the Government was looking at a wide range of “cultural and Bahamian specific matters” whose intellectual creativity and innovation could be protected, Mr Pinder used straw plait as an example.

“Places like Long Island, and certain places in Abaco and Exuma, have a specific focus and expertise in straw plait that could be unique to the Bahamas,” he told Tribune Business.

“You’d not want someone to come in, use that and turn it into an industry without paying you for it, doing that without you having any protection for it.”

In his workshop address, Mr Pinder expanded on this theme, saying: “Traditional knowledge, genetic resources and traditional cultural expressions do not fit squarely in any one area, but rather touch on multiple spheres.

“Traditional knowledge includes practices and traditions which are passed down through generations. In the Bahamas, this could include bush medicine, boat building techniques or straw plaiting.

“Genetic resources, on the other hand, are physical properties which are found naturally and have inherent value. Think of cascarilla, which is a key input to liquor Campari.

“Traditional cultural expressions include music, dances, storytelling and handicrafts, which are unique to a community. In our case this would be Junkanoo, Rake N’ Scrape and tales about the Chickcharney in Andros. These items are crucial to Bahamian culture and it is imperative that they be preserved. Yet they are important not only culturally but also economically.”

Emphasising the importance of protecting Bahamian practitioners from IP theft, and having no recourse or compensation for this, Mr Pinder added: “Here in the Bahamas we are sitting on a wealth of opportunity, simply waiting to be harvested.

“However, we must be sure that we do not put the horse before the cart. Before we publicize our assets, we must ensure that they will be protected.

“Let’s take for instance Bahamian straw bags. Now let’s think of designer straw bags, which sell for hundreds of dollars. Imagine if a designer from Kate Spade came to the Bahamas for vacation, and while visiting the Straw Market stumbled across a unique plait, buys that bag and figures out a way to mimic it for their production,” the Minister said.

“The Bahamian artisan, or community which developed that plait, would likely never receive credit for their product. The same applies to genetic resources. Although researchers are required to obtain approval before engaging in research in the Bahamas, there is more that can be done to ensure that Bahamian genetic resources are not being harvested for economic benefit without the expressed consent from the Government or local communities in which the research took place.”

Mr Pinder told Tribune Business the IP discussions were part of a wider thrust by the Government to incorporate cultural and ‘uniquely Bahamian’ products into the country’s economic development.

Information and data gathering was also being undertaken “so we have a true understanding of what we have”, Mr Pinder said.

“We have, from the northern Bahamas to the southern Bahamas, a complete range of specific Bahamian matters.”

Describing IP protection for these industries as “a matter of necessity”, especially if they sought to exploit export potential in the international marketplace, Mr Pinder said: “We have to have proper protection, so they are not subject to theft and utilisation in someone else’s economy without licensing. It’s of the utmost importance”.

The Minister pledged that the Bahamas’ IP regime, when completed, would be “far ahead” of the rest of the Caribbean.

“It is our intention that stemming from these consultations, areas of Bahamian traditional knowledge, genetic resources, and traditional cultural expressions might be catalogued to fully appreciate and document our rich resources,” Mr Pinder said.

“It is my hope that one day we will fully tap into our cultural potential, reaping significant economic benefits, because they do exist.”