Second Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage

August 22, 2007

The Second Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will be held at Plaza Heisei in the Tokyo International Exchange Center located in Odaiba from September 3 (Mon) to 7 (Fri).
This committee session will be attended by delegations from the 24 States Parties including Japan, other countries which have ratified the convention, and NGOs.
This session will take up such issues as (1) operational directives for the inscriptions on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, (2) criteria and modalities for the accreditation of NGOs (advisory bodies) (3) guidelines for the list of the resources of the Intangible Heritage Fund and a plan for its use, (4) operational directives on international assistance, and (5) incorporation of the Masterpieces into the Representative List.
The Government of Japan enacted the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties in 1950 and has been a pioneer of safeguarding intangible cultural properties. When the convention was formulated, Japan led the negotiations from the formulating process. The Government of Japan, making the most of our considerable experience, will contribute to making rules for the actual operation of the convention in the second intergovernmental committee session.

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