Closing U.S. Markets to Illicit Antiquities

We prioritize shutting American markets to illicit antiquities, while increasing responsible cultural exchange.

 THE ISSUE   •  OUR IMPACT   •   OUR RESOURCES   •  OUR TRACK RECORD

THE ISSUE

International borders are the best defense against any illicit trade, including that in cultural property, a fact well recognized both by law enforcement and leaders in the art world.  Restricting the import of undocumented cultural objects—which lack a so-called “provenance,” or paper trail—fights the illicit trade while allowing the legitimate trade to continue and even thrive. Indeed, such restrictions protect good faith purchasers, be they individual collectors, market actors, or museums. As with all global problems, all nations have a role to play. However, since the United States makes up the majority of the international art market, it has a particular opportunity to make a difference. The Antiquities Coalition is proud to work with the U.S. government and international community to keep stolen art and artifacts out of our markets—protecting both American consumers and our world heritage.

OUR IMPACT

We are barring antiquities traffickers from the multi-billion U.S. art market through legislation, international agreements, and executive orders—protecting both American consumers and our world heritage.

International Agreements

Under the 1983 U.S. Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CCPIA), the United States may enter into separate international agreements with other States Parties to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970 UNESCO Convention). These memoranda of understanding can be bilateral (between two governments) or multilateral (between more than two governments). Either way, they close American borders to illegally exported archaeological and ethnological artifacts from the requesting country or countries, while protecting the legitimate art market and increasing responsible cultural exchange.

Through high level advocacy and outreach, we have successfully helped to close U.S. markets to illicit antiquities from countries around the world.

Legislation

Congress can — and has —passed legislation to restrict the import of undocumented cultural property from countries and even regions facing rampant looting and trafficking.

On Capitol Hill, we were a key advocate for the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act (H.R. 1493/S. 1887), which in May 2016 closed U.S. borders to illicit artifacts from war-torn Syria.

OUR RESOURCES

We developed these resources to help provide an overview of U.S. import restrictions, track progress, and explain what tools can be used and how to close U.S. markets to illicit antiquities.

Filling in the Map

This map provides an overview of current U.S. import restrictions. The U.S. has taken great strides to close its borders to art and antiquities from conflict zones or other areas of crisis, protecting the world’s cultural heritage from looting and trafficking—and American consumers from unintentionally buying stolen property.

Tracking Progress

The U.S. response to the illicit trade has continued to strengthen in recent years and even months, as more evidence has become available on the threat cultural racketeering poses to our national security and economic integrity. This interactive timeline provides a detailed history of U.S. import restrictions, demonstrating how we got to where we are today.

Our Toolbox

To close U.S. borders to illicit antiquities, we make use of a number of U.S. legal and policy tools. 

FAQ ON CULTURAL PROPERTY AGREEMENTS

Cultural Property Agreements (CPAs) between the United States and foreign governments help to stop criminal activity at US borders by keeping looted and stolen art and artifacts out of American markets. Under US and international law, the United States can join CPAs to prevent looted and stolen antiquities and artifacts from entering the American art market, fighting the illicit trade while allowing the legal trade to continue and even thrive.

The US has signed CPAs with a growing number of countries around the world strengthening US leadership and protecting American consumers by keeping our art market free from blood antiquities.

Click on the frequently asked questions below to learn more about these agreements, why they are important, and how they are achieved. 

→ What are Cultural Property Agreements?
→ Why are these CPAs important for security?
  • CPAs fight crime. CPAs between the United States and foreign governments help to stop criminal activity at US borders by keeping looted and stolen art and artifacts out of American markets. Shutting down this trade has increasingly become critical to national security, as declassified intelligence confirms that ISIS and other terrorist organizations are using it to arm their cause, as are criminal networks around the world to further fund conflict and violence. A black market trade in any material, including cultural heritage, only benefits criminals—not American citizens.
  • CPAs enhance border security. Border security is a first line of defense against any illicit trade, including that in cultural property, a fact well recognized by policymakers, law enforcement, and leaders in the art world. The border controls created by CPAs are a much-needed tool for law enforcement to identify and intercept looted and stolen cultural property. At the same time, they impose little added burden on legitimate importers—indeed the proof required must simply show that the item left its country of origin legally, or that the item was exported before the agreement went into place.
→ Why are cultural property agreements important for Americans?
  • CPAs protect American consumers. CPAs protect good faith purchasers, be they individual collectors, market actors, or museums from unknowingly buying stolen property by keeping it off the market at the outset. CPAs seek to preserve free trade, while combating illicit trade, by requiring a single additional step at the border for at-risk antiquities and artifacts—the importer must provide either a valid export permit or proof the object left the country before the agreement (which could be as simple as a receipt, shipping postmark, or even a dated family photograph). Absent such evidence, the import is restricted, ensuring that consumers can purchase cultural objects on the American art market with confidence in their legality.  CPAs have resulted directly in significant seizures of looted artifacts at US borders, facilitating their return to their countries of origin, while protecting consumers from unknowingly buying stolen property or having to forfeit stolen material at their own expense.
  • CPAs make a safe, thriving American art market possible.  The US prioritizes free trade, restricting it only in the interests of protecting our national security, markets, and citizens. Most objects can thus cross our borders freely, so long as they are properly declared (there are of course exceptions, such as certain agricultural products, drugs, etc.). Indeed, cultural property can generally enter more easily than other categories because art is traditionally not subject to customs duties regardless of its value. CPAs only block the importation of objects without the necessary documentation, not legally exported material or that exported (even illegally) before an agreement went into effect. This ensures that the market benefits legitimate businesses and not criminal networks.
→ What is the 1970 UNESCO Convention?
  • Much of international law can be found in treaties, which are binding agreements between or among States. The 1970 UNESCO Convention is the foremost international agreement to combat the looting and trafficking of cultural heritage. Its States Parties work together against cultural racketeering by removing its causes, putting a stop to its practices, and repatriating looted and stolen cultural objects to their country of origin. Moreover, “the import, export or transfer of ownership of cultural property effected contrary to the provisions adopted under this Convention by the States Parties thereto, shall be illicit.” 
  • Currently, there are over 145 States Parties to the Convention, including the United States, which was the first major market country to join in 1983.
→ What is the CCPIA?
  • Each country has its own process for enforcing international law in its own domestic legal system. In the United States, the President must first receive the “advice and consent” of the Senate before ratifying a treaty, and even then the agreement must be separately implemented into U.S. law (often through an act of Congress). The CCPIA (19 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is the United States’ domestic implementing legislation for the 1970 UNESCO Convention.
  • Again, the CCPIA enables the United States to join the Convention’s other States Parties in CPAs, which prospectively restrict the import of undocumented archaeological and ethnological materials into the United States, while promoting responsible cultural cooperation and exchange. Under certain circumstances, it also authorizes import restrictions on an emergency basis, absent a full agreement.
→ What other commitments are found in the CCPIA?
  • In addition to providing for CPAs, the CCPIA also prohibits the import into the United States of cultural objects that were inventoried and stolen from another State Party’s public institutions (e.g.,  museums). 
→ What are the requirements for a CPA?
  • Under the CCPIA, in addition to being a State Party to the 1970 UNESCO Convention, there are four determinations a government must meet to enter into a CPA with the United States:
    1. The country’s cultural patrimony is in jeopardy from pillage of archaeological and/or ethnological materials.
    2. The country has taken measures to protect its archaeological and ethnological heritage consistent with the 1970 UNESCO Convention.
    3. Other countries that have a significant trade in the archaeological and/or ethnological materials that would be subject to import restriction by the United States are also taking steps to prevent the import of these materials.
    4. A CPA with the country is in the interest of the international community to encourage the exchange of cultural materials.
→ What is the process for achieving a CPA?
  • The process is not complex, but requires several steps. 
    1. A State Party to the 1970 UNESCO Convention may request a CPA from the U.S. Department of State through diplomatic channels. This request should be accompanied by a “Statement of Facts” and supporting documentation that together address the four required determinations under U.S. law (see above).
    2. The request is then reviewed by a Presidentially-appointed and independent body—the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC)—which will make a recommendation to the decision maker (usually the Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs) as to whether the determinations are satisfied.
    3. Government-to-government negotiations then begin to finalize an agreement.
    4. Import restrictions go into effect when the agreement is signed, a notice is posted in the Federal Register, and the Designated List is published.
→ What is CPAC?
  • The CCPIA tasks the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) with reviewing requests from foreign governments for CPAs and then making recommendations as to whether the statutory determinations are met. 
  • CPAC is composed of eleven members who are appointed by the President and represent different constituencies, including the general public, the archaeological and anthropological community, the trade (i.e., collectors and dealers), and the museum community. 
  • In making their decision, they accept public input in the form of written and oral testimony. 
→ What types of materials do CPAs cover?
  • CPAs can be used to restrict the import of at-risk:
    • archaeological objects: those “of cultural significance,” at least 250 years old, and “normally discovered” from excavation or exploration, and 
    • ethnological objects: “products of a tribal or non industrial society” and of cultural importance. 
  • Additionally, to be covered, the export of these objects must also be restricted by the requesting country’s own laws.
  • The types of objects protected by an agreement are published in a document called a “Designated List,” which is made available in the Federal Register.
→ What don’t CPAs cover?
  • CPAs are not retroactive, meaning they do not cover materials that were exported from the requesting country before the agreement went into effect (even if those objects were illegally exported). They likewise do not restrict the import of objects that were legally exported. Finally, they only include the types of antiquities and artifacts that are published on the Designated List (see above).
→ How long do CPAs last?
  • A CPA lasts for only five years, but may be renewed an indefinite number of times. The renewal or extension of an agreement follows a similar process as an initial agreement and the same four determinations described above must be met again. Likewise, emergency restrictions are effective for no more than five years from the date of the State Party’s request, but may be extended for three years. 
→ Will CPAs harm the legal trade in art and antiquities?
  • No. Cultural objects that left the country legally after an agreement can continue to enter the United States.
  • CPAs are not retroactive. Cultural objects that left a country, legally or illegally, before the agreement are not impacted. This protects collectors, dealers, auction houses, and museums from unknowingly dealing in stolen property. 
  • Additionally, the agreements provide a platform for cooperation for diplomats, law enforcement, and those working in the arts and culture, through which both countries work to fight the illicit trade and strengthen our broader bilateral relationship. 
→ Do CPAs give foreign governments ownership of cultural property?
  • No. CPAs implement import restrictions—they do not vest ownership of cultural property in any State Party, nor do they grant the United States the authority to determine who owns that cultural property. Ownership of cultural property is determined by other U.S. and foreign laws.
→ How do CPAs strengthen U.S. leadership globally?
  • CPAs provide a framework for cooperation. These agreements provide a framework through which Washington can encourage other countries to accept, adopt, and enforce international rules and norms with regard to the responsible management of cultural heritage. CPAs also promote responsible cultural exchange by encouraging museum loans, professional exchanges, scientific investigations, educational opportunities, and more, which give Americans direct access to cultural treasures, learning experiences, and top expertise. With rare exceptions, the CPIA and particularly its CPAs have been the main option available to countries seeking to achieve these goals, as well as to partner with the US on cultural preservation more broadly.
→ How can the public follow U.S. diplomatic progress in negotiating and adopting CPAs?
  • Announcements of meetings and more information on the CPA process, including a list of current agreements in effect, can be found on the U.S. Department of State’s Cultural Heritage Center website.
  • Before a CPAC meeting at which a new agreement or the renewal of an existing agreement is considered, members of the public may submit comments on the proposed CPA via Regulations.gov and/or request time to give testimony during a CPAC public session.

OUR TRACK RECORD

Closing U.S. Borders to Illicit Antiquities: September 16, 2024

United States Strengthens Border Security to Intercept Stolen Ukrainian Cultural Treasures

Closing U.S. Borders to Illicit Antiquities: November 09, 2023

United States and Uzbekistan Sign New Cultural Property Agreement

In the News: September 20, 2023

AC Founder and Chairman Highlights Yemen’s Fight Against Cultural Racketeering in Joint Op-Ed

Closing U.S. Borders to Illicit Antiquities: August 31, 2023

US and Yemen Sign New Cultural Property Agreement to Combat Looting

Closing U.S. Borders to Illicit Antiquities: March 18, 2023

Newly Signed Cultural Property Agreement Will Shut the American Art Market to Illicit Antiquities from Tunisia

In the News: February 03, 2021

Antiquities Coalition Highlights Need for U.S.–Turkey Bilateral Agreement in The Art Newspaper

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