Import Restrictions for Cultural Property of Greece Extended and Amended

Nov. 30, 2021

On November 21, 2021, Customs and Border Protection (CBP or Customs) issued a final rule to reflect the extension and amendment of import restrictions on certain archaeological and ethnographic material of the Hellenic Republic (Greece).

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Greece concerning import restrictions on certain categories of archeological and ecclesiastical ethnological material of Greece was extended by the U.S. State Department in September 2021, after consultation and with recommendations by the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC). Such MOUs and import restrictions are imposed (and extended) pursuant to the Cultural Property Implementation Act, Public Law 97-446, 19 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. (CPIA), which is the domestic legislation enabling the U.S. to carry out its commitment under the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (the 1970 UNESCO Convention). When the government of a foreign country that is also a party to the 1970 Convention so requests, the CPIA permits the U.S. State Department, via CPAC, to enter into an agreement with the country to impose import restrictions on certain cultural material that has been demonstrated to be at risk of looting and illicit trafficking.

Greece first requested the imposition of U.S. import restrictions on certain cultural material in 2011. The MOUs and corresponding import restrictions under the CPIA are valid for 5-years however they may be extended for additional 5-year periods when CPAC determines that the subject cultural material is still at risk of looting and illicit trafficking. The initial MOU between Greece and the U.S. was extended and amended in 2016. Greece submitted its proposal for extension and amendment of the 2016 MOU, which was set to expire November 21, 2021, in the fall of last year.

Accordingly, CPAC’s recent decision to extend and amend the 2016 MOU reflects the determination that certain cultural material of Greece continues to be threatened by extensive looting and trafficking networks. The new agreement supersedes the 2016 MOU and absent another extension, will expire November 21, 2026.

The MOUs entered into under the CPIA are not blanket prohibitions on the import of cultural property of Greece. First, in order for an article to be subject to the restrictions, it must be explicitly designated as material that is at risk. The list of material subject to the restrictions is set out in what is referred to as the “Designated List”. The new agreement between Greece and the U.S. amends the corresponding Designated List to add certain coins from the Byzantine and Medieval periods, to clarify pottery styles, and to include post-Byzantine ethnological material dating up to A.D. 1830. The comprehensive Designated List of cultural material of Greece subject to import restrictions can be found here.

Second, the import of designated material is prohibited only to the extent that the importer cannot present to Customs either a certificate or documentation from the foreign country of lawful exportation, or other satisfactory evidence that the subject material was exported from the foreign country more than ten years before the date of entry or before the date on which the material became subject to import restrictions.