On October 12, 2010, the Cultural Property Advisory Committee of the State Department held a public hearing on Greece's recent request for a bilateral agreement intended to curb the import of undocumented antiquities from the Hellenic Republic into the United States. The U.S. has entered into a number of such agreements (termed Memoranda of Understanding, or MoU for short) since implementing legislation in 1983 reflecting the U.S.’s 1972 ratification of the UNESCO Convention on the…
Read an abbreviated version of this account in the AIA blog. On October 12, 2010, the Cultural Property Advisory Committee of the State Department held a public hearing on Greece's recent request for a bilateral agreement intended to curb the import of undocumented antiquities from the Hellenic Republic into the United States. The U.S. has entered into a number of such agreements (termed Memoranda of Understanding, or MoU for short) since implementing legislation in 1983…
Midnight Thursday marked the end of the period during which the public could post opinions on the regulations.gov website about the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the United States and Greece on the imposition of import restrictions on archaeological and other materials from Greece. The Archaeological Institute of America strongly endorses the MoU. Hundreds of AIA members submitted letters to the State Department expressing their support for the MoU. At the AIA we are…
Greece, a country in which many AIA members have worked or studied, has asked the United States to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would require documentation for objects coming into the U.S. that may have been illegally exported from Greece. The US already has MoUs with countries such as China, Cyprus, and Italy as well as many nations in Central and South America. Adding an agreement with Greece will be a major…
Download as pdf Reaching Out! At the heart of the AIA are its 107 local societies and their passionate, dedicated members. Over the years, these volunteers have used their skills, time, and resources to inform and educate the public about archaeological issues and the need for the protection and preservation of cultural heritage. AIA societies organize programs—like those highlighted here—that are informative and appealing to people of all ages and interest levels. In 2009, members…
Thank you very much to all of you who showed your support by sending letters to Washington, the AIA sent hundreds of letters to CPAC on your behalf! On May 6-7, 2010, the State Department's Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) considered renewing the Memorandum of Understanding with Italy by which the United States helps preserve that country's rich archaeological heritage. CPAC called for written comments and hundreds of you wrote in to show your support.…
The Act: The Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, 19 U.S.C. §§ 2601-13 (CPIA), is the legislation that implements the U.S.'s ratification of the 1970 UNESCO Convention to curb archaeological pillage and illicit trafficking in cultural property. The CPIA grants the President the authority to impose import restrictions on categories of archaeological and ethnological materials that are vulnerable to pillage following a request from another State that is a party to the Convention. Such a…
A First-Person Account of the CPAC Meeting Reviewing Italian Import Restrictions On October 21 the Federal Register, which the US government uses for official communications, gave notice of a public meeting of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) to be held on November 12 and 13, 2009. I serve as the Vice-President for Professional Responsibilities of the AIA so this bureaucratic announcement, which circulated as a PDF, meant I needed to make a trip to…
A new Memorandum of Understanding was inked by the United States and the People’s Republic of China on January 14, 2009. The five-year agreement outlines a number of steps designed to stem the flow of illicitly excavated or exported artifacts from China to the U.S. The action was taken under the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, a U.S. law that implements the 1970 UNESCO Convention (click here for legal background). The agreement was supported…
Urgent RequestArchaeological Value of Coins Questioned The Cultural Property Advisory Committee at the U.S. Department of State is asking for additional public comment on the inclusion of ancient coins in the Cypriot request for import restrictions. The United States and Cyprus have had a bilateral agreement for almost five years that restricts the import into the United States of undocumented archaeological materials from Cyprus. The Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) in the U.S. Department of…
The deadline to submit letters in support of H.R. 915 has now passed. All letters submitted both in support and against the Bill are available online at: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=comment&hearing=440. A bill is now before the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow the President to impose emergency protection for antiquities illegally excavated and exported from Afghanistan. The AIA strongly supports this initiative, which would provide legal means to prevent the import into the U.S. of artifacts…
The public hearing of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee on the renewal of the U.S.-Italy bilateral agreement took place in Washington D.C. on September 8, 200. AIA President Jane Waldbaum and Vice President for Professional Responsibilities, Malcolm Bell, III both attended and presented testimony on behalf of renewal. Links to PDFs of their letters to the committee are posted below. Letter to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee Jane Waldbaum, AIA President Letter to the Cultural…
In response to ongoing looting of their archaeological and cultural heritage, the People's Republic of China has requested a bi-lateral agreement with the United States under Article 9 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention and implemented by the U.S. Cultural Property Implementation Act. If China's request is granted the U.S. would impose import restrictions on a wide range of Chinese antiquities. Artifacts that are accompanied by a legal export permit from China, or that can be…
