Questionnaire for States parties to UNESCO s Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property INTRODUCTORY REMARKS At the 5th session of the Subsidiary Committee of the Meeting of States Parties to the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970 Convention), held from 17 to 19 May 2017 at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France, the Members of the Subsidiary Committee adopted Decision 5.SC 6 bis requesting the Secretariat to: establish, in coordination with the Bureau of the Subsidiary Committee, a questionnaire in order to identify potential measures to strengthen the implementation, efficiency and visibility of the Convention in all its aspects especially legal, political and structural, including the opportunity to establish a List of Good Practices; send the questionnaire to the Bureau of the Subsidiary Committee for approval; send the questionnaire to all States Parties before the end of September 2017, asking States Parties to submit their responses before 15 January 2018; consolidate the answers of the States Parties and send a summary of the results to all States Parties before the end of April 2018. The present Questionnaire is prepared in application of the aforementioned decision of the Subsidiary Committee. The Secretariat would appreciate receiving the replies from States Parties to the Questionnaire before 15 January 2018. Please send the completed Questionnaire to convention1970@unesco.org. 1
EFFICIENCY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION The questions below relate to the implementation of paragraph 3 of the Decision 5.SC 6 bis with regard to the efficiency in the implementation of the Convention. 1) How does your country wish to improve the implementation of the Convention (please elaborate briefly). As a State - Party to the Convention, Bulgaria is interested in increasing the efficiency of measures undertaken to prevent the illegal import, export and trafficking of cultural property. As far as legislation is concerned a great number of mechanisms for preventing and protecting cultural values from illicit traffic have been elaborated but because of their diversity and scope there have been some difficulties in popularizing them in public as well as exercising control on their implementation by the specialized organs. 2) Which pillar(s) of the Convention should be given priority in terms of strengthening the implementation? (please tick the box(es) and provide explanations if need be). Prevention ( ) Return and Restitution International Cooperation ( ) other 3) Does your country have any specific proposals and examples regarding the strengthening of the implementation and efficiency of the 1970 Convention? If yes, please provide your input under the most relevant section. a) Prevention b) Return and Restitution c) International Cooperation 2
d) Other 4) With regard to Return and Restitution, does your country have any suggestions regarding the interaction between the Subsidiary Committee and the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP)? In the past years the procedures for the return of illegally exported cultural property have been performed without the assistance of these two organs. 5) Considering the momentum gained through the establishment of the Meeting of the States Parties, the creation of the Subsidiary Committee and the adoption of Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the Convention, how could these governing bodies be better utilized in order to strengthen the Convention and support States Parties interests? In our view the Operational Guidelines represent a tool of great value helping the implementation of the Convention by the States-Parties on the one hand and enhancing its dissemination on the other. Adding measures for good practices exchange, communication and awareness-raising activities will increase the efficiency in the implementation of the Convention. The Subsidiary Committee could contribute to the strengthening of the Convention through drawing the attention towards the building up of and stabilizing regional practices and encouraging regional cooperation in the fight against illicit traffic of cultural property in specific regions. 6) How useful in your experience, are the existing legal and practical tools 1 produced by the Secretariat? Do you have proposals for possible future deliverables by the Secretariat? If so, would you be prepared to provide resources to deliver them? 1 Practical tools : Model Export Certificate for Cultural Objects (UNESCO WCO); UNESCO International Code of Ethics for Dealers in Cultural Property; UNESCO Database National Cultural Heritage Laws Basic Actions concerning Cultural Objects being offered for sale over the Internet (INTERPOL UNESCO ICOM) Legal tools: Model Provisions on State Ownership of Undiscovered Cultural Objects; Rules of Procedure for Mediation and Conciliation 3
The majority of these practical tools (Model Export Certificate for Cultural Objects; UNESCO Database National Cultural Heritage Laws) have proved in practice to be useful for states and organizations such as EU in virtue of their principles and basic contents. As far as modern challenges that activities regarding protection of cultural values face are concerned, the member-states can join efforts in order to implement effective monitoring measures on the on line traffic as well as to neutralize attempted illegal traffic in the Internet by sharing good practices. 7) Do you have further suggestions to improve the dissemination of the tools produced by the UNESCO Secretariat? No. 8) Once a tool is produced to support the implementation of the Convention, endorsed by the relevant governing bodies, what steps should be taken by the national authorities in order to ensure that all relevant governmental or related experts are aware of the existence of the tool and make use of it? After producing a document giving support of the implementation of the Convention, the competent national authorities are interested in undertaking steps to inform the parties concerned experts, businessmen, collectors, through its translation, publication on the Internet page of the relevant national organ, as well as to establish contacts with them. In most cases it is necessary for the national authorities to adapt the respective documents to the specific conditions and national legislation via additional instructions and mechanisms for implementation. 9) Have you or other stakeholders in your country benefited from capacity-building activities/tools related to preventing illicit trafficking of cultural property developed by the Secretariat? If so, give examples and indicate briefly the resulting effect or change. A representative of the Ministry of Culture took part in a training program (Building capacities for the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property in South-Eastern Europe, held in Gaziantep, Turkey, 19-20 November 2012). 10) Do you have suggestions for how the capacity-building programme could be further improved, should financial resources be available? 4
VISIBILITY AND PROMOTION OF THE CONVENTION The questions below pertain to the implementation of paragraph 3 of the Decision 5.SC 6 bis with regard to the visibility of the Convention. 11) What steps have been taken by your national authorities to promote the Convention and its implementation in your country? 12) Does your country have any proposals regarding the improvement of the visibility and further promotion of the Convention including through the following organs/activities? a) Statutory bodies b) Capacity-building activities c) Awareness-raising activities d) Education material and activities 5
e) Publications f) Online resources and web-pages g) Media 13) Does your country benefit from the information and links available on the 1970 Convention webpage. Do you find information to be easily accessible and useful? If no, how would you recommend the Secretariat to develop its webpage? According to our practice we mostly use information regarding traffic of stolen cultural property as well as the legislative experience of other States-Parties to the Convention in the sphere of the protection of cultural heritage. In this regard we mostly make use of: UNESCO Database National Cultural Heritage Laws and the link ICOM-Red Lists database. 14) Please provide any additional suggestions to increase the visibility of the Convention. CAPACITY BUILDING AND GOOD PRACTICES The questions below pertain to the implementation of paragraph 3 of the Decision 5.SC 6 bis with regard to the opportunity to establish a List of Good Practices. 15) Does your country maintain a List of Good Practices pertaining to the implementation of the Convention? If yes, which criteria are used to establish such a national List? 6
16) Does your country inform the Secretariat on national good practices concerning the protection of cultural property? ( ) yes no 17) What in your view should be the criteria and assessment mechanism for a possible international list? Good Practices List Criteria: Practices concerning the return and restitution of the ownership of cultural property; - Realization of measures to prevent and prohibit the illegal import and export and the transfer of the right to ownership; - Undertaking steps for popularizing the Convention in different countries and regions; - Good practices in international cooperation on subjects connected with the Convention; - Good practices in using the experience of partnership organizations and UNESCO s governing bodies related to the Convention. 18) Does your country support the idea of the creation of an international list on the best practices of return and restitution cases? yes ( ) no 19) How could Good Practices be better integrated in capacity building initiatives to strengthen the implementation of the Convention? 7
20) Additional Comments: 8