Cultural Objects: Export Licences

Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn
asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, and in what circumstances, under European Community regulations, they would currently be able to withhold an export licence for a cultural object correctly judged to be tainted in the terms of the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003. [HL7479]

Lord Davies of Oldham
The relevant EU regulation is Council Regulation EC 3911/92 on the export of cultural goods. Under the terms of this regulation, the UK is obliged to issue export licences for cultural objects within its territory, unless it is not the competent authority within the terms of Article 2 of the regulation.

The UK Government would be the competent authority to issue that licence only if:

(a) the antiquities in question were lawfully and definitively located within the territory of the UK on 1 January 1993; or
 

(b) they had subsequently been imported to the UK following lawful and definitive dispatch from another member state, importation from a third country or importation from a third country after lawful dispatch from a member state to that country.
 

The UK Government would not be the competent authority to issue an export licence in relation to an item that has not been lawfully and definitively dispatched from another member state and would therefore be able to withhold an export licence for such items. Where a cultural object that is “tainted” within the meaning of the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 has also been illegally exported from another member state to the UK, the Government would be able to withhold an EU export licence for that object.

Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn
asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the accession of Hungary to the European Union in 2004 would now preclude, under the relevant European Union regulations, the issue of an export licence by the United Kingdom Government for an important antiquity or group of antiquities believed to have been illicitly excavated in Hungary in recent decades and subsequently illegally exported from that country. [HL7480]

Lord Davies of Oldham
Under Council Regulation EC 3911/92, export of antiquities from the UK to a country outside the customs territory of the EU requires an export licence. The UK Government are the competent authority to issue that licence if:

(a) the antiquities in question were lawfully and definitively located within the territory of the UK on 1 January 1993; or
 

(b) they had subsequently been imported to the UK following lawful and definitive dispatch from another member state, importation from a third country or importation from a third country after lawful dispatch from a member state to that country.
 

If none of these circumstances applies, the regulation would preclude the issue of an export licence by the UK Government, because it would not be the competent authority within the meaning of the regulation. This position would not be affected by the subsequent accession of Hungary to the EU in 2004.

Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn
asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress there has been with the proposed amendment of the European Community regulations governing the refusal of export licences for illicitly removed cultural materials that have entered the United Kingdom (a) from another member state of the European Community; and (b) from outside the European Community. [HL7483]

Lord Davies of Oldham
No amendment is required to Council Regulation EC 3911/92 to enable the UK to refuse an export licence in relation to an item that has been illegally exported from another member state. In such cases, the UK will not be the competent authority as defined in Article 2 of that regulation to issue a licence in relation to such an item and would, therefore, have to refer the matter to the member state in question.

The UK has made a proposal for the amendment of Council Regulation EC 3911/92 which would allow the UK to refuse an export licence in relation to an object that had been illegally exported from a third country to the UK. However, this proposal does not yet have sufficient support from other member states.