Mark Pritchard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold discussions with the major auction houses on the sale of stolen antiquities from conflict areas and the links between the proceeds of such sales and the funding of terrorism.

Mr Edward Vaizey

I have no current plans to hold discussions with the major auction houses, nor has the Government recently discussed the sale of conflict antiquities with them. The Government believes that regulating trade in antiquities is primarily the responsibility of the art and antiquities trade itself. The established trade associations possess codes of ethics by which they expect their members to abide and we expect the associations to strictly enforce those codes. The DCMS has produced advice and guidance to help UK dealers and auction houses consider the relevant issues such as ensuring the secure provenance of cultural objects in which they deal.

The UK takes the issue of illicit trade in cultural goods very seriously and is continuously working to combat this type of trafficking.

The UK has legislation in place, the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, which makes it an offence to import or export objects if that is prohibited under any enactment. Once an EU Regulation prohibiting such import or export comes into force, the act becomes a UK offence. Accordingly, prohibitions on export and import of certain Syrian cultural property under Council Regulation (EU) 1332/2013 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria, have been backed up by UK offences since December 2013. These are complemented by a statutory instrument (The Export Control (Syria Sanctions) (Amendment) Order 2014) which was laid before Parliament on 18 July 2014. The prohibitions relate to the trade in certain Syrian cultural goods where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the goods were removed from Syria on or after 9 May 2011 without consent of the legitimate owner or in breach of Syrian or international law.

The import, export and dealing in illegally removed Iraqi cultural property is prohibited under The Iraq (United Nations Sanctions) Order 2003. While not specific to war situations, the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 prohibits dealing in cultural objects illegally excavated or illegally removed from monuments or structures of historical, architectural or archaeological interest.