Stolen Works of Art > Conferences and meetings

Recommendations

The participants of the 6th International Symposium on the Theft of and the Illicit Traffic in Works of Art, Cultural Property and Antiques, meeting in Lyon, France from 21 to 23 June 2005,

AWARE of the continuing theft of and illicit traffic in cultural property as a global issue,

RECOGNIZING the particular vulnerability of places of worship and archaeological sites,

NOTING the efforts of member countries in developing strategies for addressing the problems, recommend:

1. member countries to adopt the model export certificate for cultural property jointly developed by UNESCO and the World Customs Organization;
   
   
2. all countries to consider adopting legislation and developing procedures that require proper examination of appropriate documentation for all cultural goods entering their country;
   
   
3. member countries to consider clarifying whether their national legislation stipulates that undiscovered archaeological objects on land and under water or illicitly excavated are state property;
   
   
4. Interpol NCBs to grant access to the stolen works of art database through the I-24/7 to all relevant law enforcement agencies in their countries;
   
   
5. all countries to gather statistics on thefts from places of worship and make them known to appropriate institutions with a view to raising awareness of the problem and promoting inventories and increased security measures. ICOM is invited to study ways to collate and disseminate this information;
   
   
6. member countries to consider whether their cultural heritage legislation should include a provision for proof of ownership of cultural property prior to their trade;
   
   
7. countries seeking the return of their cultural objects provide adequate relevant documentation detailing the date and place of the theft with a full inventory of the stolen objects including descriptions and photographs. For incidents of looting, date and place with documented justification of the provenance of the items should be provided;
   
   
8. Interpol NCBs systematically provide information to the General Secretariat regarding important stolen cultural objects including modus operandi and the offenders involved;
   
   
9. establishment of minimum documentation for all cultural objects and use of the Object ID checklist for this purpose;
   
   
10. member countries supply UNESCO with a copy of their cultural heritage legislation and ensure regular updating for integration in the database;
    
    
11. member countries examine the possibility to accede to the 1970 UNESCO Convention and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention;
    
    
12. the Interpol General Secretariat to study the feasibility of assisting in training efforts concerning cultural property crime;