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PROTECTION OF THE ARQUEOLOGICAL AND PALEONTOLOGICAL PATRIMONY Law 25,743 Objectives and archaeological and paleontological goods. Distribution of competencies and enforcement authorities. Domain on archaeological and paleontological properties. Official Register of Archaeological and Paleontological Sites and Collection or Archaeological Objects or Paleontological Rests. Concessions. Limitations to private property. Violations and sanctions. Crimes and penises. Transfer of objects. Special protection of paleontological materials. Complementary provisions. Sanctioned: June 4, 2003. Promulgated: June 25, 2003.

The Senate and Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation assembled in Congress, etc. sanction with force of Law:

PROTECTION OF THE PATRIMONY

ARQUEOLOGICO AND PALEONTOLOGICO

of the archaeological and paleontological objectives and goods The preservation, protection and protection of Archaeological and Paleontological Heritage as an integral part of the Cultural Heritage of the Nation and the scientific and cultural exploitation of it are the subject of this law.

ARTICLE 2 They form part of the Archaeological Heritage the movable and immovable things or vestiges of any nature that are on the surface, subsoil or submerged in jurisdictional waters, that can provide information about the sociocultural groups that inhabited the country from pre-Columbian times to recent historical times.

They form part of the Paleontological Heritage the organisms or part of organisms or indications of the vital activity of organisms that lived in the geological past and all natural concentration of fossils in a body of rock or sediments exposed on the surface or located in the subsoil or under the jurisdictional waters.

Article 3 This law shall be applicable throughout the territory of the Nation.

The distribution of competencies and enforcement authorities. ARTICLE 4 They shall be exclusive powers of the national State:

(a) To exercise the protection of Archaeological and Paleontological Heritage. In order to do so, it should take measures to preserve, investigate and promote dissemination.

(b) To exercise the defense and custody of the Archaeological and Paleontological Heritage at the international level, through the prevention and punishment of illegal imports or exports. In order to do so, it must implement the actions to manage the return of archaeological and/or paleontological goods to the corresponding country of origin.

ARTICLE 5o The National Institute of Latin American Anthropology and Thought, under the Ministry of Culture of the Nation, will be the competent national agency that will be responsible for the powers provided for in the previous article of Archaeological Heritage.

The protection of the Paleontological Heritage shall be carried out by the national body established pursuant to article 55 of this Law.

They are the functions of each to fulfill the following:

(a) Create and organize the National Register of Archaeological Sites, Collections and Objects and the National Register of Paleontological Sites, Collections and Remains, with information to be required from local jurisdictions.

(b) Create a National Register of Infractors and Reoffenders.

(c) Establish appropriate coordination and collaboration with relevant agencies in the provinces.

ARTICLE 6 They are exclusive powers of the provinces and the Autonomous Government of the City of Buenos Aires:

(a) Establish the creation of the competent body to be responsible for the implementation of the Law on the Protection of Archaeological and Paleontological Heritage or to attribute these functions to an existing organism.

(b) Organize in their respective jurisdictions a Register of Archaeological Sites, Collections and Objects and a Register of Paleontological Sites, Collections and Remains, with as a preferred basis the methodology adopted by the Implementation Authority, in order to facilitate the best national coordination.

(c) Create a Register of Infractors in archaeological and paleontological matters.

(d) To grant, through its competent agencies, concessions for prospects and investigations.

(e) To align their legislation on concessions, infringements and sanctions in order to centralize and provide such information to national or provincial agencies upon request.

(f) To seek the creation of local delegations within their jurisdictional sphere in order to achieve more efficient compliance with the provisions of this law.

(g) Communicate to the National Institute for Latin American Anthropology and Thought and to the national body competent in paleontological matters the concessions granted, as well as the infractions and sanctions applied in order to achieve the centralization of the information.

(h) Communicate to the competent national agency the authorizations granted for the transfer of archaeological collections and objects or paleontological remains outside the country, in order to enable them to know and adopt measures necessary for those cases where they must manage their recovery and return to the country.

ARTICLE 7 They are concurrent powers of the national State, the provinces and the Autonomous Government of the City of Buenos Aires to specify the adoption of policies and measures aimed at achieving uniform legislation and administrative organization throughout the national territory that, recognizing local particularities, tends to facilitate more efficiently the protection and investigation of the Archaeological and Paleontological Heritage.

ARTICLE 8 The police power shall be exercised in accordance with the distribution of powers in this Act and the national State may exercise it concurrently with the provinces at their request.

From the domain on archaeological and paleontological properties Archaeological and paleontological properties are the public domain of the national, provincial or municipal State, according to the territorial scope of which they are, in accordance with articles 2339 and 2340 9 of the Civil Code and by article 121 and concordants of the National Constitution.

ARTICLE 10. Archaeological and paleontological materials from excavations made by concessions or resulting from confiscations shall be transferred to the power of the national, provincial or municipal State, as appropriate, the implementing agencies empowered to give it the destination they deem most appropriate and to set the spaces that meet the necessary organizational and security requirements for its preservation.

From the Official Register of Archaeological and Paleontological Sites ARTICLE 11. The owners of the land where archaeological or paleontological deposits are located, as well as any person who locates them, must report them to the competent agency for the purposes of their registration.

ARTICLE 12. When the competent agency registers a new archaeological or paleontological site, it must inform the owner of the land where it is located, whether physical or legal, or it corresponds to a municipality. This registration does not imply any modification to the right of ownership over the founding that the individual or the national, provincial or municipal State has.

ARTICLE 13. Any natural or legal person practising excavations for the purpose of performing construction, agricultural, industrial or other work of a similar nature is obliged to denounce to the competent body the discovery of the site and of any archaeological or other paleontological object that will be found in the excavations, being responsible for its conservation until the competent agency takes intervention and takes care of them.

ARTICLE 14. If the competent agency does not order the recognition of the place and does not take charge of the obtained within ten (10) days of having received the complaint, the person or entity responsible for the work, shall terminate a record with the intervention of the local competent authority where it shall record the identification of the place and deliver the findings made, from that moment on its responsibility.

ARTICLE 15. Archaeological remains and recorded paleontological remains within privately owned premises are subject to the permanent monitoring of the competent body, who may inspect them whenever he deems it appropriate, not being able to create obstacles to the simple inspection.

From the Official Register of Collections or Archaeological Objects or Paleontological Rests ARTICLE 16. The natural or legal persons who, prior to the date of promulgation of the present, have in their possession archaeological collections or objects or paleontological remains, of any material and quality, shall, within the period of ninety (90) days of the aforementioned date, denounce them to the competent authority for the purposes of their registration in the Official Register, then remain under their possession. It is assumed that the possession of archaeological or paleontological materials has been given after the established date and, therefore, of illegal origin, leading to the forfeiture of such property.

ARTICLE 17. The competent agency will carry out an inventory of the collections, objects and debris reported, indicating the name and address of the owner, place where they are deposited, nature and description of each of the pieces, accompanied by the graphic and photographic documents that allow their identification.

ARTICLE 18. The collections or archaeological objects and paleontological remains registered in the Official Register may only be transferred free of charge for inheritance or for donation to scientific institutions or public, national, provincial, municipal or university museums. In all cases, the competent authority shall be denounced, within the time limit set forth in article 16, in order to register the new situation in the relevant registry.

ARTICLE 19. The owners of archaeological collections or objects or paleontological remains inscribed in the Official Register shall not be able to dispose of them by onerous title without offering them in a fruitful and priority manner to the national or provincial State, as appropriate. The State shall be issued within a period not exceeding ninety (90) days, accepting the proposal or dictating through the competent agency, the fair price of the collection or the object for direct acquisition. If the alien is dissenting at the price indicated and insists on his intention to dispose, he shall promote the corresponding judicial action for the fixing of his value or solution of the dispute. If the competent body is not expiated within the ninety-ninety (90) days or makes it manifesting disinterest in the acquisition, the alien may freely dispose of the good by communicating the new situation for registration in the Official Register.

ARTICLE 20. Any alienation carried out in violation of the provisions of the preceding article is null and void, the competent body is entitled to impose a fine which shall not exceed 50 per cent (50%) of the value of the good, the alienating and the acquirer, who shall therefore be jointly responsible and the kidnapping of archaeological or paleontological materials until such time as it is paid.

ARTICLE 21. The competent bodies may authorize temporary possession of archaeological objects or paleontological remains to researchers or scientific institutions for a given period in order to facilitate their investigation. Authors must supervise and control the loan of materials, whether within or outside their jurisdictional area.

ARTICLE 22. Private owners of archaeological collections or objects or registered paleontological remains must allow access to the material, in the manner appropriated by the competent agency.

of the concessions ARTICLE 23. In order to carry out any type of prospects and research in archaeological or paleontological sites of the national territory, it is necessary to obtain a prior grant from the competent authority corresponding to the jurisdictional field where the deposits will be carried out.

ARTICLE 24. Applications for concessions for prospects and/or archaeological or paleontological research should meet at least the following basic requirements:

(a) Name and address of the person/s or national or foreign research institution requesting it, with the express indication of its scientific character and without commercial speculation purposes.

(b) Nomine of the intervening scientific personnel, who must possess suitability in relation to the scientific tasks to be performed.

(c) Nomin of the support staff or other persons involved in it with their personal identification and background associated with the activity to be carried out.

(d) A topographic letter or scheme with the precise delimitation of the place or places where the investigation will take place.

(e) The objectives of the mission, its scientific or cultural scope, the means or logistical capacity it intends to act with.

(f) A work plan with the methodology to be used and any other information that allows the competent authority to evaluate previously its purposes and results.

(g) The dates, stages or duration of the mission.

(h) Subsequent requirements that could be consistent with post-mission scientific research.

Researchers who submit accredited workplans and approved by official scientific or university, national or provincial bodies are excluded from meeting these requirements.

ARTICLE 25. When the concession is requested by a foreign researcher or scientific institution, it will also be required as a precondition to work with an Argentine State or university scientific institution and the authorization of the national Government in order to its competence.

ARTICLE 26. When the investigations are carried out in private property grounds, if the applicant of the concession obtains it, it shall annex to it the written consent of the owner of the land or of the person in the use and enjoyment of that right. Otherwise, the implementing agency must, prior to the granting of the concession, require the conformity of those for the execution of the work required by the investigation.

ARTICLE 27. The competent body shall have a term of thirty (30) days to be issued on the application for concession. The concessions will be awarded for the maximum term of three (3) years. After that period, a new concession must be requested. In the event that the competent body is issued in a negative manner, the person concerned may appeal to the senior administrative agency, whose decision shall be binding.

ARTICLE 28. Granting a concession to a particular or institution shall not be granted within the agreed sector unless the concessionaire permits another investigation to take place simultaneously. The enforcement authority shall authorize interdisciplinary and joint work and may set exceptions to regulation.

ARTICLE 29. The owner of the land, or whoever is in the use and enjoyment of that right, is empowered to make excavations within the predium where there are archaeological remains movable or immovable or paleontological remains, to demand that he credit in writing the concession granted, without which he will not allow them to take place.

ARTICLE 30. All the monuments, archaeological objects and paleontological remains that are discovered in the research process are the public domain of the national, provincial or Autonomous Government of the City of Buenos Aires, as appropriate. The concessionaires may obtain temporary possession of the objects from the investigations for their study for a term not exceeding two (2) years, for which purpose they shall indicate the place where they are deposited.

ARTICLE 31. Concessionary persons or institutions shall submit all parts and materials that are extracted for control and registration with the local competent agency. In the same way, they will have to submit a scientific report documented with the results obtained in the studies and copies of the publications resulting from the work in a period not exceeding one (1) year. The application authority in paleontological matters may modify the time limits set in this article and in the precedent according to the specificity of its matter.

ARTICLE 32. The competent authority may designate venettors in order to exercise control over investigations and ensure the systematic accomplishment of the corresponding tasks, by requiring those responsible for scientific missions to provide them with all information required to them in accordance with this law.

ARTICLE 33. Any resolution regarding the concessions or measures that she calls for must be founded, as well as those that are replaced by complaints or claims of landowners and settled within a period not exceeding thirty (30) days.

ARTICLE 34. Failure to comply with the obligations set forth in the preceding articles shall be subject to suspension for a maximum period of six (6) months or expiry of the award.

Of the limitations to the particular property ARTICLE 35. When archaeological or paleontological remains are located on private property grounds, the competent authority shall agree with its owners what is necessary to facilitate the study and/or preservation of the site.

ARTICLE 36. The competent agency may, for reasons of public interest, arrange for temporary occupation of privately owned land where archaeological property or paleontological remains are located. Such occupation, except in cases of imminent danger, shall be declared by law. The occupation may not exceed a maximum of two (2) years, with a fair compensation to the landlord.

ARTICLE 37. In cases where the conservation of archaeological remains or paleontological remains implies a perpetual servitude on the grounds on which such property is located, the national or provincial State in their respective jurisdictions shall establish it by special law and compensation to the owners of the land.

Offences and sanctions Article 38. Transgressions to the provisions of this Act shall be repressed with the following penalties:

(a) Appreciation.

(b) Fine: This shall be established between a minimum of ten percent (10%) up to three times the value of the good or property that has motivated the sanctioned conduct. The national executive branch shall establish in the regulation of this law a dinerary fine for cases where the determination of the value of the good is impossible or difficult. For the determination of the fine, the seriousness of the offence committed and the reoffending character of the offender shall be addressed.

(c) confiscation of archaeological, paleontological and/or instruments used to commit the offence.

(d) Suspension or expiration of the concession.

(e) Disqualification.

(f) Temporary or definitive clause.

ARTICLE 39. Persons who do so, or order to perform to third parties, tasks of prospecting, removal or excavation in archaeological and paleontological sites without applying for the corresponding concession to the competent authority, shall be liable to a fine, which shall be determined according to the magnitude of the alteration made and the forfeiture of all objects of archeological or paleontological nature that have been assembled, even if they are in possession of a good third party. If for the degree of deterioration there was irreparable loss to the State ' s cultural heritage, the competent body shall denounce the offenders to the Court for the purpose of determining whether they are involved in the offence of harm (article 183 and 184 5 of the Criminal Code).

ARTICLE 40. Persons who, for any reason, discover archaeological or paleontological materials in a casual way on the surface or within the land or on aqueous surfaces, shall denounce them and immediately hand them over to the competent body or, failing that, to the nearest police authority, which shall communicate to the said body. The omission of the duty of denunciation and concealment shall make the authors liable for an apprehension and, if repeated, a fine. In all cases, the confiscation of the assembled materials will proceed.

ARTICLE 41. Persons who fail to register the collections or archaeological objects and paleontological remains obtained prior to the sanction of this law within the time limits set forth in article 16 shall be punished with notice and the obligation to register them in the Official Register within thirty (30) days of the notification. In the event of the expiry of the time limit without compliance with this obligation, confiscation shall proceed.

ARTICLE 42. Failure to comply with some of the conditions agreed upon in the concession will result in the application of a graduated fine according to the severity of the fault. Where the concessionaire does not conform to the agreed methodological and scientific guidelines or pursues objectives other than those established, the expiry of the concession may be resolved without the right to compensation. If it is also proved that the concessionaire has infringed this law and/or the requirements and conditions set out in the concession clauses, the contraventory investigator may also be sanctioned with temporary or definitive disqualification for obtaining new concessions, in addition to the confiscation of the archaeological and paleontological materials obtained and the instruments used in the research work.

ARTICLE 43. Persons who, after the enactment of this Act, are seized and/or commercialized archaeological and/or paleontological objects and those who receive them, even if they claim good faith, will be liable to a fine and forfeiture of property. When it comes to sales carried out in commercial establishments, its temporary closure will also be arranged, with the final closure in case of recidivism.

ARTICLE 44. Individuals or public or private institutions that transfer or facilitate the transfer of archaeological or paleontological materials shall be fined for any purpose, within the national territory, without the prior authorization of the local competent agency where the materials are located.

ARTICLE 45. The National Institute for Latin American Anthropology and Thinking, the competent national body for paleontological matters and the competent bodies established in the provincial order will be responsible for implementing the penalties for the offences set forth in this Act.

Crimes and their Penalties ARTICLE 46. It will be repressed from one (1) month to one (1) year of imprisonment or imprisonment and with special disqualification of up to three (3) years, which will perform by itself or order to perform to third parties tasks of exploration, removal or excavation in archaeological and paleontological sites.

ARTICLE 47. If, during the commission of the act described in the preceding rule, a deterioration in the objects is caused by an irreparable loss to the cultural heritage of the State, the offence of damage prescribed in articles 183 and 184 of the Criminal Code shall be instituted.

ARTICLE 48. It will be repressed with imprisonment of two (2) months to two (2) years and with special disqualification of up to five (5) years, the one that transports, stores, buys, sells, industrializes or in any way puts in the trade parts, products or by-products from national and international archaeological and paleontological sites.

ARTICLE 49. The attempt to export and import from the national territory of archaeological or paleontological parts, products or by-products and archaeological or paleontological collections shall be subject to the penalties provided for the smuggling offence set out in Articles 863 and in accordance with the Customs Code.

From the transfer of archaeological and paleontological objects ARTICLE 50. Archaeological objects and paleontological remains may be transferred within the national territory, upon authorization of the local competent agency, as a loan for the purposes of its investigation and/or exposure for the term determined by the competent authority.

Those concerned should report on the measures to be taken to safeguard such property and ensure that it is returned to the place of origin under the conditions that were handed over to them.

ARTICLE 51. The transfer outside the territory of the Nation of archaeological and paleontological goods may be carried out within the conditions set out in the previous article, upon authorization by the competent local agency, as a loan for the purposes of its investigation or for the dissemination of knowledge abroad.

Special protection of paleontological materials ARTICLE 52. The paleontological objects or remains defined in Article 2 of this Law which constitute type materials shall not be transferred outside the national territory for the purpose of exchange, exchange or donation.

ARTICLE 53. The reproductions and artificial calcos obtained from archaeological and paleontological goods may be sold or exchanged.

ARTICLE 54. The resources of relevant national agencies shall be integrated as follows:

(a) The amounts obtained through budget allocations;

(b) The fruits, interests and incomes from their heritage; c) The inheritances, legacies, donations of individuals;

(d) Tariffs and fees that perceive as retribution for the services they provide;

(e) Subsidies or grants;

(f) The aegis of private companies, State entities or non-governmental organizations;

(g) The proceeds of fines for non-compliance with the provisions of the respective protection laws;

(h) Any other income provided by the Executive Branch of the Nation.

Complementary provisions. ARTICLE 55. The body that will be the application authority in paleontological matters will operate within the area of the Secretariat of Science and Technology.

ARTICLE 56. The national universities and scientific entities of recognized history in archaeological and paleontological research will agree with the authority to apply this law the functions of protection and dissemination of knowledge on archaeological and paleontological heritage. These agreements should ensure that national universities and entities participate in the assessment and administration of concessions, designation of venettors, property design, preservation and control.

ARTICLE 57. All deadlines provided for in this law shall be counted in working days. This law shall be regulated by the national executive branch within a period not exceeding one hundred and twenty (120) days.

ARTICLE 58. Default of Act No. 9080, its regulatory decree and any other provision that is contrary to the present.

ARTICLE 59. Contact the Executive.

IN THE SESSION OF THE ARGENTINE CONGRESS, IN GOOD AIRES, TO THE FOUR DAYS OF THE JUNE YEAR TWO MIL TRES.

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EDUARDO O. CHANGE. . JOSE L. GIOJA. . Eduardo D. Rollano. . Juan Estrada.