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13 MAI 2003. - An Act to enact the Convention concerning measures to ban and prevent the importation, exportation, and transfer of illicit property of cultural property, adopted in Paris on 14 November 1970 (1) (2) (3)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The Convention on Measures to Prohibit and Prevent the Import, Export, and Transfer of Illicit Property of Cultural Property, adopted in Paris on 14 November 1970, will come out its full and full effect.
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 13 May 2003.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
L. MICHEL
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
____
Notes
(1) Session 2002-2003.
Senate.
Documents. - Bill tabled on 13 February 2003, No. 2-1469/1. - Report made on behalf of the commission, No. 2-1469/2.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion, meeting of 20 March 2003. - Vote, meeting of 20 March 2003.
Chamber of Representatives:
Documents. - Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 50-2398/1. - Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 50-2398/2.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion, meeting of 3 April 2003. - Vote, meeting of 3 April 2003.
(2) See Decree of the Flemish Community/ Flemish Region of 6 February 2009 (Belgian Monitor of 11 March 2009), Decree of the French Community of 12 May 2004 (Belgian Monitor of 4 June 2004), Decree of the German-speaking Community of 30 October 2006 (Belgian Monitor of 4 January 2007), Decree of the Walloon Region of 25 March 2004 (Belgian Monitor of 7 April 2004), Order of the Belgian Region
(3) Entry into force on 24 April 1972.

CONVENTION CONCERNING MEASURES ÷ PURSUANT TO INTERDIRE AND EMPCHER IMPORTATION, EXPORTATION, AND TRANSFER OF ILLICIANS OF CULTURAL BIENDS
The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, held in Paris from 12 October to 14 November 1970 in its sixteenth session,
Recalling the importance of the provisions of the Declaration of Principles of International Cultural Cooperation adopted by the General Conference at its fourteenth session,
Considering that the exchange of cultural goods among nations for scientific, cultural and educational purposes deepens the knowledge of human civilization, enriches the cultural life of all peoples and creates mutual respect and esteem among nations,
Considering that cultural property is one of the fundamental elements of the civilization and culture of peoples, and that they take their real value only if their origin, history and environment are known with the utmost precision,
Considering that each State has the duty to protect the heritage constituted by the cultural property existing in its territory from the dangers of flight, clandestine searches and illegal export,
Considering that, in order to address these dangers, it is essential that each State become more aware of the moral obligations relating to respect for its cultural heritage and that of all nations,
Considering that museums, libraries and archives, as cultural institutions, must ensure that their collections are based on universally recognized moral principles,
Considering that the import, export and transfer of illicit property of cultural property hampers the mutual understanding of the nations that UNESCO has the duty to promote, among other things, by recommending to interested States international conventions to that effect,
Considering that, to be effective, the protection of cultural heritage must be organized both nationally and internationally and requires close cooperation between States,
Considering that the General Conference of UNESCO has already adopted, in 1964, a recommendation to this effect,
Having before it new proposals concerning the measures to be taken to prohibit and prevent the illicit importation, export and transfer of property of cultural property, which constitutes agenda item 19 of the session,
After deciding, at its fifteenth session, that this issue would be the subject of an international convention, this fourteenth day of November 1970 adopts this Convention.
Article 1
For the purposes of this Convention are considered cultural property which, as a religious or profane, are designated by each State as of importance to archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science, and which belong to the following categories:
1. rare collections and specimens of zoology, botany, mineralogy and anatomy; objects of palaeontological interest;
2. property relating to history, including the history of science and technology, military and social history and the lives of national leaders, thinkers, scholars and artists, and events of national importance;
3. the product of archaeological excavations (regular and clandestine) and archaeological discoveries;
4. elements from the dismemberment of artistic or historical monuments and archaeological sites;
5. antiques with more than one hundred years of age, such as inscriptions, coins and engraved seals;
6. ethnological material;
7. artistic interests such as:
a. paintings, paintings and drawings made entirely by hand on any medium and material (excluding industrial drawings and handmade items);
b. Original productions of statue and sculpture in all materials;
c. Original engravings, prints and lithographs;
d. original artistic assemblies and montages, in all materials;
8. rare and unbreakable manuscripts, books, documents and publications of special interest (historical, artistic, scientific, literary, etc.) isolated or in collections;
9. postage stamps, tax stamps and similar, isolated or in collections;
10. archives, including phonographic, photographic and film archives;
11. furniture with more than a hundred years of age and old musical instruments.
Article 2
1. The States Parties to this Convention recognize that the illicit importation, export and transfer of property of cultural property is one of the main purposes of impoverishment of the cultural heritage of the countries of origin of such property, and that international collaboration is one of the most effective means of protecting their respective cultural property from all the dangers that are the consequences of it.
2. To this end, States parties undertake to combat these practices by the means available to them, including by removing their causes, stopping their courses and helping to perform the necessary repairs.
Article 3
Illegal import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property, carried out contrary to the provisions taken by States parties under this Convention.
Article 4
The States Parties to this Convention recognize that for the purposes of this Convention, cultural property belonging to the following categories is part of the cultural heritage of each State:
(a) cultural property born of the individual or collective genius of nationals of the State concerned and cultural property important to the State concerned, created in the territory of that State by foreign nationals or by stateless persons residing in that territory;
(b) Cultural property found in the national territory;
(c) cultural property acquired by archaeological, ethnological or natural sciences missions, with the consent of the competent authorities of the country of origin of such property;
(d) cultural property that has been exchanged freely;
(e) cultural property received free of charge or legally purchased with the consent of the competent authorities of the country of origin of such property.
Article 5
In order to ensure the protection of their cultural property against the importation of illicit export and transfer of property, the States Parties to this Convention shall undertake in the appropriate conditions to each country in place in their territory, to the extent that they do not already exist, one or more cultural heritage protection services with a qualified person and in sufficient number to effectively ensure the following functions:
(a) contribute to the development of draft legislation and regulations to enable the protection of cultural heritage, including the suppression of illicit imports, exports and transfers of property of important cultural property;
(b) establish and maintain, on the basis of a national protection inventory, the list of important, public and private cultural property, whose export would constitute a significant impairment of the national cultural heritage;
(c) promote the development or establishment of scientific and technical institutions (museums, libraries, archives, laboratories, workshops, etc.) necessary to ensure the conservation and development of cultural property;
(d) Organize the control of archaeological excavations, ensure the "in situ" conservation of certain cultural property and protect certain areas reserved for future archaeological research;
(e) establish, for the benefit of interested persons (conservatives, collectors, antique dealers, etc.), rules in accordance with the ethical principles set out in this Convention and ensure respect for these rules;
(f) carry out educational activities in order to awaken and develop respect for the cultural heritage of all States and to disseminate widely the knowledge of the provisions of this Convention;
(g) ensure that appropriate advertising is given to any cases of disappearance of a cultural property.
Article 6
The States Parties to this Convention shall:
(a) to establish an appropriate certificate by which the exporting State would specify that the export of the cultural property(s) concerned is authorized by the exporting State to accompany the cultural property(s) regularly exported;
(b) prohibit the release of unaccompanied cultural property from the export certificate referred to above;
(c) To make this prohibition appropriately known to the public, and in particular to persons who may export or import cultural property.
Article 7
The States Parties to this Convention shall:
(a) to take all necessary measures, in accordance with national legislation, to prevent the acquisition by museums and other similar institutions located in their territory of cultural property from another State Party to the Convention, goods that would have been illicitly exported after the entry into force of the Convention, to the extent possible, to inform the State of origin, party to this Convention, of offers of such cultural property that has been illicitly released from the territory of that
(b) (i) to prohibit the importation of stolen cultural property into a civil or religious public museum or monument, or a similar institution, located in the territory of another State Party to this Convention after the entry into force of this Convention with respect to the States in question, provided that it is proven to be part of the inventory of that institution;
(ii) to take appropriate measures to seize and return to the request of the State of origin party to the Convention any cultural property so stolen and imported after the entry into force of this Convention in respect of the two States concerned, provided that the requesting State pays a fair compensation to the person who is a good-faith acquirer or who legally owns the property of that property. Requests for seizure and restitution must be addressed to the requested State through diplomatic channels. The requesting State is required to provide, at its own cost, any evidence necessary to justify its request for seizure and restitution. States Parties shall refrain from striking customs duties or other charges the cultural property returned in accordance with this article. All expenses related to the restitution of the cultural property or property in question are borne by the requesting State.
Article 8
States Parties to this Convention undertake to impose criminal or administrative sanctions on any person responsible for an offence under the prohibitions provided for in Articles 6 (b) and 7 (b) above.
Article 9
Any State Party to this Convention whose cultural heritage is endangered by certain archaeological or ethnological lootings may appeal to the States concerned. States Parties to this Convention undertake to participate in any concerted international operation in these circumstances, with a view to identifying and implementing the necessary concrete measures, including the control of the export, import and international trade of the specific cultural property concerned. Pending an agreement each State concerned will, to the extent possible, take interim measures to prevent irremediable damage to the cultural heritage of the requesting State.
Article 10
The States Parties to this Convention shall:
1. to restrict by education, information and vigilance, transfers of illegally removed cultural property from any State Party to this Convention and, under appropriate conditions to each country, to require, under penalty of criminal or administrative sanctions, an antiquary to keep a register indicating the origin of each cultural property, the name and address of the supplier, the description and price of each property sold, and to inform the buyer of the cultural property
2. To strive, through education, to create and develop in the public the sense of the value of cultural property and the danger that theft, clandestine searches and illicit exports represent for cultural heritage.
Article 11
The export and transfer of forced property of cultural property is considered unlawful, directly or indirectly resulting from the occupation of a country by a foreign power.
Article 12
The States Parties to this Convention shall respect the cultural heritage in the territories of which they provide international relations and shall take appropriate measures to prohibit and prevent the illicit importation, export and transfer of property of cultural property in those territories.
Article 13
The States parties to this Convention also undertake within the framework of the legislation of each State:
(a) To prevent, by any appropriate means, transfers of ownership of cultural property to promote the illicit import or export of such property;
(b) To ensure that their relevant services cooperate with a view to facilitating restitution, to whom by law, within the earliest times of the illicitly exported cultural property;
(c) to admit a claim of lost or stolen cultural property by or on behalf of the legitimate owner;
(d) to recognize, in addition, the imprescriptible right of each State Party to this Convention, to classify and declare inalienable certain cultural property which, as a result, must not be exported, and to facilitate the recovery by the State concerned of such goods in the event that they have been exported.
Article 14
In order to prevent illicit exports and to meet the obligations associated with the implementation of the provisions of this Convention, each State Party to that Convention shall, to the extent of its capacity, provide the national services for the protection of cultural heritage with an adequate budget and, if necessary, may establish a fund for that purpose.
Article 15
Nothing in this Convention precludes States parties to enter into particular agreements or to continue the implementation of agreements already concluded concerning the restitution of cultural property from their territory of origin, for any reason, before the entry into force of this Convention for the States concerned.
Article 16
The States parties to this Convention shall state in periodic reports that they shall submit to the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, on the dates and in the form it determines, the legislative and regulatory provisions and any other measures they have adopted for the implementation of this Convention, as well as information on their experience in this area.
Article 17
1. States parties to this Convention may use the technical assistance of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in particular with regard to:
(a) information and education;
(b) consultation and expertise,
(c) coordination and good offices.
2. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization can, on its own initiative, undertake research and publish studies on issues related to the illicit circulation of cultural property.
3. To this end, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization may also use the cooperation of any competent non-governmental organization.
4. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is empowered to make proposals to the States parties for the implementation of this Convention on its own initiative.
5. At the request of at least two States parties to this Convention that a dispute relating to the implementation of this Convention is opposed, UNESCO may offer its good offices in order to reach an agreement between them.
Article 18
The present Convention is established in English, Spanish, French and Russian, the four texts being equally authentic.
Article 19
1. This Convention shall be subject to ratification or acceptance by the Member States of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures.
2. Instruments of ratification or acceptance shall be deposited with the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Rule 20
1. This Convention is open to the accession of any non-member State of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, invited to accede to it by the Executive Council of the Organization.
2. Membership will be through the deposit of an instrument of accession to the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Article 21
This Convention shall enter into force three months after the date of deposit of the third instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession, but only in respect of States that have deposited their respective instruments of ratification, acceptance or accession on or before that date. It will enter into force for each other three months after the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession.
Article 22
States parties to this Convention recognize that this Convention is applicable not only to their metropolitan territories but also to the territories of which they provide international relations; they undertake to consult, if necessary, the governments or other competent authorities of the said territories, at the time of ratification, acceptance or accession, or before, with a view to obtaining the application of the Convention to those territories, as well as to notify the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the territories to which the Convention will apply, that ratification must take effect three months.
Article 23
1. Each State Party to this Convention shall be entitled to denounce this Convention in its own name or on behalf of any territory of which it provides international relations.
2. The denunciation will be notified by a written instrument deposited with the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
3. The denunciation will take effect twelve months after receiving the denunciation instrument.
Article 24
The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization shall inform the States members of the Organization, the non-member States referred to in Article 20, and the United Nations,[fs] of the deposit of all instruments of ratification, acceptance or accession referred to in Articles 19 and 20, as well as notifications and denunciations, respectively provided for in Articles 22 and 23.
Rule 25
1. This Convention may be revised by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The revision will, however, be binding only on States that become parties to the Review Convention.
2. In the event that the General Conference adopts a new convention for the total or partial revision of this Convention, and unless the new Convention otherwise provides, this Convention shall cease to be open to ratification, acceptance or accession, from the date of entry into force of the new revision convention.
Rule 26
Pursuant to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, this Convention will be registered in the United Nations Secretariat at the request of the Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Done in Paris, this seventeenth day of November 1970, in two authentic copies bearing the signature of the President of the General Conference, gathered in his sixteenth session, and of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to be deposited in the archives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and of which certified copies will be given to all the States referred to in the United Nations.
The above text is the authentic text of the Convention duly adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its sixteenth session, held in Paris and declared closed on the fourteenth day of November 1970.
This seventeenth day of November 1970, in faith of what they signed.

Convention on Measures to Prevent and Prevent the Import, Export, and Transfer of Illicit Ownership of Cultural Property, adopted in Paris on 14 November 1970

Declaration
"For Belgium, the term "cultural property" must be interpreted as limiting itself to the items listed in the annex to Council Regulation (EEC) No.3911/92 of 9 December 1992, as amended, concerning the export of cultural property as well as to the annex to Council Directive No. 93/7/EEC of 15 March 1993, as amended, on the restitution of cultural property that has unlawfully left the territory of a Member State. »
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
K. DE GUCHT