Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art

The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA) is a committee of the United Kingdom government, advising the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the export of cultural property. Some of its roles were shifted to the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) in 2005 after the Goodison Report and the Arts Council England now provides the secretariat to the Committee. It is currently chaired by Lord Inglewood.

If an artwork is sold to a foreign buyer, it also advises the DCMS on whether to delay the granting of an export licence in order to allow time for a British buyer to raise funds to buy the work instead and keep it in the UK, if the committee decides the work is of high enough quality and has a sufficiently significant British connection - this is known as an export bar.

The RCEWA was established in 1952, in accordance with the recommendations of the Waverley Committee, and assesses the objects before it against the three "Waverley Criteria":

Is it so closely connected with our history and national life that its departure would be a misfortune?
Is it of outstanding aesthetic importance?
Is it of outstanding significance for the study of some particular branch of art, learning or history?

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