UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property
| UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property | |
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| Signed | 14 November 1970 |
| Location | Paris, France |
| Effective | 24 April 1972 |
| Condition | Ratification of three states |
| Parties | 131 |
| Depositary | United Nations/UNESCO |
| Language | Authoritative in English, French, Russian and Spanish |
| Languages | Available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Mandarin |
The UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property is an international treaty. It is the first international instrument dedicated to the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property. It was adopted at the 16th General Conference of UNESCO on 14 November 1970 in Paris and came into force on 24 April 1972.
As of March 2016, 131 states are parties to the treaty.
Together with the trafficking in drugs and arms, the black market of antiquities and culture constitutes one of the most persistent illegal trades in the world. Thefts, illicit excavations of archaeological and paleontological sites, illicit import and export or Illicit trafficking on the internet of cultural property poses major threats to the preservation and protection of the Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The illicit trafficking of cultural property generates a lucrative underground market with a great percentage of stolen artifacts never being recovered. As long as a demand for cultural property items exists, the market will continue to flourish. This situation poses a threat to the physical items, though looting and destruction, and also reduces the wealth of knowledge that could be gained from discovering such items in their archaeological surroundings. It causes irreversible damage that has lasting effects on the ability of societies to develop, take shape, and recover from crises.
The 1970 Convention is the most important pioneering multilateral international agreement concerning the protection of illicitly traded cultural objects. It offers legal and political tools to be implemented in the national Law and permits broad and sustained international cooperation.
The idea of protecting cultural property only came about in the first half of the twentieth century. Newly independent states were trying to recover important cultural objects that are mostly found in the museums of their former colonizing state. Spiritual and material value was being accorded to cultural property during this time, justifying the protection of cultural property. Also, a market was created for cultural objects that command high prices on the international market due to increasing interest in cultural diversity.
Aware of this problem, UNESCO deployed normative, ethical and operational mechanisms to provide appropriate responses to these challenges. In April 1964, UNESCO appointed a Committee of Experts from some 30 States to draft preliminary recommendations for the establishment and implementation of a Convention. Four years later, the General Conference of UNESCO adopted Resolution 3.334 which authorized the convening of a committee to draft a Convention. The UNESCO Director-General appointed a principal expert and four consultants from different regions of the world, to perform the drafting of the text for the Convention; IN August 1969, the UNESCO Secretariat circulated this 'draft' (the original draft) for comments by the UNESCO Member States. It was then revised in light of those comments, and the text was then sent to a Special Committee of Governmental Experts which prepared a final draft by April 1970.
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