Photo: Reuters/Nour Fourat
For years terrorism has instilled fear in people around the world. But, what many people don’t know, is that terrorist groups, including the now prominent ISIS and recently before, Al-Qaeda, destroy, loot, and sell art and cultural property in order to fund their attacks and operations. For example, in 1999 one of the masterminds behind the attacks of September 11, 2001 flew to Germany hoping to use the selling of stolen Afghan cultural items in order to buy a plane, a plane that he had hoped he could use to fly into a building. More recently ISIS raided a museum in Mosul and destroyed pre-Islamic cultural goods and items. ISIS is also reported to have made millions from the selling of cultural goods from ISIS occupied territories in Syria.
Enter the European Commission, acting upon the the advice of the G20 summit that countries battle the financing of terrorism. In response to the G20 recommendation the European Commission has proposed new rules that will crack down on the importing and trafficking of cultural goods coming from outside the European Union(EU.) The proposals set out by the European Commission focus on new and updated licensing and certification systems, a new definition for the term “cultural goods,” as well as increased powers for customs authorities.
First, the definition of “cultural goods” under the EU is broad at best. According to the EU, “cultural goods” are items of which countries consider that they have great artistic, historical or archaeological value and which belong to the country’s cultural heritage. Items accepted under this definition include schools, archeological finds, monuments, art, collections, and antiques. Under the proposals by the European Commission the new rules regarding the importing of cultural goods will only apply to cultural goods that are at least 250 years old at the time they are imported, as objects at this age are the most vulnerable.
Second, the European Commission has proposed the strengthening of the cultural goods certification system and the creation of a new licensing system for cultural goods that have been imported into the countries under the EU. The stronger certification system would require the submitting of a signed affidavit, or statement, that purports to prove that the goods were legally exported from the third country. In regards to the new licensing system, the European Commission proposes that importers of cultural goods be required to obtain licenses of import from authorities in the EU before being allowed to import the goods into the EU.
Third, the proposals, if adopted, would give customs authorities the power to seize and retain goods as soon as it is demonstrated that the cultural goods have been illegally exported.
Cultural goods are of great value to their origin country’s cultural heritage. They show the progression of their societies, beliefs, livelihoods, and family life. They act as a way to educate the world in how different cultures live and operate. Unfortunately these objects often come from areas of conflict, areas with vast amounts of cultural goods, and are being thrown into an illicit trafficking market responsible for the financing of terrorist organizations and attacks. The only way to put an end to this is through an altering of the current EU standards on the import of cultural goods. For now these proposals will be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU for adoption.