Fight against illicit traffic of cultural property in South-East Europe. Gaziantep, Turkey, 19-21 November 2012. Link: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/venice/about-this-office/single-view/news/building_capacities_for_the_fight_against_the_illicit_trafficking_of_cultural_property_ in_south_east_europe/

1. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
Fight against illicit traffic of cultural property
in South-East Europe
Gazientep, Turkey, 19 – 21 November 2012
The International
Code of Ethics for
Dealers in Cultural
Property
Alberto Deregibus a.deregibus@unesco.org

2. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
Many transactions all over the world
Dialog between culture

3. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
Trade in cultural goods has played a vital role in
the development of intercultural dialogue and
influence between countries.
to trade and to collect artefacts from different
cultures permitted to create museums and private
collections around the world.

4. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
Often, to meet today’s demand for cultural goods,
archaeological sites are raided or thefts are committed.
Much of the spoils are sold into the legal market

5. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
Today, many collectors are conscious of the damage
done to cultures
How is it possible to know whether an object
was legally obtained?
to buy only from a dealer who practices ethical
principles devised by professionals in the care of
cultural property;
dealers who are careful enough to check the
provenance of the works he deals in.

6. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
In the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention provides that a
stolen cultural object must be returned.
The buyer will receive compensation where it is
otherwise entitled to retain the object if it has used
the required diligence in acquiring the object.

7. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
UNESCO decided to assist in the process of identifying which
dealers have acceptable standards by establishing an
international code of conduct for dealers.
It does not replace the law. This Code of Ethics complements it.

8. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
The Code of Ethics was
- approved for adoption in 1999 by the UNESCO
Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return
of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its
Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation.
- endorsed by the 30th General Conference of UNESCO
in November 1999.
- published with the support of Italian Carabinieri
Department for the Protection of Cultural heritage.
contributions and comments were invited from dealers
and dealer associations.

9. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
Dealers who adopt it will be recognizable, and the
public will be entitled to expect that those dealers
have been diligent in ascertaining the origin of the
objects concerned and will be able to give assurances
of their good provenance. Such dealers will be under
the particular scrutiny of the other dealers and of the
media to ensure that these high standards are kept.

10. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
Dealers who adopt the Code undertake not to trade in
objects which might be stolen, clandestinely excavated or
illegally exported and to co-operate in their return.
The Code is designed for those dealers who wish to make
clear that they use their best efforts to avoid any association
with illicit trade by checking carefully their sources of supply.
The Code is of use to dealers in any country who value their
reputation for integrity and wish to spell it out for their
customers to see.
It should encourage collectors to follow the ethics of the
ICOM Code.

11. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
The Code builds on the principles developed in the
UNESCO 1970 Convention and subsequently in the
1995 UNIDROIT Convention.
It also relies on the experience of various national
Dealers' Codes including those of France, the
Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Some differences between these Codes have been
harmonized in the UNESCO text.

12. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
Text of International Code of Ethics for Dealers in Cultural Property
ARTICLE 1.
“Professional traders in cultural property will
not import, export or transfer the ownership
of this property when they have reasonable
cause to believe it has been stolen, illegally
alienated, clandestinely excavated or illegally
exported.”

13. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
Traders have to investigate the provenance of the
material they handle.
It is not sufficient to trade in material without
questions and consider that the clause only comes
into effect when somehow evidence of the illegality is
acquired.
Traders must
-examine the background of the objects they are
offered and question the person concerned
-pay attention to any circumstances likely to arouse
suspicions.

14. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
ARTICLE 3.
“A trader who has reasonable cause to believe that an
object has been the product of a clandestine
excavation, or has been acquired illegally or
dishonestly from an official excavation site or
monument will not assist in any further transaction
with that object, except with the agreement of the
country where the site or monument exists. A trader
who is in possession of the object, where that country
seeks its return within a reasonable period of time,
will take all legally permissible steps to co-operate in
the return of that object to the country of origin.”

15. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
ARTICLE 5.
“Traders in cultural property will not exhibit,
describe, attribute, appraise or retain any item of
cultural property with the intention of promoting
or failing to prevent its illicit transfer or export.
….”

16. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
ARTICLE 6. Traders in cultural property will not
dismember or sell separately parts of one
complete item of cultural property.
ARTICLE 7. Traders in cultural property undertake
to the best of their ability to keep together items
of cultural heritage that were originally meant to
be kept together.

17. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
ARTICLE 8 “Violations of this Code of Ethics will
be rigorously investigated by (a body to be
nominated by participating dealers). A person
aggrieved by the failure of a trader to adhere to
the principles of this Code of Ethics may lay a
complaint before that body, which shall
investigate that complaint. Results of the
complaint and the principles applied will be
made public.”

18. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
The advantages of the Code:
for collectors, dealers and public.
Collectors show their preference for the legal over the illegal
trade by working only with ethical dealers.
Dealers distance themselves from dishonest people who claim to
be dealers but in fact make no inquiry into provenance or who
even themselves knowingly initiate illegal acquisitions.
Adoption of the Code by dealers indicates to the general public
that there is an ethical body of dealers who are not to be
confused with those exposed by the media as instigating and
commissioning thefts, clandestine excavations and illegal
exports of cultural property.

19. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
International treaties and the International Code
of Ethics for Dealers in Cultural Property are two
important elements of the current major
international effort to prevent the damage
caused by the illegal trade.

20. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTION TREATIES SECTION
Alberto Deregibus a.deregibus@unesco.org