September 14, 2021, UNESCO, in partnership with the European Union, organized an online conference to strengthen global cooperation in the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural goods. This conference brought together all the players in this field – Member States, but also the art market, experts, institutional partners and civil society. Discussions focused on new challenges, an assessment of existing prevention and repression systems and tools, and above all, the identification of needs and concrete actions to be implemented.

On this occasion, several initiatives were announced by UNESCOpartners of and its Member States, including the adoption of a European Union action plan against the illicit trafficking of cultural goods in 2022, which will be carried out in consultation with UNESCO, various upcoming meetings on the fight against illicit trafficking by the African Union Commission, which should lead to a position taken by the African Union in early 2022, or the organization of the second Cuzco Forum during the first quarter 2022 by Peru, in cooperation with UNESCO.

“Over the past fifty years, great progress has been made in inventory, awareness and training, but the illicit traffic itself has also changed,” said Audrey Azoulay, Managing Director of UNESCO.

“We must therefore step up our action, focusing on two major priorities. The first is to build the largest possible coalition, to make our action as effective as possible. The second is to strengthen the tools at our disposal to fight illicit trafficking.

Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission, noted that “The illicit trafficking of cultural property […] impoverishes the countries of origin and fuels money laundering, tax evasion and the financing of terrorist activities. As Europe is a major destination and transit market for cultural goods, the European Commission, in close cooperation with UNESCO and actors of the art market, will present an action plan to increase transparency, traceability and trust.

Mr. Schinas recalled that this UNESCO The conference will contribute to the preparation of the Action Plan with the aim of strengthening cooperation between law enforcement and cultural heritage experts, but also the mobilization of art market players and citizens. The representative of the African Union Commission, Angela Martins, announced that expert meetings on the restitution and illicit trafficking of cultural property in Africa will be held in November 2021, with the aim of producing a position paper of the African Union on the subject in early 2022.

A first panel was devoted to regional needs and challenges. George Abungu, Kenyan archaeologist, and Mamadu Jao, commissioner of education, science and culture of ECOWAS, discussed the prospects for cooperation for capacity building, community awareness and technological development, and stressed the importance for all African countries to ratify the 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions. During the discussions, Dayan Wen, deputy director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, recalled the value of bilateral agreements to strengthen collaboration between states, and Alejandro Celorio Alcantara, legal adviser of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, stressed the need to strengthen national legislation in this area.

The second panel focused on due diligence issues. Representatives of the art market, alongside public institutions, shared their points of view on the challenges of researching the provenance of cultural goods. The experts notably highlighted the problems of unique objects cut off from their archaeological context and the fraudulent provenance used to circulate the stolen objects. The discussion showed that the art market must mobilize to protect itself from traffickers who conceal the origin and traceability of cultural goods. All participants agreed that a good provenance guarantees the legality of a sale and its commercial success, thus making research on this subject of interest to all.

Regarding provenance research, in addition to consulting the available databases listing lost works, such as INTERPOLStolen Works of Art Database and I COMERed lists of cultural goods at risk, Emmanuel Kasarhérou, president of the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum, also underlined the importance of working hand in hand with the country of origin.

The conference also addressed the challenges of new technologies and the traceability of cultural property, particularly in the context of archaeological looting. During the third session, Vincent Michel, archaeologist and professor at the University of Poitiers (France), underlined the need to document the sites and inventory the objects. The panelists showed how online sales and groups operating on social networks such as Facebook have enabled the development of criminal networks and the advancement of the digital modus operandi of traffickers.

Experts have highlighted existing data on the extent of trafficking, which can be found for example in the 2019 ATHAR Project report. Katie Paul, co-founder of the ATHAR Project, underlined the need for online platforms to recruit experts in the field of illicit trafficking. INTERPOL highlighted the ongoing discussions with UNESCO to launch an innovative joint project to further develop the existing databases on stolen cultural objects.

All the experts recalled the importance of raising public awareness of the consequences of illicit trafficking. The increase in online purchases of works of art makes it even more difficult for potential buyers to question the provenance of objects and to refrain from buying without serious guarantees.

In conclusion of the discussion, the Ambassador of France to UNESCO, Véronique Roger-Lacan, confirmed that France’s objective during its Presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2022 will be to promote cooperation in the fight against illicit trafficking: “It is about developing European cooperation against illicit trafficking in cultural goods, between European States and Member States of the European Union and the rest of the world ”, she concluded.

This took place within the framework of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Convention, during which many international and regional conferences were organized, such as the Cuzco Forum in October 2020. In this regard, Ramiro Silva Rivera , Minister Counselor and Chargé d’Affaires of the Permanent Delegation of Peru to UNESCO, announced that a second edition of the Cuzco Forum will be held in February 2022, in cooperation with UNESCO: “It will be an opportunity to echo the messages of previous conferences and to conclude the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Convention”.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

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