by ADA | Jun 25, 2026 | News |
Antiques Trade Gazette has just published an excellent guide to permissions regarding non-European Union goods returning to the EU with a three-year period.
Following clarification from the European Commission, legal columnist Milton Silverman confirms that these goods do not need an import licence or statement if they have been in free circulation within the EU, are exported from the EU and then return there within a three-year period. Importantly, the item does not have to return to the same person or EU member state from which it was exported.
The article sets out a case study where a Belgian collector who understood the rules came up against a shipper who did not. While the rules may now be clear, ensuring that customs enforcement and others involved along the way are fully conversant with the rules is another matter.
Silverman adds information relating to duty relief and VAT, as well as the rights and process of appeal if customs do not honour the three-year rule.
by ADA | May 12, 2026 | News, Uncategorized |
It is with great sadness that we have to inform you of the passing of Andy Hayler, our former member, on April 3. He had spent almost 20 years fighting his own illness. Ultimately, he died in hospital after a very short illness related to a chest infection, but his fight had been tempered by the loss of his beloved Jane, only two months previously, to cancer. He was lost without her, and her loss was too much for him to bear. He was in his early 70s.
by ADA | Mar 31, 2025 | News, Uncategorized |
Despite myriad figures for illicit trade worth billions or even tens of billions of dollars, no one can point to any reliable source for claims
A survey of a dozen of the world’s top law enforcement agencies and government departments has revealed that none of them appears to have any accurate data regarding the value of cultural goods trafficking globally.
This is despite multiple claims going back years of an illicit trade worth tens of billions of dollars.
Indeed, in at least one case – Interpol – the only reference to the size of the problem comes in a ten-year-old video still prominent on its website, in which former Secretary General Jürgen Stock makes the claim that the black market in art is as lucrative as the illicit markets in drugs, weapons and counterfeit goods – a claim long since exposed as untrue.
Carried out on behalf of several art market trade associations, the survey sought responses from the European Commission, the EU Directorate for Culture, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the US State Department, Interpol, Europol, the FBI, Homeland Security, the Financial Action Task Force, the UK’s National Crime Agency, the World Customs Organisation and UNESCO.
Care was made to approach the correct source for such information in each case, and follow-up requests were made when advised by the relevant authority of a different source.
The aim was to get a clear picture of trafficking levels
The aim of the survey was to establish a clear picture of global trafficking data for cultural property.
“It is important to establish credible data to defeat the extensive misinformation and disinformation surrounding this subject, which plays a significant part in hampering effective policy making,” the authorities were told.
Each was asked the following: “Do you have any independently verifiable figures relating to the value of trafficking of cultural property, especially any global figures for the annual value of this risk area?”
And each was asked to supply the data and its sources if it was available. Not one did. More than one admitted that it didn’t have the information or that it simply did not exist. These included organisations producing extensive reports claiming cultural goods trafficking is a huge problem.
Others either did not respond or directed the request to another source. In one case, the UK’s National Crime Agency, the request was met with refusal to respond on the grounds that it was not a public body.
No relevant data from Interpol or Europol
Despite mass data being made available for associated issues and other categories of risk via the World Customs Organisation annual Illicit Trade Reports, together with arrests and seizure data from Interpol and Europol via Operations such Pandora, not one authority was able to provide any credible data on the size of cultural goods trafficking.
Having previously stated on its website that it had no data showing the size of the problem and adding that it never expected to have any reliable data on global trafficking in cultural property, Interpol says it is a “lucrative black market” and introduces its Cultural Heritage Crime section as follows: “Trafficking in cultural property is a low-risk, high-profit business for criminals with links to organized crime. From stolen artwork to historical artefacts, this crime can affect all countries, either as origin, transit or destinations.”
Requests to both Europol and the World Customs Organisation have proved equally fruitless.
Europol directed the request to its website, which gives no such data. However, it had responded to an earlier request, stating: “We do not have these figures. Europol is not a statistical organisation – Europol’s priority is to support cross-border investigations and the information available is solely based on investigations supported by Europol.”
Europol has since confirmed that it does not have the relevant data.
When emailed in February, asking why it no longer included any relevant data in its annual Illicit Trade Report on Cultural Goods, The WCO explained that global data on illicit trade “does not exist”.
When emailed again in March, it did not respond.
No relevant data available from Eurostat
The European Commission’s information service directed the request to Eurostat, but that does not have any relevant data.
The Financial Action Task Force directed the request to its 2023 report: Money Laundering and terrorist Financing in the Art and Antiquities Market. However, much of that report is based on historically inaccurate data and provides no credible figures for global trafficking at all. It also acknowledges that it does not have the data, stating on page 28: “The lack of reliable statistics concerning looting activities, especially from conflict zones, makes it difficult to assess the scale of the phenomenon. However, taking into account the volume of looted archaeological goods seized in certain international or national police operations, it appears that this is a large-scale activity.” This view does not tally with the global data published by the World Customs Organisation.
The US State Department directed the request to the Office of Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, providing two phone numbers. One had a voicemail, so a request was left for an email address, with no result; the other number did not work. The weblink provided by the State department gave no information on the ‘Office’. Extensive web searching came up with no contact details. No further response came.
A March 12 response from the FBI referred the request to an online request form, which was filled in the same day. To date, no further response has arisen.
No relevant data from the European Anti-Fraud Office
A follow-up request elicited a response from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). It welcomed the attempt to gather credible data but said its work did not relate directly to doing so itself.
No responses came at all from the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) (Cultural Heritage Unit); UNESCO’s Information Service (for all UNESCO data); or Homeland Security.
Readers will have their own views as to what this means, but the complete lack of any reliable data – or any data at all in most cases – raises the question as to what the unending slew of claims over global trafficking in cultural property are really based on.
A more detailed summary of individual responses is available.
- This article will be updated by any further responses of note.
by ADA | Jun 27, 2024 | News
On June 25, The Chalke Valley History Festival played host to a BBC seminar on the thefts from the British Museum. BBC Culture Editor Katies Razzall and her team of investigators shared a platform with whistleblower Dr Ittai Gradel in front of a packed audience as they told the tale of how the thefts came to light and Dr Gradel’s pivotal role in exposing them.
The audience listened spellbound as, accompanied by slides and excerpts from the current BBC documentary series on the issue, the panel unfolded the course of events over a 15-year period.
Dr Gradel started by explaining his background and interest, and the nature of the gems involved, detailing their historical importance and variety, before setting out how his suspicions first arose about the eBay seller from whom he had been acquiring items since 2015.
The turning point came when he spotted direct evidence in the form of flaws in one gem that matched those in the records of the British Museum collection. The thief had largely sold off items that had gone unrecorded but slipped up after years of getting away with it, he added.
The BBC team of investigators told how they had tracked buyers down to the United States and Germany, where one journalist, Darin Graham, found what was arguably the most important missing gem in a public exhibition.
The audience treated Dr Gradel as a hero, especially after learning about the difficulties he had faced trying to get the British Museum management to take his alerts seriously. They were equally clear about how important they considered the museum to be as a British institution.
The BBC has now released a podcast series, Shadow World, currently a series of ten episodes covering the scandal and how it unfolded. It is freely available to listeners.
by ADA | Jun 14, 2024 | News
Leading art market lawyer says new regulation will risk isolating the EU culturally
British trade associations concerned about impending EU legislation that will affect UK exports will brief dealers on the changes at a seminar in London on June 28.
Titled The increasing difficulty in the international movement of ancient coins and objects, the afternoon session is organised by law firm Devonshires, who will host the event at their London offices and online on behalf of the British Numismatic Trade Association and the Antiquities Dealers’ Association.
The session will focus on how to comply with the news EU import licensing regulation (2019/880), which comes fully into force on June 28, 2025, and affects art and objects created and originally discovered outside the EU.
Provenance, due diligence and paperwork are at the heart of concerns as the trade associations argue that the regulation will make it all but impossible to meet its demands.
Of particular concern is the manner in which the regulation reverses the burden of proof for importers to the EU. Instead of the authorities having to show that imported items have been stolen or illegally moved, it will be up to the importers to show that they haven’t.
Martin Wilson, co-chair of the newly formed Art Lawyers’ Association, summed up the challenges in an article published on June 13 titled The New EU Cultural Goods Import Law – Politics over Pragmatism?
Wilson, who is also Chief Legal Officer at Phillips Auctioneers and author of Art Law and the Business of Art, argues that the law is unlikely to prevent the trafficking of cultural property, one of its chief aims: “…the best-case scenario is that trafficking activities will simply be diverted to elsewhere in the world by this law, not stopped,” he writes. Worse, while the legitimate market will face the burden of compliance, traffickers will simply ignore the law, he believes.
“There is a risk that the more difficult it is to import an object legitimately the greater the incentive to resort to smuggling and the greater the rewards for doing so. If that happens trafficking activities will be neither stopped nor diverted – and may even increase,” Wilson warns.
It is also apparent that the EU authorities have significantly underestimated the challenge of establishing an effective electronic registration system for imports – “a mammoth task”, says Wilson – while customs officials are unlikely to have the relevant experience or expertise to deal with applications. The expected clampdown likely to result from this means will mean significant delays, inconsistency in rulings and unjustified refusals, he says.
Wilson concludes: “This complexity and delay – as well as the likely inconsistency of decisions – will likely be a strong disincentive to import art of any kind or origin into the EU. This will lead to fewer imports into the EU of art and fewer EU buyers of art in countries outside the EU. By making it harder to import cultural property, the EU will then risk becoming culturally isolated.”
This is the context in which the June 28 seminar will be conducted.It runs from 3pm to 5.30pm BST, with networking drinks to follow. Those interested in attending in person or remotely can find all the details here.
by ADA | May 28, 2024 | News
Sir John Boardman OBE FBA Hon RA, Emeritus Lincoln Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford and an Honorary Fellow of the Magdalene College Cambridge for 40 years, was not just the pre-eminent scholar of Archaeology and Ancient Greece, he also proved to be a remarkable friend to the antiquities trade and collecting.
Sir John, who died on May 24, aged 96, published numerous notable works, including The Greeks Overseas (1999), Persia and the West (2000), World of Ancient Art (2006), and Archaeology of Nostalgia (2002).
Born in 1927, and educated at Chigwell School and Magdalene College, Cambridge, his early career included three years as Assistant Director of the British School of Archaeology at Athens, while later he served as an Assistant Keeper in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and then Reader in Classical Archaeology and Fellow of Merton College, Oxford.
By 1963, Sir John had become a fellow of Merton College, Oxford, going on to succeed John Beazley as Lincoln Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art. Having been knighted in 1989 and frequently cited as “Britain’s most distinguished historian of ancient Greek art”, he retired in 1994, his long life bringing him another 30 years of research, study, and influence.
This influence included the development of a simple, logical and compelling assessment of the ancient world as being divided into three geographical zones, with accompanying characteristics that did much to inform their art. These were the nomadic peoples of the north, the farming and city peoples of the temperate zones and the inhabitants of the hotter zone at the tropics. As the Telegraph obituary noted: “Nomads, he found, whether in Asia, Europe or America, tend to have an art based on small, portable figures, often animals; monumental architecture is largely confined to the temperate zone, while in the tropics art largely based on the human form, with an emphasis on ancestors.”
He took part in excavations in Smyrna, Crete, Chios and Libya, and his awards included the Kenyon Medal (1995) from the British Academy and the Onassis Prize for Humanities (2009).
Sir John was especially concerned with the art and architecture of ancient Greece, particularly sculpture, engraved gems, and vase painting.
When it came to the sensitive and combative debate surrounding antiquities in the context of Middle Eastern conflict – especially over the past ten years – Sir John was a robust defender of the trade and argued that we all have a responsibility to prevent looting and smuggling, including those nations from whom artefacts are removed. Article 5 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention puts the primary burden on the country of origin, as he reminded us. As the Convention summarises: “It is essential for every State to become increasingly alive to the moral obligations to respect its own cultural heritage and that of all nations,” he said.
In recent years he considered the merits of antiquities whose find context could not be traced and the relentless drive towards the reversal of the burden of proof when it came to the legitimacy of objects.
In 2017, he wrote an article for Cahn’s Quarterly, titled Academic Censorship, that touched on the subject, beginning: “A majority of the books published in the last fifty years about ancient art have depended on illustration of objects which are not from controlled excavations, and to pretend that they are therefore illegal, useless and misleading is, of course, absurd, yet this is the logical conclusion to be drawn if the extreme view about ‘academic’ or ‘moral’ integrity is accepted, and all objects not from controlled excavations are ignored.”
In the article Sir John argued that it was very doubtful whether sites could ever be controlled effectively. As an example of an artefact that is out of context but useful, he gave a silver chalice of no known provenance in the Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem of around A.D. 500.
“It is no doubt from the Palestine area and its Latin inscriptions show it to have been made for a Eucharist ceremony – “Holy is God, holy the mighty one, holy the immortal one, have mercy on us” – typical for the Eastern Orthodox Church. Its lack of detailed provenance cannot disqualify it as a record of Antiquity.”
Unlike so many other academics, Sir John proved himself impartial in search of history and the truth: “Some years ago it was said that in Turkey boys who found antiquities on an ancient site could sell them to dealers who would then supply them with forgeries to sell on to tourists/collectors. Yet the recent publication of some 500 Roman seals, gems and rings, picked up over some 30 years by a family walking over the fields concealing the ancient city of Caesarea (S. Amoral-Stark & M. Hershkovitz, Ancient Gems, Finger Rings and Seal Boxes from Caesarea Maritima: the Hendler Collection, 2016) shows how much is still on the surface, and no less valid as evidence than excavated material.”
Demonstrating just how relevant the study of Ancient Greece remains to this day, less than 24 hours after Sir John’s death, a new study using volunteer marines from today’s Hellenic Forces to test the effectiveness of Greek Bronze Age body armour revealed just how good it would have been in protecting Mycenean soldiers 3,500 years ago.
Longstanding ATG columnist and former Christie’s specialist Richard Falkiner still owns a Greek scarab that Sir John published when he first became acquainted with him in 1963.
“He was very easy to have discussions with, even those to those who knew infinitely less than him,” he said.
Recent Comments