1992R3911 — EN — 01.01.2002 — 002.001 — 1
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►B COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 3911/92
of 9 December 1992
on the export of cultural goods
(OJ L 395, 31.12.1992, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
Nopage date
►M1Council Regulation (EC) No 2469/96 of 16 December 1996 L 335 9 24.12.1996
►M2Council Regulation (EC) No 974/2001 of 14 May 2001 L 137 10 19.5.2001
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 267, 19.10.1996, p. 30 (3911/92)
NB: This consolidated version contains references to the European unit of account and/or the ecu, which from 1 January 1999
should be understood as references to the euro — Council Regulation (EEC) No 3308/80 (OJ L 345, 20.12.1980, p. 1) andCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).
▼B
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 3911/92
of 9 December 1992
on the export of cultural goods
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 113 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(3),
Whereas, in view of the completion of the internal market, rules on trade
with third countries are needed for the protection of cultural goods;
Whereas, in the light of the conclusions of the Council meeting on 19
November 1990, it seems necessary to take measures in particular toensure that exports of cultural goods are subject to uniform controls atthe Community's external borders;
Whereas such a system should require the presentation of a licence
issued by the competent Member State prior to the export of culturalgoods covered by this Regulation; whereas this necessitates a cleardefinition of the scope of such measures and the procedures for theirimplementation; whereas the implementation of the system should be as
simple and efficient as possible; whereas a Committee should be set up
to assist the Commission in carrying out the responsibilities conferred onit by this Regulation;
Whereas, in view of the considerable experience of the Member States'
authorities in the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81
of 19 May 1981 on mutual assistance between the administrative
authorities of the Member States and cooperation between the latter andthe Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customsor agricultural matters(
4), the said Regulation should be applied to this
matter;
Whereas the Annex tothis Regulatio n is aimed at making clear the
categories of cultural goods which should be given particular protectionin trade with third countries, but is not intended to prejudice thedefinition, by Member States, of national treasures within the meaningof Article 36 of the Treaty,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Without prejudice to Member States' powers under Article 36 of the
Treaty, the term ‘cultural goods’ shall refer, for the purposes of thisRegulation, to the items listed in the Annex.
TITLE 1
Export licence
Article 2
1. The export of cultural goods outside the customs territory of the
Community shall be subject to the presentation of an export licence.1992R3911 — EN — 01.01.2002 — 002.001 — 2
(1) OJ NoC 53, 28. 2. 1992, p. 8.
(2) OJ NoC 176, 13. 7. 1992, p. 31.
(3) OJ NoC 223, 31. 8. 1992, p. 10.
(4) OJ No L 144, 2. 6. 1981, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EEC)
No945/87 (OJ NoL 90, 2. 4. 1987, p. 3).
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2. The export licence shall be issued at the request of the person
concerned:
— by a competent authority of the Member State in whose territory the
cultural object in question was lawfully and definitively located on 1January 1993,
— or, thereafter, by a competent authority of the Member State
in whose territory it is located following either lawful and definitivedispatch from another Member State, or importation from a thirdcountry, or reimportation from a third country after lawful dispatch
from a Member State to that country.
However, without prejudice to paragraph 4, the Member State which is
competent in accordance with the two indents in the first subparagraph►
C1is authorized not to require export licences ◄for the cultural
goods specified in the first and second indents of category A1 of theAnnex where they are of limited archaeological or scientific interest, andprovided that they are not the direct product of excavations, finds and
archaeological sites within a Member State, and that their presence on
the market is lawful.
The export licence may be refused, for the purposes of this Regulation,
where the cultural goods in question are covered by legislationprotecting national treasures of artistic, historical or archaeologicalvalue in the Member State concerned.
Where necessary, the authority referred to in the second indent of the
first subparagraph shall enter into contact with the competent authorities
of the Member State from which the cultural object in question came,
and in particular the competent authorities within the meaning ofCouncil Directive 93/…/EEC of … on the return of cultural objectsunlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State(
1).
3. The export licence shall be valid throughout the Community.4. Without prejudice to the provisions of this Article, direct export
from the customs territory of the Community of national treasures
having artistic, historic or archaeological value which are not cultural
goods within the meaning of this Regulation is subject to the nationallaw of the Member State of export.
Article 3
1. Member States shall furnish the Commission with a list of the
authorities empowered to issue export licences for cultural goods.
2. The Commission shall publish a list of these authorities and any
amendment tothat list in the ‘C’ series o f the Official Journal of the
European Communities .
Article 4
The export licence shall be presented, in support of the export
declaration, when the customs export formalities are carried out, at thecustoms office which is competent to accept that declaration.
Article 5
1. Member States may restrict the number of customs offices
empowered to handle formalities for the export of cultural goods.
2. Member States availing themselves of the option afforded by
paragrah 1 shall inform the Commission of the customs offices duly
empowered.
The Commission shall publish this information in the ‘C’ series of the
Official Journal of the European Communities .1992R3911 — EN — 01.01.2002 — 002.001 — 3
(1) Not yet adopted at the time of this publication; in accordance with Article 11
below, the present Regulation will enter into force on the third day following
that of publication of the Directive in the Official Journal of the European
Communities .
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TITLE 2
Administrative cooperation
Article 6
For the purposes of implementing this Regulation, the provisions of
Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81, and in particular the provisions on the
confidentiality of information, shall apply mutatis mutandis .
In addition to the cooperation provided for under the first subparagraph,
Member States shall take all necessary steps toestablish, in the co ntext
of their mutual relations, cooperation between the customs authorities
and the competent authorities referred to in Article 4 of Directive 93/…/EEC(
1).
TITLE 3
General and final provisions
Article 7
The provisions necessary for the implementation of this Regulation, in
particular those concerning the form to be used (for example, the modeland technical properties) shall be adopted in accordance with theprocedure laid down in Article 8 (2).
Article 8
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee composed of the
representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representativeof the Commission.
The committee shall examine any matter concerning the implementation
of this Regulation raised by its chairman either on his own initiative orat the request of a representative of a Member State.
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shalldeliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairmanmay lay down according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary bytaking a vote.
The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, each Member
State shall have the right to ask to have its position recorded in theminutes.
The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered
by the committee. It shall inform the committee of the manner in whichits opinion has been taken into account.
Article 9
Each Member State shall determine the penalties tobe applied fo r
infringement of the provisions of this Regulation. The penalties shall besufficient to promote compliance with those provisions.
Article 10
Each Member State shall inform the Commission of the measures taken
pursuant tothis Regulatio n.
The Commission shall pass on this information to the other Member
States.
Every three years the Commission shall present a report to the European
Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee on theimplementation of this Regulation.1992R3911 — EN — 01.01.2002 — 002.001 — 4
(1) See footnote to Article 2 (2).
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The Council shall review the effectiveness of the Regulation after a
period of application of three years and, acting on a proposal from theCommission, make any necessary adaptations.
In any event, the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission,
shall examine every three years and, whre appropriate, update theamounts indicated in the Annex, on the basis of economic and monetaryindicators in the Community.
Article 11
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities ofDirective 93/…/EEC(
1).
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.1992R3911 — EN — 01.01.2002 — 002.001 — 5
(1) The Directive on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a
Member State, already referred to in Articles 2 (2) and 6, has not yet been adopted at the
time of this publication.
▼B
ANNEX
CATEGORIES OF CULTURAL OBJECTS COVERED BY ARTICLE 1
A.1. Archaeological objects more than 100 years old
which are the products of:
— excavations and finds on land or under water 97050000
— archaeological sites 97060000
— archaelogical collections2. Elements forming an integral part of artistic,
historical or religious monuments which have been
dismembered, of an age exceeding 100 years97050000
97060000
►
M13. Pictures and paintings, other than those
included in category 3A or 4, executed entirely by
hand in any medium and on any material (1)◄9701
3A. Water-colours, gouaches and pastels executed
entirely by hand on any material (1)
►M14. Mosaics in any material executed entirely
by hand, other than those falling in categories 1 or
2,and drawingsin any medium executed entirely by
hand on any material (1)◄6914
9701
5. Original engravings, prints, serigraphs and
lithographs with their respective plates and original
posters(1)Chapter 49
9702000084425099
6. Original sculptures or statuary and copies
produced by the same process as the original (
1),
other than those in category 197030000
7. Photographs, films and negatives thereof (1) 3704
3705
3706
49119180
8. Incunabula and manuscripts, including maps and
musical scores, singly or in collections (1)97020000
97060000
49011000
490199004904000049059100
49059900
49060000
9. Books more than 100 years old, singly or in
collections97050000
97060000
10. Printed maps more than 200 years old 9706000011. Archives, and any elements thereof, of any kind
or any medium which are more than 50 years old3704
3705
370649014906
97050000
97060000
12. (a) Collections (
2) and specimens from zoolo-
gical, botanical, mineralogical or anatomical
collections;97050000
(b) Collections (2) of historical, palaeontological,
ethnographic or numismatic interest97050000
13. Means of transport more than 75 years old 97050000
Chapters 86—891992R3911 — EN — 01.01.2002 — 002.001 — 6
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▼B
▼B
14. Any other antique items not included in
categories A.1 to A.13
(a) between 50 and 100 years old:— toys, games Chapter 95— glassware 7013
— articles of goldsmiths' or silversmiths' wares 7114
— furniture Chapter 94— optical, photographic or cinematographic appa-
ratusChapter 90
— musical instruments Chapter 92
— clocks and watches and parts thereof Chapter 91
— articles of wood Chapter 44— pottery Chapter 69
— tapestries 58050000
— carpets Chapter 57— wallpaper 4814
— arms Chapter 93
(b) more than 100 years old 97060000
(1) Which are more than 50 years old and do not belong to their originators.
(2) As defined by the Court of Justice in its judgment in Case 252/84, as follows:
‘Collectors' pieces within the meaning of heading No 97.05 of the Common CustomsTariff are articles which possess the requisite characteristics for inclusion in acollection, that is to say, articles which are relatively rare, are not normally used fortheir original purpose, are the subject of special transactions outside the normal trade
in similar utility articles and are of high value.’
The cultural objects in categories A.1 to A.14 are covered by this Regulation
only if their value corresponds to, or exceeds, the financial thresholds under
B.
B.Financial thresholds applicable to certain cetegories under A (in ecus)
VALUE:
Whatever the value
— 1 (Archaeological objects)
— 2 (Dismembered monuments)— 8 (Incunabula and manuscripts)— 11 (Archives)
15000
— 4 (Mosaics and drawings)
— 5 (Engravings)— 7 (Photographs)— 10 (Printed maps)
30000
— 3A. (Water colours, gouaches and pastels)
50000
— 6 (Statuary)
— 9 (Books)— 12 (Collections)— 13 (Means of transport)— 14 (Any other object)
150000
— 3 (Pictures)1992R3911 — EN — 01.01.2002 — 002.001 — 7
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▼B
▼M1
▼B
▼B
The assessment of whether or not the conditions relating to financial value are
fulfilled must be made when an application for an export licence is submitted.
The financial value is that of the cultural object in the Member State referred
to in Article 2 (2) of the Regulation.
For the Member States which do not have the euro as their currency, the
values expressed in euroin the Annex shall be co nverted and expressed in
national currencies at the rate of exchange on 31 December 2001 published in
theOfficial Journal of the European Communities . This countervalue in
national currencies shall be reviewed every two years with effect from 31
December 2001. Calculation of this countervalue shall be based on the
average daily value of those currencies, expressed in euro, during the 24
months ending on the last day of August preceding the revision which takes
effect on 31 December. This method of calculation shall be reviewed, on a
proposal from the Commission, by the Advisory Committee on Cultural
Goods, in principle two years after the first application. For each revision, the
values expressed in euro and their countervalues in national currency shall be
published periodically in the OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities in
the first days of the month of November preceding the date on which the
revision takes effect.1992R3911 — EN — 01.01.2002 — 002.001 — 8
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