1992R3911 — EN — 05.06.2003 — 003.001 — 1
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►B COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)No3911/92
of9December 1992
ontheexportofcultural goods
(OJ L 395, 31.12.1992, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page 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
►M3Council Regulation (EC) No 806/2003 of 14 April 2003 L 122 1 16.5.2003
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).
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COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)No3911/92
of9December 1992
ontheexportofculturalgoods
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 countriesare 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'sexternal borders ;
Whereas such a system should require the presentation of a licence
issued by the competent Member State prior to the export of cultural
goods covered by this Regulation; whereas this necessitates a clear
definition of the scope of such measures and the procedures for theirimplementation; whereas the implementation of the system should beas simple and efficient as possible; whereas a Committee should beset up to assist the Commission in carrying out the responsibilitiesconferred on it by thisRegulation;
Whereas, in view of the considerable experience of the Member States'
authoritiesin the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81
of 19 May 1981 on mutual assistance between the administrativeauthoritiesof the Member Statesand cooperation between the latterand the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law oncustoms or agricultural matters (
4), the said Regulation should be
applied to thismatter;
Whereasthe Annex to thisRegulation isaimed at making clear the
categoriesof cultural goodswhich s hould be given particular protection
in trade with third countries, but is not intended to prejudice the defini-tion, by Member States, of national treasures within the meaning ofArticle 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 itemslis ted in the Annex.
TITLE 1
Exportlicence
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 — 05.06.2003 — 003.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 53, 28. 2. 1992, p. 8.
(2) OJ No C 176, 13. 7. 1992, p. 31.
(3) OJ No C 223, 31. 8. 1992, p. 10.
(4) OJ No L 144, 2. 6. 1981, p. 1. Regulation asamended by Regulation (EEC)
No 945/87 (OJ No L 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 on1 January 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►
C1isauthorized 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,and provided that they are not the direct product of excavations, finds
and archaeological sites within a Member State, and that their presence
on the market islawful.
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 authori-
tiesof the Member State from which the cultural object in ques tion
came, and in particular the competent authoritieswithin the meaningof Council 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
goodswithin the meaning of thisRegulation iss ubject 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 to that list in the ‘C’ series of the Official Journal of the
European Communities .
Article 4
The export licence shall be presented, in support of the export declara-
tion, 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 formalitiesfor the export of cultural goods .
2. Member Statesavailing thems elvesof 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 — 05.06.2003 — 003.001 — 3
(1) Not yet adopted at the time of thispublication; 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
Administrativecooperation
Article 6
For the purposes of implementing this Regulation, the provisions of
Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81, and in particular the provisions on theconfidentiality of information, shall apply mutatis mutandis .
In addition to the cooperation provided for under the first subpara-
graph, Member States shall take all necessary steps to establish, in thecontext of their mutual relations, cooperation between the customsauthoritiesand the competent authoritiesreferred to in Article 4 ofDirective 93/…/EEC (
1).
TITLE 3
General andfinalprovisions
Article 7
The provisions necessary for the implementation of this Regulation, in
particular those concerning the form to be used (for example, themodel and technical properties) shall be adopted in accordance withthe procedure laid down in Article 8 (2).
Article 8
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.
2. Where reference ismade to thisparagraph, Articles3 and 7 of
Decision 1999/468/EC (
2) shall apply.
3. The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.
Article 9
Each Member State shall determine the penalties to be applied for
infringement of the provisions of this Regulation. The penalties shallbe sufficient to promote compliance with those provisions.
Article 10
Each Member State shall inform the Commission of the measures taken
pursuant to this Regulation.
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 SocialCommittee on the implementation of thisRegulation.
The Council shall review the effectiveness of the Regulation after a
period of application of three yearsand, acting on a propos al from the
Commission, 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 the
amountsindicated in the Annex, on the bas isof economic and mone-tary indicatorsin the Community.1992R3911 — EN — 05.06.2003 — 003.001 — 4
(1) See footnote to Article 2 (2).
(2) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.▼M3
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Article 11
ThisRegulation s hall enter into force on the third day following that of
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities of
Directive 93/…/EEC (1).
ThisRegulation s hall be binding in itsentirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1992R3911 — EN — 05.06.2003 — 003.001 — 5
(1) The Directive on the return of cultural objectsunlawfully removed from the
territory of a Member State, already referred to in Articles2 (2) and 6, has
not yet been adopted at the time of thispublication.
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ANNEX
CATEGORIESOFCULTURALOBJECTSCOVEREDBYARTICLE1
A.1. Archaeological objectsmore than 100 yearsold which are the
productsof:
— excavationsand findson land or under
water9705 00 00
— archaeological sites 9706 00 00
— archaelogical collections
2. Elementsforming an integral part of artis tic,
historical or religious monuments which have
been dismembered, of an age exceeding 100
years9705 00 00
9706 00 00
►M13. Pictures and paintings, other than those
included in category 3A or 4, executed entirely
by hand in any medium and on any mate-
rial (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
categories1 or 2, and drawingsin any medium
executed entirely by hand on any mate-
rial (1)◄6914
9701
5. Original engravings, prints, serigraphs and litho-
graphswith their res pective platesand original
posters (1)Chapter 49
9702 00 00
8442 50 99
6. Original sculptures or statuary and copies
produced by the same process as the original (1),
other than those in category 19703 00 00
7. Photographs, films and negatives thereof (1) 3704
3705
37064911 91 80
8. Incunabula and manuscripts, including maps
and musical scores, singly or in collections (
1)9702 00 00
9706 00 004901 10 00
4901 99 00
4904 00 004905 91 00
4905 99 00
4906 00 00
9. Booksmore than 100 yearsold, s ingly or in
collections9705 00 00
9706 00 00
10. Printed mapsmore than 200 yearsold 9706 00 00
11. Archives, and any elements thereof, of any
kind or any medium which are more than 50
yearsold3704
37053706
4901
49069705 00 00
9706 00 00
12. (a) Collections(
2) and specimens from zoolo-
gical, botanical, mineralogical or
anatomical collections;9705 00 00
(b) Collections(2) of historical, palaeontolo-
gical, ethnographic or numismatic interest9705 00 00
13. Meansof trans port more than 75 yearsold 9705 00 00
Chapters86—891992R3911 — EN — 05.06.2003 — 003.001 — 6
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▼B
14. Any other antique itemsnot included in categoriesA.1 to A.13
(a) between 50 and 100 yearsold:
— toys, games Chapter 95
— glassware 7013
— articles of goldsmiths' or silversmiths'
wares7114
— furniture Chapter 94
— optical, photographic or cinemato-
graphic apparatusChapter 90
— musical instruments Chapter 92
— clocksand watchesand partsthereof Chapter 91— articlesof wood Chapter 44
— pottery Chapter 69
— tapestries 5805 00 00— carpetsChapter 57
— wallpaper 4814
— armsChapter 93
(b) more than 100 yearsold 9706 00 00
(1) Which are more than 50 yearsold 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
Customs Tariff are articles which possess the requisite characteristics for inclusion
in a collection, that isto s ay, articleswhich are relatively rare, are not normallyused for their original purpose, are the subject of special transactions outside thenormal trade in similar utility articles and are of high value.’
The cultural objectsin categoriesA.1 to A.14 are covered by thisRegulation
only if their value corresponds to, or exceeds, the financial thresholds under
B.
B.Financialthresholdsapplicabletocertain cetegories underA(inecus)
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 (Meansof trans port)— 14 (Any other object)
150000— 3 (Pictures)1992R3911 — EN — 05.06.2003 — 003.001 — 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 Stateswhich do not have the euro astheir currency, the
values expressed in euro in the Annex shall be converted and expressed in
national currenciesat the rate of exchange on 31 December 2001 publis hed
in theOfficial Journal of the European Communities . Thiscountervalue in
national currenciess hall be reviewed every two yearswith 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. Thismethod of calculation s hall 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 Official Journal of the European
Communities in the first days of the month of November preceding the date
on which the revision takes effect.1992R3911 — EN — 05.06.2003 — 003.001 — 8
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