Council Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 of 9 December 1992 on the export of cultural goods
Modified by
  • Council Regulation (EC) No 2469/96of 16 December 1996amending the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 on the export of cultural goods, 31996R2469, December 24, 1996
  • Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97of 17 June 1997on certain provisions relating to the introduction of the euro, 31997R1103, June 19, 1997
  • Council Regulation (EC) No 974/2001of 14 May 2001amending Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 on the export of cultural goods, 32001R0974, May 19, 2001
  • Council Regulation (EC) No 806/2003of 14 April 2003adapting to Decision 1999/468/EC the provisions relating to committees which assist the Commission in the exercise of its implementing powers laid down in Council instruments adopted in accordance with the consultation procedure (qualified majority), 32003R0806, May 16, 2003
  • Council Regulation (EC) No 116/2009of 18 December 2008on the export of cultural goods(Codified version), 32009R0116, February 10, 2009
Corrected by
  • Corrigendum to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 of 9 December 1992 on the export of cultural goods, 31992R3911R(01), October 19, 1996
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92of 9 December 1992on 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 CommissionOJ No C 53, 28. 2. 1992, p. 8.,Having regard to the opinion of the European ParliamentOJ No C 176, 13. 7. 1992, p. 31.,Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social CommitteeOJ No C 223, 31. 8. 1992, p. 10.,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 to ensure that exports of cultural goods are subject to uniform controls at the 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 cultural goods covered by this Regulation; whereas this necessitates a clear definition of the scope of such measures and the procedures for their implementation; 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 on it 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 and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs or agricultural mattersOJ No L 144, 2. 6. 1981, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 945/87 (OJ No L 90, 2. 4. 1987, p. 3)., the said Regulation should be applied to this matter;Whereas the Annex to this Regulation is aimed at making clear the categories of cultural goods which should be given particular protection in trade with third countries, but is not intended to prejudice the definition, by Member States, of national treasures within the meaning of Article 36 of the Treaty,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1Without prejudice to Member States' powers under Article 36 of the Treaty, the term "cultural goods" shall refer, for the purposes of this Regulation, to the items listed in the Annex.
TITLE 1Export licence
Article 21.The export of cultural goods outside the customs territory of the Community shall be subject to the presentation of an export licence.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 1 January 1993,or, thereafter, by a competent authority of the Member State in whose territory it is located following either lawful and definitive dispatch from another Member State, or importation from a third country, 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 is authorized not to require export licences for the cultural goods specified in the first and second indents of category A1 of the Annex 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 is lawful.The export licence may be refused, for the purposes of this Regulation, where the cultural goods in question are covered by legislation protecting national treasures of artistic, historical or archaeological value 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 of Council Directive 93/…/EEC of … on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member StateNot 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..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 national law of the Member State of export.
Article 31.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 4The export licence shall be presented, in support of the export declaration, when the customs export formalities are carried out, at the customs office which is competent to accept that declaration.
Article 51.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.
TITLE 2Administrative cooperation
Article 6For 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 to establish, in the context of their mutual relations, cooperation between the customs authorities and the competent authorities referred to in Article 4 of Directive 93/…/EECSee footnote to Article 2 (2)..
TITLE 3General and final provisions
Article 7The provisions necessary for the implementation of this Regulation, in particular those concerning the form to be used (for example, the model and technical properties) shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8 (2).
Article 81.The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.2.Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 3 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/ECOJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. shall apply.3.The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.
Article 9Each Member State shall determine the penalties to be applied for infringement of the provisions of this Regulation. The penalties shall be sufficient to promote compliance with those provisions.
Article 10Each 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 Social Committee on the implementation of this Regulation.The Council shall review the effectiveness of the Regulation after a period of application of three years and, acting on a proposal 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 amounts indicated in the Annex, on the basis of economic and monetary indicators in the Community.
Article 11This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities of Directive 93/…/EECThe 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..
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.ANNEXCATEGORIES OF CULTURAL OBJECTS COVERED BY ARTICLE 1A.
Which are more than 50 years old and do not belong to their originators.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 is to say, articles which are relatively rare, are not normally used for their original purpose, are the subject of special transactions outside the normal trade in similar utility articles and are of high value."1.Archaeological objects more than 100 years old which are the products of:14.Any other antique items not included in categories A.1 to A.13(a)between 50 and 100 years old:
—excavations and finds on land or under water97050000
—archaeological sites97060000
—archaelogical collections
2.Elements forming an integral part of artistic, historical or religious monuments which have been dismembered, of an age exceeding 100 years97050000
97060000
3.Pictures and paintings, other than those included in category 3A or 4, executed entirely by hand in any medium and on any material9701
3A.Water-colours, gouaches and pastels executed entirely by hand on any material
4.Mosaics in any material executed entirely by hand, other than those falling in categories 1 or 2, and drawings in any medium executed entirely by hand on any material6914
9701
5.Original engravings, prints, serigraphs and lithographs with their respective plates and original postersChapter 49
97020000
84425099
6.Original sculptures or statuary and copies produced by the same process as the original, other than those in category 197030000
7.Photographs, films and negatives thereof3704
3705
3706
49119180
8.Incunabula and manuscripts, including maps and musical scores, singly or in collections97020000
97060000
49011000
49019900
49040000
49059100
49059900
49060000
9.Books more than 100 years old, singly or in collections97050000
97060000
10. Printed maps more than 200 years old97060000
11.Archives, and any elements thereof, of any kind or any medium which are more than 50 years old3704
3705
3706
4901
4906
97050000
97060000
12. (a)Collections and specimens from zoological, botanical, mineralogical or anatomical collections;97050000
(b)Collections of historical, palaeontological, ethnographic or numismatic interest97050000
13.Means of transport more than 75 years old97050000
Chapters 86—89
—toys, gamesChapter 95
—glassware7013
—articles of goldsmiths' or silversmiths' wares7114
—furnitureChapter 94
—optical, photographic or cinematographic apparatusChapter 90
—musical instrumentsChapter 92
—clocks and watches and parts thereofChapter 91
—articles of woodChapter 44
—potteryChapter 69
—tapestries58050000
—carpetsChapter 57
—wallpaper4814
—armsChapter 93
(b)more than 100 years old97060000
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 value1 (Archaeological objects)2 (Dismembered monuments)8 (Incunabula and manuscripts)11 (Archives)150004 (Mosaics and drawings)5 (Engravings)7 (Photographs)10 (Printed maps)300003A. (Water colours, gouaches and pastels)500006 (Statuary)9 (Books)12 (Collections)13 (Means of transport)14 (Any other object)1500003 (Pictures)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 euro in the Annex shall be converted and expressed in national currencies at the rate of exchange on 31 December 2001 published in the Official 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 Official Journal of the European Communities in the first days of the month of November preceding the date on which the revision takes effect.