Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of State has renewed the Charter of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee for a two-year period, effective April 8, 2018. First established in 1983 by the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (Public Law 97-446), the Cultural Property Advisory Committee advises the President of the United States on appropriate U.S. action in response to requests from foreign governments for cultural property agreements.

Cultural property agreements with other countries are collaborative tools to prevent illicit excavation and trade in cultural objects. Once an agreement is in place, importation into the United States of designated material is prohibited except under certain exceptional circumstances. U.S. efforts to protect and preserve cultural heritage through these agreements promote stability, economic development, and good governance within the concerned countries, while denying critical financing to terrorist organizations and other criminal networks that engage in such illicit trade.

The Presidentially appointed members of the Committee include private-sector experts in archaeology, anthropology, ethnology, and related fields; experts in the international sale of cultural property; representatives of museums; and the general public. The President has delegated decision-making responsibility for cultural property agreements to the Secretary of State, and the Committee submits its findings and recommendations directly to the Department of State.