Cultural Property Agreement

About Cultural Property Agreement: 

• It is to prevent and curb the illicit trafficking of antiquities from India to the USA.
• It is aligned with the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, to which both countries are States party.
• It restricts the importation into the United States of certain archaeological material ranging in date from 1.7 million years ago through 1770 CE and certain ethnological material, which may include categories of civic, religious, and royal architectural material, religious material and ceremonial items, and manuscripts ranging in date from 2nd century BCE to 1947 CE.
• As per the agreement, the United States of America shall offer to return to India any object or material on the Designate List forfeited to the Government of the United States of America.
• It is to be noted that USA has already executed agreement with countries like -Algeria, Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Jordan, Mali, Morocco, Peru and Turkey.
• Significance: The Agreement shall be helpful in quick seizure of Indian antiquities at US Customs and their repatriation back to India.

Q1: What is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)?

It is a specialized agency of the United Nations(UN). The constitution, which entered into force in 1946, called for the promotion of international collaboration in education, science, and culture. The agency’s permanent headquarters are in Paris, France.

Source: India, U.S. sign agreement to protect cultural heritage