Customs and police: working with museums in the fight against the
illicit traffic in cultural property.

On Tuesday, 25th January 2000, in Brussels, the Secretary General
of ICOM signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the World
Customs Organisation (WCO) to cooperate over the fight against
the illicit traffic in cultural property.

Theft in museums and the looting of archaeological sites serve to
sustain international traffic in cultural property. The fight
that ICOM has been leading in the field for a number of years
should be supported by close collaboration with police and
customs officers. Workshops with INTERPOL have already resulted
in active cooperation between museum professionals and police
officers in many countries.

The agreement that has just been signed with the WCO marks an
important step forward in the fight against the illicit traffic
in cultural property, for the question of cultural heritage
transcends borders. Within the competence of each national
administration, customs departments can greatly contribute to the
fight against this traffic. In the same way, strengthened
cooperation between the authorities responsible for protecting
heritage and the customs authorities as much at the national as
the international level should mean increased efficiency in
customs checks.

The Memorandum of Understanding should serve to strengthen
cooperation between the two organisations in official and
practical terms, particularly by sharing information between the
two secretariats, and thus between customs authorities and
members of ICOM. Joint projects should soon be up and running,
including implementation of tools for raising awareness, setting
up training programmes for customs officers, and distributing
ICOM information on illicit traffic (the One Hundred Missing
Objects collection and the Red List) to customs departments the
world over.

In addition to the close collaboration that has long existed
between ICOM, INTERPOL and police departments, a Memorandum of
Understanding should soon be signed between ICOM and INTERPOL to
strengthen their collaboration and make it official.

For more information please contact
Valerie Jullien
ICOM secretariat
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