Showing posts with label memorandum of understanding (MoU). Show all posts
Showing posts with label memorandum of understanding (MoU). Show all posts

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Mali, Guatemala, and Bulgaria Up for Discussion by CPAC - Public Session Slated for April 24

September 12, 2017 – by 0
earlier request for a bilateral agreement.  That session, according to the Federal Register, will be a confidential meeting authorized by 19 U.S.C. 2605(h), which permits private discussions when "the President or his designee [determines] that the disclosure of matters involved in the Committee’s proceedings would compromise the government’s negotiation objectives or bargaining positions on the negotiations of any agreement authorized by [the CPIA]."

An MoU or bilateral agreement protecting jeopardized archaeological and ethnological objects may be enacted between nations pursuant to Article 9 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention (the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property). Congress implemented the treaty by adopting the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA), signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.  Import protections granted under the CPIA last for five years and may be renewed thereafter.

Head of a Mali figure.
Source: US Department of State.
The United States enacted emergency import controls in 1993 over archaeological material from Mali's Niger River Valley and its Tellem burial caves at Bandiagara. This action led to the 1997 adoption of an MoU between the two nations.  The bilateral agreement was then extended in 2002 and 2007.  The last MoU was broadened to include archaeological objects from the Stone Age to the 1700s.

The United States also took emergency action in 1991 to cover Maya archaeological artifacts from Guatemala's Petén region, extending the protections in 1994.  In 1997, the U.S. and Guatemala entered into a bilateral agreement covering pre-Columbian archaeological material.  The countries extended the MoU in 2002 and 2007.  The 2007 MoU broadened Article 2's provision to include, among among other items, that "the Government of the Republic of Guatemala shall undertake an assessment with regard to improvements in broad areas such as law enforcement, cultural resource management, education, conservation, research, and the national museum system" before the agreement expired in 2012.

To attend or speak at the public session on April 24, you may reserve your place by calling  the Cultural Heritage Center of the Department of State at (202) 632–6301 by 5 p.m. EDT on April 3.  The meeting will be held at 2200 C St., NW. in Washington, DC.

Public comments may be submitted electronically to CPAC at www.regulations.gov and are due April 3 by the end of the day.  Enter docket number DOS-2012-0012 for Mali or docket number DOS-2012-0011 for Guatemala and follow the instructions on the web site.

The committee now only accepts electronic comments unless they are confidential under 19 U.S.C. 2605(i)(1).  Written submissions reasonably determined to qualify for confidentiality may be delivered or mailed to:

Cultural Heritage Center (ECA/P/C)
SA-5, Fifth Floor
Department of State
Washington, DC 20522-0505

Comments submitted to CPAC must address one, some, or all of the four determinations outlined by the CPIA.  Quoting 19 USC 2602, the four determinations are:

(A) [whether] the cultural patrimony of the State Party is in jeopardy from the pillage of archaeological or ethnological materials of the State Party;

(B) [whether] the State Party has taken measures consistent with the Convention to protect its cultural patrimony;

(C) [whether] --

(i) the application of the import restrictions . . . with respect to archaeological or ethnological material of the State Party, if applied in concert with similar restrictions implemented, or to be implemented within a reasonable period of time, by those nations (whether or not State Parties [to the 1970 UNESCO Convention]) individually having a significant import trade in such material, would be of substantial benefit in deterring a serious situation of pillage, and

(ii) remedies less drastic than the application of the restrictions set forth in such section are not available; and

(D) [whether] the application of the import restrictions . . . in the particular circumstances is consistent with the general interest of the international community in the interchange of cultural property among nations for scientific, cultural, and educational purposes.

Tomorrow's Federal Register announcement of the CPAC meeting may be found here.


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Public Comments Submitted to CPAC Amid Coup and Unrest in Mali

September 12, 2017 – by 0

request for a renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States.  The request for the renewed bilateral agreement under the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) comes amid a March 21 army coup d’etat that removed Mali’s president and other elected leaders. The government overthrow leaves open the question of how the State Department will deal with Mali's request for continued American import protections covering cultural objects from that nation.

The United States government yesterday criticized Captain Amadou Sanogo and his coup supporters’ “illegitimate grip on Mali and its people.”  It also demanded that “all armed rebels in the north of Mali to cease military operations that compromise the Republic of Mali’s territorial integrity . . . .”  (See the U.S. Department of State’s Daily Press Briefing here).

In the midst of Mali’s turmoil, the CPAC comment submission process received a dozen remarks concerning the proposed MoU renewal.

Among those expressing support for the Malian request were the Penn Cultural Heritage Center Executive Director.  Richard Leventhal and his colleagues wrote that there is “a situation of serious pillage jeopardizing the cultural patrimony of Mali [that] exists” to warrant a “renewal of import restrictions on archaeological and ethnological material from Mali.”  The Penn Center also urged the State Department to negotiate several items with the Malian government, including updating its inventory of cultural property to facilitate loans to American museums and creating “an interministerial committee to coordinate activities to preserve cultural heritage in Mali and strengthen efforts to reduce the internal sale and export of restricted antiquities.”  A copy of the Penn Center’s complete letter and position paper appears here.

Douglas Park, a Yale University educated anthropologist who has worked in Mali stated in his prepared remarks: “The beneficial effect of the Mali Cultural Property Protection MOU cannot be overstated. Local Malian capacity to carry out cultural heritage management programs is a direct result of the MOU. In light of the lamentable circumstances currently straining Malian political stability, a renewed bi-lateral agreement with the United States will undoubtedly assist in curbing opportunistic looting and black market trade by outside actors eager to take advantage of the presently difficult and fluid conditions.”

Roslyn Walker of the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) made the following comments:  “Not only are there few antiquities in the [DMA] collection, few works of art are from Mali. Ideally, I would like to display objects that reach back in time, for example a Djenne-jeno or Bankoni-style terracotta figure or a Tellem ritual vessel or wooden headrest from Mali.
…
The Dallas Museum of Art is neither buying nor accepting gifts of Malian antiquities as per the Cultural Property Implementation Act. The only way the Museum can obtain Malian antiquities is to borrow them from the National Museum of Mali. . . . I understand the Museum’s being protective of its collection, but I would like to offer a suggestion. The Museum could post a form of loan application on the website with an invitation to only accredited museums. If the National Museum of Mali is satisfied with the applicant’s credentials, the National Museum can make their inventory available electronically or on-site. There would follow the formal request, approval of the loan by either the director or a government official, determination of the loan fee if it is not standardized, the logistics of crating and shipping the objects and/or an agreement on exchange of services, and granting of an export permit.”

Support for the MoU came from the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), but with concerns:  “The recent coup d’état in Mali puts in peril the stability of Malian government that we have known over the last two decades as well as its ability to take steps to protects its cultural patrimony. The ability of the Committee now to evaluate . . . e.g., security efforts at sites, police pursuit of criminals, enforcement of export restrictions, education of citizens, etc., is more difficult.”

The AAMD added: [E]ven before the recent coup there existed challenges for American museums that wanted to undertake loans. In order to have a meaningful dialogue about loans, one must have an idea of what is available to be leant and Mali has few if any publically available inventories. Furthermore, access to storage areas to determine what might be available to borrow is severely limited. In addition to these specific concerns about Mali’s compliance with the 2007 MOU, the AAMD hopes that the Committee has or will inquire as to other efforts Mali has undertaken . . . .”

Access to the full comments described above and to the others submitted can be found here.


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