Advocacy
Say YES to Italy
What did the 2001 Italy-U.S. agreement call for?
The bilateral agreement has proven effective
Italy leads in cultural heritage protection
The public supports Italy's request
Since 2001, the bilateral agreement that imposes import restrictions on Italian antiquities from entering the U.S. has shown America's commitment to protecting an important part of our world heritage. This gesture of goodwill has also led Italy to allow long-term loans of important artifacts and works of art to American museums and institutions, so that the American public can learn more about Italy's rich and storied past.
On September 8 2005, the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) held hearings to decide whether to renew the agreement. SAFE's online appeal in support of renewal was presented at the hearings, as evidence that people in America, and around the world, care about protecting this important part of our global heritage.
The agreement was renewed in January, 2006 and is up for renewal in 2010.
What did the 2001 Italy-U.S. agreement call for?
- Import restrictions on certain categories of archaeological material into the U.S.
- Forfeited material to be returned to Italy
- Italy to increase internal efforts to protect its heritage, particularly from looting and smuggling.
- Italy to strengthen cooperation nations within the Mediterranean region
- Italy to encourage further interchange of archaeological materials for study and public appreciation through long-term loans, joint excavations and academic exchange programs
- Italy to strengthen export controls and law enforcement efforts
- A review of the agreement's effectiveness in consideration for extension
Here is the full text of the bilateral agreement signed on January 19, 2001. SAFE fully supports Italy's request for renewal, here's why:
The bilateral agreement has proven effective
- According to statistics from the Italian Carabinieri-Tutela Patrimonio Culturale (TPC), archaeological artifacts recovered that were taken from clandestine digs have declined 90% since the signing of the bilateral agreement.
Yet looting continues
While the bilateral agreement has been an effective deterrent since its signing in 2001, looting continues. See:
Italian art police recover 60,000 stolen, looted works, artifacts
- The great smash and grab by Rose George, The Independent, May 1 2005. "Italy is a treasure trove of buried antiquities. But now they are being systematically plundered.
- The ransack of Italy's history by Rory Carroll, Dante News, June 2003. "Italy is home to countless hidden tombs and burial chambers bearing antiquities dating back thousands of years. For academics and archaeologists they are historical treasure troves, but for an illicit band of criminals they are a passport into a billion-pound international smuggling operation.
Italy leads in cultural heritage protection
Italy, in short, has perhaps the best enforcement of antiquities laws of any country. The Carabinieri's Tutela Patrimonio Culturale (TPC), the Protection of the Cultural Heritage Unit of Italy's national police, has been at the forefront in policing cultural heritage, not only in Italy but worldwide. Read more about the Carabinieri in Policing antiquities in Italy: the Carabinieri Art Squad.
The Carabinieri led the effort to protect archaeological sites in Iraq as well as the recover looted artifacts. In The Massacre of Mesopotamian Archaeology by Joanne Farchakh, Dr. Donny George said, "The Italian Carabinieri (soldiers) are the only force that worked on this issue [looting] for a few months." Not only that, in late 2003, members of the Carabinieri sacrificed their lives guarding Nassyriah sites in Iraq. Still, the Carabinieri's work in Iraq continues to this day, including training of Iraqi site guards. Furthermore, Italian troops will provide funds for the restoration of Nasiriya Museum's makeover. AKI, August 17, 2005
Italy's Special Carabinieri Unit Fights Art Looting (April 10, 2006, The Wall Street Journal)
Italy shows heritage-saving heroics in Rome exhibit (November 11, 2005, ANSA)
Italy lends experience and expertise to China in China, Italy team up to protect cultural relics (February 10, 2004, People's Daily)
Unesco's 'blue berets' to rescue cultural treasures, "a new kind of rapid reaction force to step in wherever art treasures are threatened by war or natural disaster…will initially be formed entirely of Italians and could include members of Italy's paramilitary police, the carabinieri. The Guardian, October 28, 2004
Regarding Italian material, some of the Carabinieri's more notable successes since the signing of the bilateral agreement are:
- Italian police catch tomb raider, BBC News, December 28, 2005
- Italian police recover thousands of artifacts, Associated Press, July 26, 2005
- Police find 100 stolen Roman artefacts, Breakingnews.ie, December 18, 2004
- In 2004, 17,000 stolen artifacts were recovered
- In late 2003, more than 2,000 archaeological artifacts looted from Italy were seized in Switzerland
- Fragments of a rare life-size ivory head stolen from a tomb in Italy was recovered in London in 2003
- In light of recent threats, Italy moves to protect its heritage from terror, The Guardian, August 20, 2005
