My Lords, this draft statutory instrument was laid before the House on 19 May 2021. This is a short but important instrument that will bring clarity and certainty for the UK’s museums and art market. Its effect is to remove from the statute book those provisions of the EU regulation on the introduction and the import of cultural goods which became UK law as retained EU law at the end of the transition period, but which are now redundant or legally deficient. It will not affect the provisions which already exist in UK law to protect cultural goods or our ability to tackle the illicit trade in cultural goods.
It may be helpful if I begin by setting out some context. EU regulation 2019/880 on the introduction and the import of cultural goods aims to tackle the illicit trade in cultural goods and to prevent the proceeds of that trade being used to fund terrorism. The regulation came into force on 28 June 2019. However, not all its provisions became applicable on that date. In particular, a provision known as the “general prohibition”, which prohibits entry into the EU customs territory for cultural goods which were unlawfully removed from the country in which they were created or discovered, only began to apply on 28 December 2020. Provisions which require importers of certain cultural goods to present an import licence or an importer statement, to guarantee the legal provenance of the goods, will become applicable only when an EU-wide IT system is in place, or from 28 June 2025 at the latest.
At the end of the transition period, on 31 December 2020, all those provisions of the regulation which had become applicable by that date became UK law as retained EU law—that is, those provisions which became applicable when the regulation came into force together with the general prohibition provision. The provisions requiring import licences and importer statements did not become UK law, and there is therefore no legal obligation for us to implement them. We have always made it clear that we would not implement these provisions if there was no legal obligation to do so.
Many of the provisions which have become UK law are redundant, because they create obligations in relation to the EU or relate to measures to prepare for the introduction of import licences and importer statements. The general prohibition provision has become legally deficient and cannot be enforced in UK law. It relates to the “introduction of cultural goods”, which is defined in the regulation as,
“entry into the customs territory of the Union”.
Great Britain is no longer part of the EU customs union, so the provision cannot be applied to Great Britain. We have therefore decided to address this legal deficiency, and at the same time remove the redundant provisions from the statute book, by revoking the regulation.
I make it clear that the regulation will continue to apply directly to Northern Ireland by virtue of having been added to annexe 2 of the Ireland/Northern Ireland protocol. Revocation of the regulation from UK law does not affect this.
There are two important reasons why we have decided to revoke the general prohibition provision. First, even if this provision were not legally deficient in the way
that I have described, it would still raise issues of concern and create complexity and confusion for importers and for our customs and border authorities. These arise because the provision applies to almost all cultural goods created or discovered in non-EU countries, regardless of their age, value or date of export, and because there is no requirement in the regulation for any person to provide evidence to demonstrate either lawful export or unlawful removal from the country of creation or discovery. In the event of a claim of unlawful export, it is not clear where the burden of proof would lie or what evidence would be required. These issues could result in cultural goods being delayed or detained at the border, and might deter people from importing cultural goods to sell in the UK art market or museums from lending objects for exhibitions in this country. It would be possible to address these issues, but we consider that this is not necessary. This brings me to our second reason for revoking the regulation.
We consider that we already have sufficient legal powers to tackle the illicit trade in cultural goods and the import of cultural goods which have been unlawfully removed from another country. These powers are set out in existing domestic law, and in some cases also derive from our obligations in international law—to name but a few, the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003, and the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Act 2017, as well as the Theft Act 1968 and the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017.
The effectiveness of our existing legislation was demonstrated very recently, when we returned to Libya a statue which had been unlawfully removed from that country and which was found and detained by HMRC at Heathrow Airport. This is only the most recent example. In the last few years, thanks to the diligent efforts of our police, customs and border authorities, we have been able to return other important cultural objects to the countries from which they had been unlawfully removed. In view of the existing, effective provisions in our law, we consider that the general prohibition in the EU regulation is unnecessary.
In summary, therefore, this instrument will revoke those provisions of the regulation which have become UK law. It will provide clarity and certainty, and ensure that there is no confusion as to the rules and requirements for the import of cultural goods, but it will not mean that we are any less able to prevent the import of unlawfully removed cultural goods. I beg to move.
3.29 pm