Page images
PDF
EPUB

b. Carrying Out Provisions of the Beirut Agreement of 1949 Relating to Audio-Visual Materials

Executive Order 11311, October 14, 1966, 31 F.R. 13413, 3 CFR, 1966-70 Comp., p. 593, 19 U.S.C. 2051 note

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, including the provisions of the Joint Resolution of October 8, 1966, Public Law 89-634, and section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, I hereby order and proclaim that—

1. Pursuant to section 3(b) of the Joint Resolution, the amendments to the Tariff Schedules of the United States made by section 3(a) of the Joint Resolution shall apply with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on and after January 1, 1967.

2. Pursuant to the "Agreement for Facilitating the International Circulation of Visual and Auditory Materials of an Educational, Scientific and Cultural Character", made at Beirut in 1948, the Joint Resolution, and headnote 1 to schedule 8, part 6 of the Tariff Schedules of the United States, the United States Information Agency is hereby designated as the agency to carry out the provisions of the Agreement and related protocol, and to make any determinations and to prescribe any regulations required by headnote 1.

c. Exemption From Judicial Seizure of Cultural Objects Imported for Temporary Exhibition

(1) Public Law 89-259 [S. 2273], 79 Stat. 985, approved October 19, 1965 1

AN ACT To render immune from seizure under judicial process certain objects of cultural significance imported into the United States for temporary display or exhibition, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) whenever any work of art or other object of cultural significance is imported into the United States from any foreign country, pursuant to an agreement entered into between the foreign owner or custodian thereof and the United States or one or more cultural or educational institutions within the United States providing for the temporary exhibition or display thereof within the United States at any cultural exhibition, assembly, activity, or festival administered, operated, or sponsored, without profit, by any such cultural or educational institution, no court of the United States, any State, the District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States may issue or enforce any judicial process, or enter any judgment, decree, or order, for the purpose or having the effect of depriving such institution, or any carrier engaged in transporting such work or object within the United States of custody or control of such object if before the importation of such object the President or his designee has determined that such object is of cultural significance and that the temporary exhibition or display thereof within the United States is in the national interest, and a notice to that effect has been published in the Federal Register.

(b) If in any judicial proceeding in any such court any such process, judgment, decree, or order is sought, issued, or entered, the United States attorney for the judicial district within which such proceeding is pending shall be entitled as of right to intervene as a party to that proceeding, and upon request made by either the institution adversely affected, or upon direction by the Attorney General if the United States is adversely affected, shall apply to such court for the denial, quashing, or vacating thereof.

(c) Nothing contained in this Act shall preclude (1) any judicial action for or in aid of the enforcement of the terms of any such agreement or the enforcement of the obligation of any carrier under any contract for the transportation of any such object of cultural significance; or (2) the institution or prosecution by or on behalf of any such institution or the United States of any action for or in aid of the fulfillment of any obligation assumed by such institution or the United States pursuant to any such agreement.

1 22 U.S.C. 2459.

(2) Imported Objects of Cultural Significance

Executive Order 12047, March 27, 1978, 43 F.R. 13359, as amended by Executive Order 12388, October 14, 1982, 47 F.R. 46245

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Act of October 19, 1965, entitled "An Act to render immune from seizure under judicial process certain objects of cultural significance imported into the United States for temporary display or exhibition, and for other purposes" (79 Stat. 985, 22 U.S.C. 2459), and as President of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. The Director of the United States Information Agency is designated and empowered to perform the functions conferred upon the President by the above-mentioned Act and shall be deemed to be authorized, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, (1) to determine that any work of art or other object to be imported into the United States within the meaning of the Act is of cultural significance, (2) to determine that the temporary exhibition or display of any such work of art or other object in the United States is in the national interest, and (3) to cause public notices of the determinations referred to above to be published in the Federal Register.

Sec. 2. The Director of the United States Information Agency,1 in carrying out this Order, shall consult with the Secretary of State with respect to the determination of national interest, and may consult with the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Director of the National Gallery of Art, and with such other officers and agencies of the Government as may be appropriate, with respect to the determination of cultural significance.

Sec. 3. The Director of the United States Information Agency is authorized to delegate within the Agency the functions conferred upon him by this Order.

Sec. 4. Executive Order No. 11312 of October 14, 1966 is revoked.2

Sec. 5. Any order, regulation, determination or other action which was in effect pursuant to the provisions of Executive Order No. 11312 shall remain in effect until changed pursuant to the authority provided in this Order.

Sec. 6. This Order shall be effective on April 1, 1978.

1 The references to the United States Information Agency were inserted in lieu of references to the International Communication Agency by sec. 1 of Executive Order 12388.

2 Executive Order 11312, effective October 14, 1966, had delegated the authorities under this executive order to the Secretary of State. With the establishment of the International Communication Agency (since redesignated as the United States Information Agency) on April 1, 1978, these functions were redelegated to the Director of the new Agency.

13. Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act

Partial text of Public Law 97-446 [H.R. 4566], 96 Stat. 2329, approved January 12, 1983; as amended by Public Law 100-204 [Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989; H.R. 1777], 101 Stat. 1331, approved December 22, 1987

AN ACT To reduce certain duties, to suspend temporarily certain duties, to extend certain existing suspensions of duties, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

TITLE III-IMPLEMENTATION OF CONVENTION ON
CULTURAL PROPERTY

SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE.

This title may be cited as the "Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act".1

SEC. 302. DEFINITIONS.

For purposes of this title

(1) The term "agreement" includes any amendment to, or extension of, any agreement under this title that enters into force with respect to the United States.

(2) The term "archaeological or ethnological material of the State Party" means

(A) any object of archaeological interest;

(B) any object of ethnological interest; or

(C) any fragment or part of any object referred to in subparagraph (A) or (B);

which was first discovered within, and is subject to export control by, the State Party. For purposes of this paragraph

(i) no object may be considered to be an object of archaeological interest unless such object

(I) is of cultural significance;

(II) is at least two hundred and fifty years old; and (III) was normally discovered as a result of scientific excavation, clandestine or accidental digging, or exploration on land or under water; and

(ii) no object may be considered to be an object of ethnological interest unless such object is

(I) the product of a tribal or nonindustrial society, and

(II) important to the cultural heritage of a people because of its distinctive characteristics, comparative

119 U.S.C. 2601.

rarity, or its contribution to the knowledge of the origins, development, or history of that people.

(3) The term "Committee" means the Cultural Property Advisory Committee established under section 206.2

(4) The term "consignee" means a consignee as defined in section 483 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.Č. 1483).

(5) The term "Convention" means the Convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export, and transfer of ownership of cultural property adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization at its sixteenth session.

(6) The term "cultural property" includes articles described in article 1 (a) through (k) of the Convention whether or not any such article is specifically designated as such by any State Party for the purposes of such article.

(7) The term "designated archaeological or ethnological material" means any archaeological or ethnological material of the State Party which—

(A) is

(i) covered by an agreement under this title that enters into force with respect to the United States, or (ii) subject to emergency action under section 304, and

(B) is listed by regulation under section 305.

(8) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate.

(9) The term "State Party" means any nation which has ratified, accepted, or acceded to the Convention.

(10) The term "United States" includes the several States, the District of Columbia, and any territory or area the foreign relations for which the United States is responsible.

(11) The term "United States citizen" means

(A) any individual who is a citizen or national of the United States;

(B) any corporation, partnership, association, or other legal entity organized or existing under the laws of the United States or any State; or

(C) any department, agency, or entity of the Federal Government or of any government of any State.

SEC. 303.3 AGREEMENTS TO IMPLEMENT ARTICLE 9 OF THE CONVENTION.

(a) AGREEMENT AUTHORITY.

4

(1) IN GENERAL.-If the President determines, after request is made to the United States under article 9 of the Convention by any State Party

2 This reference to sec. 206 should probably be a reference to sec. 306. 3 19 U.S.C. 2602.

The functions conferred upon the President by sec. 303(a)(1) concerning determinations to be made prior to initiation of negotiations of bilateral or multilateral agreements were delegated to the Director of the United States Information Agency, acting in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury, by Executive Order 12555 (March 10, 1986; 51 F.R.

« PreviousContinue »