Italy MOU: Enough is Enough

Italy needs to help itself,
not rely on us to do it

It is time to take a thorough look at the 1983 CCPIA, with a view toward initiating legislative action to close "loopholes" that have allowed the State Department's Cultural Heritage Center fanatics to thwart its legislative intent, and embark upon a jihad against the antiquities trade and antiquities collecting. The Italians are asking for a renewal of their MOU from us. 'Enough is enough', argues Peter Tompa, 'It's time to scrap current import restrictions and instead promote real cultural cooperation rather than more confrontation' (Cultural Property Observer, 'Italian MOU Renewal: Enough is Enough', Wednesday, February 18, 2015)

US collectors, museums and the small businesses of the numismatic and antiquities trade have had to deal with an embargo on unprovenanced artifacts "of Italian type" for some 15 years. In the interim, Italy has mounted aggressive police actions that have greatly diminished looting in the country. Yet, all this enforcement effort has done little to actually protect Italy's "cultural patrimony." During this same time, gross underfunding, ineptitude and corruption have hamstrung Italy's own care for even major sites like Pompeii. And at the same time, promises of long term loans to museums made by Rome have faded with devolution of power to regions such as Sicily.