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The export of a foreign work of art may be notified or prohibited only if it has a “significant link” with Italian cultural heritage. In summary, this is the innovative principle proposed by Document No. 2. Directorate-General for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscapes (DG ABAP) of the Ministry of Culture, dated 20 June 2024, No. 28. Therefore, in the case of the presence of a foreign work of art, the exporting authority that decides to refuse a request for a free circulation certificate must first emphasize the link that this work of art has with Italy and Italian culture.
A lot of question marks
But what does “foreign art” mean?
In this regard, the Notice defines as such works works created by foreign authors outside Italy (so not all works created by foreign authors in Italy are included).
Moreover, in what cases does the aforementioned link between the alleged works of foreign and Italian culture legitimize a potential refusal to export them?
In this regard, Circular No. 28 of 2024 sets out certain circumstances (the so-called “connection criteria”) under which the connection must be considered to exist:
1) foreign assets belong to Italian historical collections (but the exact meaning of “historical collections” is not specified);
2) the relevance of the work to Italian cultural history;
3) historical links of the foreign author with Italy (considering the use of the term “historical”, it is therefore necessary to exclude cases where the author had sporadic contacts with Italy or where contacts were not related to artistic reasons).
Furthermore, according to the notification, the Export Office, after sufficiently highlighting the link between the foreign work and the national cultural heritage, will be able to refuse to grant an export license only in the case of the existence of such a link (in addition to the aforementioned link between the work and the national cultural heritage of Italy) of at least two of the six criteria provided for in Ministerial Decree 537/17:
1. The artistic quality of the work;
2. Rarity in a qualitative and/or quantitative sense;
3. Relevance of the statement;
4. belonging to historical, artistic, archaeological, monumental complexes and/or environments;
5. It bears particularly important witness to the history of the collection;
6. Evidence of significant relationships between different cultural areas from the perspective of archaeology, art, history, and ethnography).
time limit
Then again, is it possible to bind foreign works that have existed in Italy for only a few years – regardless of their connection to Italian culture?
The notification appears to rule out situations in which such works could be subject to export restrictions or refusals, since “in principle, the exit from Italian territory of foreign goods of historical significance is entirely accidental or incidental”.
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