Export of cultural goods

Cultural treasure is protected by regulations on the export of cultural objects. The objective of protecting national cultural treasure is to keep valuable cultural property in Finland as part of our history and cultural identity. The Act and Decree on Restrictions to the Export of Cultural Objects contain regulations regarding this matter. The Act is applied to all movement of cultural objects outside the borders of Finland. In addition to national legislation, the export of cultural goods outside the EU is regulated by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3911/92 and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 752/93 on the export of cultural goods.

Export licence for cultural objects
Objects that require a national export licence
Objects that require an EU export licence
The application procedure
Licensing authorities
Temporary export prohibition
Right of redemption
The consequences of violating the regulations
Additional information


 

Export licence for cultural objects

Application must be made for an export licence for taking a cultural object out of Finland if the object belongs in the categories that are listed in the national Act on Restrictions to the Export of Cultural Objects, irrespective of the financial value of the object.

If the financial value of a cultural object that is intended for export outside the EU also exceeds the value thresholds set in the Council Regulation, an EU export licence for cultural objects must be applied for instead of the national licence.

 

Objects that require a national export licence

The Act (115/1999) is applied to objects produced in Finland and objects produced abroad that have been in Finland at least 50 years during the last 100 years. The Act is also applied to objects produced abroad if they have a special value from the standpoint of Finland's national history, irrespective of how long they have been in Finland. The Act is not applied to objects that are in the possession of a natural person who is the producer, designer or creator of the object.

The categories of objects that require an export licence are listed in detail in the Act. An export licence must be applied for in the case of the following objects:

Archaeological objects
- archaeological objects referred to in the Antiquities Act (295/1963), which have been found from land or under water;

Works of art and original or comparable products of industrial art and art handicraft of which a limited series has been produced
- more than 50 years old or

Buildings or parts of buildings
- more than 100 years old

Motion pictures, sound recordings and other technical recordings
- more than 50 years old

Literary products: manuscripts, music manuscripts
- more than 50 years old

Books and maps
- printed in Finland or for Finland before the year 1800

Books
- printed abroad before the year 1600

Private archives and archive material belonging in other object categories, which are valuable due to scientific research or other special reasons
- irrespective of age

Collections that are valuable due to scientific research or other special reasons, and natural history collections and specimens of these collections
- irrespective of age

Vehicles and transport equipment
- more than 50 years old

Other objects more than 100 years old:
- Objects that are permanent fixtures in buildings
- Weapons and equipment; machines, apparatus and equipment meant for military use
- Timepieces
- Furniture and lamps
- Weighing and measuring devices and household objects
- Tools and machines
- Toys and games
- Musical instruments
- Garments and textiles
- Works and other metal objects made by goldsmiths and silversmiths
- Glass and wooden objects, ceramic and porcelain objects
- Photographs and photographic equipment and other optical equipment
- Ecclesiastical objects
- Objects related to beliefs

Objects, related to national history and prominent persons
- irrespective of their age

An export licence is not required if an object belonging to a public collection or archive, or an object belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church or Orthodox Church or their congregation or group of congregations is taken from the country on loan for an exhibition, for conservation or for scientific research and then returned to Finland.

A performing artist or a person practising a profession is not required to apply for an export licence for an instrument or other equipment used in their work, which will be returned to Finland after the performance or work is completed.

 

Objects that require an EU export licence

The Member States of the European Community apply Community legislation in their mutual relationships. Despite the free movement of goods in the Community, national regulations concerning cultural goods are in force in all Member States. Furthermore, regulations concerning the export of cultural goods outside the Community came into force in Finland in the beginning of 1995 prescribing that a special EU export licence is required in certain cases for the export of cultural goods to so-called third countries.

Irrespective of their financial value, an EU export licence is required for:

Archaeological objects, the products of excavations and finds on land or under water
- more than 100 years

Integral parts of artistic, historical or religious monuments
- more than 100 years old

Incunabula and manuscripts, inter alia, including maps and musical scores, singly or in collections
- more than 50 years that do not belong to their originators

All kinds of archives, and any elements thereof
- more than 50 years old

The following items require an EU export licence if their value corresponds to, or exceeds, the given financial thresholds:

Pictures and paintings executed entirely by hand 150,000 €
- more than 50 years old that do not belong to their originators

Watercolours, gouaches and pastels 30,000 €
- more than 50 years old that do not belong to their originators

Mosaics and drawings 15,000 €
- more than 50 years old that do not belong to their originators

Original engravings, prints, serigraphs and litographs with their respective plates, original posters 15,000 €
- more than 50 years old that do not belong to their originators

Original sculptures and statuary and copies produced by the same process as the original 50,000 €
- more than 50 years old that do not belong to their originators

Books, singly or in collections 50,000 €
- more than 100 years old

Printed maps 15,000 €
- more than 200 years old

Photographs, films and negatives thereof 15,000 €
- more than 50 years old that do not belong to their originators

Collections and specimens from zoological, botanical, mineralogical or anatomical collections 50,000 €

Collections of historical, palaeontological, ethnographic or numismatic interest 50,000 €

Means of transport 50,000 €
- more than 75 years old

Other antique items: toys, games, glassware, articles of goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares, furniture, optical, photographic and cinematographic apparatus, musical instruments, clocks and watches, articles of wood, pottery, tapestries, carpets, wallpaper, arms, 50,000 €
- between 50 and 100 years old

 

The application procedure

Before old objects are taken out of the country, an enquiry must be made well in advance to find out whether the objects belong in the sphere of restrictions on the export of cultural objects. An application for an export licence for cultural objects may not be sent by email or by telefax. The application form must be filled in by typewriter or by hand in capital letters. The form must not contain amendments made by scratching, overwriting or any other means. The second copy of the application form is the actual export licence that remains in the possession of the applicant and the third copy is submitted to the Customs authorities when the object is taken out of the country.

An application for a national export licence for cultural objects is made on the Suomi- Kulttuuriesineet (Finland - Cultural Objects) form. A special EU - Kulttuuriesineet (EU Cultural - Objects) form is available for the EU licence procedure. The outward appearance of the EU form and the sections to be filled in are similar in all Member States as regulated by law. The licensing authorities will answer questions on how to fill in the forms.

Three photographs of the object or a detailed list of the cultural objects must be attached to the licence application. A stamped photograph marked with the export licence number or a list for ensuring the identification of the object/objects shall be attached to the copies of the export licence given to the applicant. The cultural object is not shown to the licensing authorities when making the application; the authorities make their decision on the basis of information in the application form and the photographs. It is, however, possible that the licensing authorities may want to examine the object in more detail or take photographs of it if necessary.

If an object is taken out of Finland for a fixed period of time and the licensing authorities set the date for its return, the owner of the object shall report to the authorities that granted the licence when the object is returned to Finland.

Before an object is exported outside the EU, the applicant must estimate whether the financial value of the object exceeds the value threshold that makes the EU licence procedure obligatory. It must be noted that when exporting outside the EU, certain categories of objects - archaeological objects, parts of monuments, incunabula and manuscripts, archives - require that the EU licence procedure is always applied, irrespective of the value of the object.

Many different matters are taken into consideration when making decisions on the export licence. The object may be rare or becoming rare or it may be especially significant from the perspective of national cultural heritage or be essentially connected with a valuable cultural environment, significant persons or events of national history. The decision may also be affected by artistic, scientific or historical viewpoints or other special reasons for which an export licence may not be granted.

The licence expires if the object is not taken out of the country within one year of the date the licence was granted.

 

Licensing authorities

The National Board of Antiquities is the central licensing authority that gives advice and guidance in matters concerning the export of cultural objects. The National Board of Customs is the authority that supervises the export of cultural objects. The Finnish National Gallery and the War Museum are empowered to issue national export licences for cultural goods according to their field of expertise. The following provincial museums are empowered to issue national export licences for cultural objects in their own regions: Turku Provincial Museum in Turku, Kymenlaakso Provincial Museum in Kotka, Satakunta Museum in Pori, K.H. Renlund's Museums in Kokkola, Pietarsaari City Museum in Pietarsaari, Bothnia Museum in Vaasa, North Bothnia Museum in Oulu and Tornionlaakso Museum in Tornio.

EU export licences are issued by the Finnish National Gallery and the National Board of Antiquities according to their field of expertise; the latter also keeps a record of all export licences in the whole country.

Licence application forms are available from all licensing authorities. The National Board of Antiquities charges a licence fee in accordance with the Act on Criteria for Charges Payable to the State. Municipal licensing authorities are entitled to charge a corresponding fee.

 

Temporary export prohibition

The licensing authority may prohibit the export of a cultural object temporarily. The prohibition order may be issued if the object is to be sold or transferred publicly and in all probability an export licence would not be granted for the object. A temporary export prohibition order may also be issued, without hearing the owner, to a seller or other agent acting on behalf of the owner. The temporary export prohibition order shall be in force until a decision is reached on the export application.

 

Right of redemption

If the licensing authority refuses a licence for export and if the owner of the object so demands, the National Board of Antiquities or the National Gallery is entitled to redeem the object for the State.

 

The consequences of violating the regulations

The consequences of exporting or attempting to export a cultural object in violation of the regulations are prescribed in the Penal Code:

"A person who without appropriate permission or otherwise in violation of import or export provisions or regulations imports, exports or attempts to import or export goods, the import or export of which is prohibited or requires the permission or inspection of an authority, shall be sentenced for smuggling to a fine or to imprisonment for at most two years." (769/1990, chapter 46 sections 4 and 5)

If the smuggling, when assessed as a whole, with due consideration to the value or quantity of goods or to the other circumstances connected with the offence, is to be deemed petty, the offender shall be sentenced for petty smuggling to a fine."

Furthermore, the offender may also be ordered to forfeit the goods.

 

Additional information

The Act on Restrictions to the Export of Cultural Objects (115/1999)

The Decree on Restrictions to the Export of Cultural Objects (189/1999)

Council Regulation (EC) No. 116/2009 on the export of cultural goods

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1081/2012 of 9 November 2012 for the purposes of Council Regulation (EC) No 116/2009 on the export of cultural goods

The Act on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State of the European Economic Area 1276/1994

CONVENTION on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, Paris, 14 November 1970

The Act on adopting certain regulations of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 875/ 1999

The Decree for bringing into force the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and the entry into force of the Act on adopting certain regulations of the Convention 876/99

The Act on adopting certain regulations of the Unidroit Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects and the application of the Convention 877/1999

The Decree for bringing into force the Unidroit Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects and adopting certain regulations of the Convention and the entry into force of the Act on the application of the Convention 878/ 1999

CONVENTION on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict with Regulations for the Execution of the Convention, The Hague, 14 May 1954

The Act on the implementation of certain provisions of the Protocol for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and on the application of the Protocol 1135/ 1994

The Decree on the implementation of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the related Protocol and accepting and applying certain provisions of the Protocol 1136/ 1994