Updated January 7, 2025
Updated February 3, 2025
The Cultural Property Advisory Committee meeting scheduled for February 4-6, 2025, has been postponed and will be rescheduled. A Federal Register Notice regarding postponement will be published soon.
Members of the public who registered to speak during the February 4 open session with the Committee will be contacted directly and will have the opportunity to speak during the rescheduled open session. There will also be an opportunity for other individuals to sign up to speak at the rescheduled open session.
Written public comments already submitted to regulations.gov have been saved and the Committee will review them as part of their preparations for the rescheduled meeting. There will be another opportunity to provide written comments to the Committee via regulations.gov in the lead-up to the rescheduled meeting.
Please check this webpage as well as the Federal Register Notice regularly for further details regarding the rescheduled Cultural Property Advisory Committee meeting.
Background
The Cultural Property Advisory Committee was scheduled to meet February 4-6, 2025 (89 FR 106722) to review a new request for cultural property import restrictions from Vietnam and to review the proposed extensions of the cultural property agreements with Chile, Italy, and Morocco.
The State Department follows the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) when considering cultural property agreements and import restrictions. Requested categories of material will be considered if they meet the criteria for archaeological and ethnological materials in the CPIA.
Vietnam
Vietnam seeks protection for archaeological and ethnological materials from the Paleolithic ca. 75,000 BCE to 1945 CE, from following time periods and cultures: Paleolithic (c. 75,000 BCE – 10,000 BCE), Neolithic period (c. 10,000 BCE – 2000 BCE), Bronze Age (c. 2000 BCE – 1000 BCE), and Iron Age (c. 1000 BCE – 200 CE), the Ancient period (2879 BCE - 179 BCE), Northern domination period (179 BCE – 939 CE), and the Dynasty and Monarchy period (939 – 1945 CE) including objects made from gold, silver, ceramic, stone, metal, copper, bronze, iron, bone, horn, ivory, gems, silk and textiles; lacquerware and wood; bamboo and paper; glass; coins; and painting and calligraphy.
Chile
Extending the Chile MOU would continue import restrictions on categories of archaeological material ranging in date from approximately 31,000 B.C. to 1868 A.D.
Italy
Extending the Italy MOU would continue import restrictions on categories of archaeological material ranging in date from approximately 900 B.C. to 400 A.D.
Morocco
Extending the Morocco MOU would continue import restrictions on categories of archaeological material ranging in date from approximately 1 million B.C. to approximately 1750 A.D. and certain ethnological material from the Saadian and Alaouite dynasties, ranging in date from approximately 1549 to 1912 A.D.
Public Comments
The public may provide written comment in advance of the meeting and/or register to speak in the virtual open session scheduled for February 4, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. EST.
Public comments on the cultural property agreements should focus on the four determinations in the CPIA.
How to submit written comments: Use regulations.gov and follow the prompts to submit written comments. Written comments must be submitted no later than January 27, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. EST.
How to make oral comments: Make oral comments during the Virtual Open Session on February 4, 2025 (instructions below). Requests to speak must be submitted no later than January 27, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. EST.
Join the Virtual Open Session
The virtual open session of the Committee meeting will be held on February 4, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. (EST) using Zoom.
To Speak: Registered participants can speak and may be asked questions by the Committee. If you wish to register to speak you must submit your name and organizational affiliation in an email request to culprop@state.gov by January 27, 2025. After you pre-register you will receive an email response with a unique link and instructions on how to participate. Due to time constraints, each participant will have no more than five minutes to speak.
To Observe: Anyone may observe the open session through Zoom, but they will not be able to speak. It is not necessary to pre-register to observe. If needed, please request reasonable accommodation by email to culprop@state.gov no later than January 27, 2025. It may not be possible to fulfill requests made after that date.
