Cultural cooperation between Italy and the United States of America is growing. The governments of Italy and the United States have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding imposing import restrictions on pre–Classical, Classical, and Imperial Roman archaeological artifacts from Italy. Coming in effect on Jan. 19, 2001, Italy and the U.S. extended the MOU for the third time for an additional five-year period. The U.S. State Department and the Italian embassy in Washington exchanged a third person note, while Italy’s Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (MIBACT) engaged in the renewal negotiations for Italy.
MOU on imposing import restrictions on designated archaeological material from Italy
The bilateral agreement, whose new text will come into effect on January 19, 2016, was established pursuant to the MOU in response to a request from the Government of the Italian Republic made under Article 9 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property . “The extension of this instrument for a further five years demonstrates the growing attention that Italy and the United States are focusing on combating the trafficking of cultural property and the excellent level of cooperation between the authorities of both countries,” said Italian ambassador to Washington, Claudio Bisogniero. “The Memorandum not only has preventive and repressive provisions, but it also configures an important framework to facilitate the strengthening of cultural cooperation, the enjoyment of cultural heritage by the large public, the implementation of academic, scientific and educational initiatives. In short, more law and culture for the benefit of all,” the Italian ambassador concluded.
