Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import
The UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property is an international treaty to combat the illegal trade in cultural items.It was signed on 14 November 1970 and came into effect on the 24th of April in 1972. İn October 2022, 142 states have ratified the treaty.
Before the 1970 UNESCO convention, the illegal trade of antique objects and cultural items was prevalent among the trade of drugs and weapons. Therefore, several sovereign states set about to preserve important historical and culturally significant objects. These actions were a prelude to UNESCO's wide-scale attempt on the manners of preserving cultural objects.
The conception of the treaty began in April 1964, when UNESCO appointed a Committee of Experts from thirty states in April 1964. In 1968, UNESCO adopted Resolution 3.334, authorizing the creation of a committee to draft a convention. The UNESCO Director-General appointed a principal expert and four consultants to draft the text on the convention, for later review by each member state. Upon its revision, the text was sent to a Special Committee of Governmental Experts, which prepared a final draft around April 1970.
The committee was attended by 61 states, and the convention drafted by the committee was adopted at the 16th General Conference on the 14th of November in 1970. The turning point was the decision by the United States to support international cooperation to preserve the cultural heritage of mankind from pillage of cultural property, including import controls relating to looted archaeological and ethnological properties. The text adopted by the committee was a compromise between the comprehensive Secretariat draft and proposals tabled by the United States delegation.
Shasenem Meylisova,
The 1st year student of
the faculty
of International Realtions of
the Institute
of International
Relations of The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan