Paris Office

Paris hosts the Organization because it brings together, in one place, museums, auction houses, galleries, conservation laboratories and many heritage administrations. This proximity facilitates exchanges with art market professionals.

The building, located on avenue du Patrimoine in the 7th arrondissement, was chosen for its transport links and for the possibility of installing large-capacity meeting rooms.

Headquarters concentrates the management and decision-making functions: preparing the work of the Executive Council, the secretariat of the General Assembly, budget management and coordination of the other four offices. The technical directorates work side by side, which limits processing times.

Member States find a single point of contact here for institutional matters, whether a membership, a contribution or a request for technical cooperation.

The Desk receives requests for registration, certification, licensing and accreditation. Its case officers check the documents, liaise with applicants and forward files to accredited experts when expert assessment is needed.

Published deadlines range from twenty-four hours for a theft or loss report to thirty days for a compliance label. Headquarters also issues OIMAP numbers and artwork passports.

Headquarters has an auditorium, committee rooms and an exhibition space intended for presentations of restitutions or awareness campaigns. These spaces are used for standing committee meetings and Academy training.

For events open to the public, the Organization publishes the programme in the calendar and specifies the registration conditions.

The offices in Geneva, New York, Singapore and Nairobi relay headquarters' action in their region. A weekly meeting allows sensitive files, BIOP alerts and Member States' requests to be shared.

The Secretary-General, Dr Philippe Aubert de Vincelles, makes regular missions to each office and brings the regional directors together once a year in Paris.