OIMAP Partners

Trafficking in cultural property, fakes and sales without documented provenance cross borders and professions. No administration holds all the information on its own. The Organization therefore exchanges with institutions that see other parts of the problem: customs, police, museums, salesrooms.

A partnership is never a mere label. It requires a written agreement, reciprocal commitments and an identified point of contact on each side.

The first circle brings together international organizations: the World Customs Organization, Interpol, UNESCO and the International Council of Museums. It covers information exchange, joint training and joint operations.

The second circle is that of approved auction houses, required to consult the BIOP database before each sale. The third, that of museums, shares its documentation and restitution practices.

To partners, OIMAP provides a shared database, rapid alerts, Academy training and a coherent legal framework: the 2019 Guidelines and Directive No. 2019-07 on the authentication of cultural property.

It also offers a neutral place for dialogue between public and private actors, which makes it possible to handle delicate situations without waiting for litigation.

Partners bring the Organization their knowledge of the field: customs seizures, laboratory expert reports, sale catalogues, collection inventories. This information enriches the BIOP database, which lists 48,200 works.

It also contributes to the quality of coordinated operations, 23 in 2024, and to the preparation of restitutions, 847 to date.

Any institution that shares the Organization's objectives may propose cooperation. The request is reviewed by the Cooperation Directorate, which checks the applicant's independence, its reputation and the usefulness of the project for the Member States.

Detailed arrangements are set out on the Partners page of the institutional section. The dialogue begins with a message addressed to the General Secretariat.