Members' obligations

Member States ratify, or undertake to ratify, the 1954 Hague Protocol on the protection of cultural property in armed conflict, the 1970 UNESCO Convention on illicit transfers and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on stolen or illicitly exported objects.

A State that undertakes to ratify has a reasonable period, set with the Directorate. It submits an annual progress report on the advancement of the procedure.

The seven Directives of 2019 are binding. Directive No. 2019-07, on the authentication of cultural property, sets the minimum verification requirements that a State imposes on operators in its market.

States transpose the directives into their domestic law within an agreed period. Each State's legal framework is described in its country profile.

Each State designates a focal point, who is the Organization's permanent contact. The focal point must have the authority needed to commit its administration and regular access to the member area. The State informs the Secretariat of any change.

The focal point relays alerts, transmits statistics and takes part in the annual plenary meeting. The directory is available on the directory of focal points page.

Payment of the contribution before 31 March is an essential obligation. The amount results from the scale, which takes into account the country's wealth and its art market. A State experiencing difficulty may request a payment schedule.

The arrangements are specified on the payment page. Arrears of more than twenty-four months entail the loss of the right to vote.

The obligation to cooperate covers several concrete actions: answering statistical questionnaires, relaying theft alerts, facilitating joint operations and restitutions, and hosting technical missions. It is implemented by the focal point.

Cooperation works both ways: the Organization undertakes to respond to requests for assistance within an indicative timeframe of fifteen days and to protect the confidentiality of the information entrusted to it.