Regulation

At the top are the international conventions: The Hague (1954) for armed conflicts, UNESCO (1970) against illicit trafficking, UNIDROIT (1995) for the restitution of stolen property. They bind the States that have ratified them.

Below them, the OIMAP directives of 2019 set common rules for operators and Member States: registry, mutual recognition, due diligence, transparency, circulation, good faith, authentication. States transpose them into their domestic law.

Finally, OIMAP's guides, checklists and templates help apply these texts day to day. They have no binding force, but they reflect the practices that the certification committee and the Arbitral Tribunal adopt.

A market without common rules is a market where the stolen work crosses the border, where doubtful money circulates discreetly and where the good-faith buyer discovers too late that they have acquired a disputed asset. Regulation serves three objectives: protecting heritage, securing transactions and preventing trafficking.

It must also remain proportionate. An over-heavy rule discourages small operators and pushes sales out of the system. OIMAP therefore defends graduated obligations, which weigh more heavily on the riskiest operations.

The law of the art market is built in layers. The conventions of the 1950s to 1990s laid down the principles; the 2019 directives made them operational; the sector regimes of 2022 (digital market) respond to new practices.

This construction is not finished. Consultations under way cover the traceability of works from excavations, the taxation of cross-border exchanges and the status of digital tokens backed by works.