Customs regimes

Temporary admission allows a work to enter a territory without paying duties or taxes, provided it is re-exported within a set period, generally one year. It is ideal for an exhibition, a fair or a loan to a museum.

The ATA carnet is an international document that simplifies formalities and serves as a guarantee. It is accepted by forty-eight OIMAP Member States. It avoids lodging a security deposit in each country crossed.

The customs warehouse allows works to be stored, sometimes for years, without paying duties. It is used by collectors, galleries and auction houses that anticipate a future sale. It requires particular supervision, as it can also be used to conceal dubious transactions.

Release for consumption is the ordinary regime: the work enters the country definitively, with payment of duties and taxes. Export, finally, requires an exit declaration and, for cultural property, the export licence provided for by Directive 2019-05.

Free ports are zones where goods are stored with suspension of duties and taxes. Many collectors keep valuable works there, for reasons of security as much as tax. These places raise questions of transparency, since a change of owner can take place there without any physical movement of the work.

OIMAP directives require free-port operators to keep an up-to-date inventory, to transmit it to the authorities and to report atypical operations. Their implementation is monitored by the Secretariat.