1. Member States that import cultural goods for the purpose of safekeeping shall create refuges for their storage. Those storage facilities shall be specifically equipped to receive cultural goods and ensure their safety and maintenance in good condition. Free zones as referred to in Article 243 of Regulation (EU) 952/2013 may not be designated as a refuge.
2. Where a Member State creates a refuge, it shall designate a public authority to operate it or supervise its operation and shall upload the contact details of that authority to the ICG system. The Commission shall make this information available on the internet.
3. Member States may only designate state, regional or local authorities or bodies governed by public law as those are defined in Article 2(1) point (4) of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 9 ) , as public authorities to operate or supervise the operation of a refuge.
4. Cultural goods belonging to the categories listed in Parts B and C of the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2019/880, which are of importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science may be temporarily placed in a refuge within the customs territory of the Union to prevent their destruction or loss due to armed conflict, natural disaster or other emergency situations affecting the third country in question.
5. The import of cultural goods for the purpose referred to in Article 3(4) point (b) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 shall require the prior acceptance of an official request for safekeeping submitted by a public authority of the third country possessing or holding the cultural goods to the public authority in the Union which has been designated to operate or to supervise the operation of the refuge in which the cultural goods are to be placed.
6. In the absence of a specific arrangement between the parties, the costs of storage and maintenance of the cultural goods placed in a refuge shall be borne by the Member State hosting that refuge.
7. The following shall apply with regard to the customs procedure under which cultural goods can be placed while they are stored in a refuge:
(a)
The entity operating the refuge shall declare the cultural goods for placement under the private customs warehousing procedure in accordance with Article 240 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, provided that that entity holds an authorisation for operating a private customs warehouse in the premises of that refuge.
(b)
Alternatively, the entity operating the refuge may declare the cultural goods for release for free circulation with relief from import duty, in accordance with Articles 42 to 44 of Council Regulation (EC) 1186/2009 ( 10 ) .
(c)
The entity operating the refuge may initially place the cultural goods under the temporary admission procedure. When this customs procedure is selected, arrangements shall be made for the goods to be subsequently placed under one of the procedures under point (a) or (b), in case the maximum allocated temporary admission period under Article 251 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 expires and its extension is not granted, while the safe return of the goods to the third country is not yet possible.
8. The cultural goods may be temporarily moved from the premises of the refuge in order to be exhibited to the public, provided that the following conditions are met:
(a)
the third country from which the cultural goods have been imported has given its consent;
(b)
the customs authorities have authorised the move in accordance with Article 240(3) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013;
(c)
the premises designated for the purpose of display offer the appropriate conditions to ensure the protection, conservation and maintenance of the goods.
Temporary admission for education, science or research
1. The temporary admission of cultural goods pursuant to Article 3(4) point (c) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 shall be permitted without an import licence or an importer statement for the following purposes:
(a)
exclusive use of the cultural goods by scientific, teaching or vocational training public establishments in teaching, vocational training or scientific research and under their responsibility;
(b)
temporary lending by museums and similar institutions in third countries, of cultural goods belonging to their permanent collections to a public museum or similar institution within the customs territory of the Union for the purpose of exhibiting those cultural goods to the public by the latter or using them in artistic performances;
(c)
digitisation, namely the preservation of their images or sounds in a form suitable for transmission and computer processing, by an establishment suitably equipped for this purpose and under the responsibility and supervision of a public museum or similar institution;
(d)
restoration or conservation by professional experts under the responsibility of a public museum or similar institution, provided that such treatment or handling does not go beyond what is necessary to repair the cultural goods, restore them to good condition or preserve them in good condition.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the establishment or institution concerned shall offer all the guarantees considered necessary for the cultural good to be returned in the same condition to the third country and that the cultural good can be so described or marked that there will be no doubt, at the moment of temporary admission, that the good being imported is the same one that will be re-exported at the end of the procedure.
3. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 and 2, Member States may grant private or semi-private establishments or institutions in their territory an exemption pursuant to Article 3(4) point (c) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 for the purposes specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, provided that they offer the necessary guarantees that the cultural good will be returned in good condition to the third country at the end of the temporary admission procedure.
4. In order to benefit from an exemption under paragraph 1, public establishments and institutions and authorised private or semi-private establishments or institutions shall register in the ICG system. This information shall be made available to customs in the Union via the ICG system.
The holders of cultural goods exempted from the documentary requirements laid down in Article 3(4) points (b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 shall provide a standardised general description of the goods in the ICG system before lodging the corresponding customs declaration.
The general description shall be completed following the data dictionary set out in Annex I in an official language of the Member State where the goods are to be imported.
Temporary admission of cultural goods offered for sale in commercial art fairs
1. In order for the exemption laid down in Article 3(5) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 to apply, the commercial art fair at which the goods are to be presented shall fulfil all of the following conditions:
(a)
it is a limited-time trade event, other than a public auction, where cultural goods are exhibited with a view to a possible sale;
(b)
it is accessible to the general public, regardless of whether that public has an intention to purchase or not;
(c)
it is previously advertised via electronic or conventional media of wide circulation, such as newspapers, periodicals or exhibition catalogues.
2. In order to benefit from the exemption laid down in Article 3(5) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880, a cultural good shall be so described or marked that there can be no doubt at the moment of temporary admission that the good being imported is the same one that will be re-exported or placed under another customs procedure referred to in Article 2(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 at the end of the temporary admission procedure.
3. For the purposes of the second sentence of Article 251(1) of Regulation (EU) 952/2013, the period during which cultural goods may remain under the temporary admission procedure shall be determined by the customs authorities taking into consideration the time necessary for the purposes of the exhibition and the issue of an import licence, in the event that the goods are to remain within the customs territory of the Union after the end of the commercial art fair.
4. In accordance with Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880, the application for an import licence shall be submitted to the competent authority of the Member State where the cultural good was imported for the first time and placed under temporary admission.
