General principles
1. The validity of an import licence shall expire in any of the following cases:
(a)
the cultural good is released for free circulation;
(b)
the import licence has been used only to place the cultural good under one or more of the customs procedures mentioned in Article 2(3) point (b) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 and the cultural good is subsequently re-exported from the customs territory of the Union.
2. A separate import licence shall be issued for each cultural good.
However, where a consignment consists of several cultural goods, the competent authority may determine whether a single import licence shall cover one or several cultural goods in that consignment.
3. Before issuing an import licence, the competent authority may require that the cultural goods to be imported are made available to them for a physical inspection at the customs office or other premises within their jurisdiction, where the goods are kept in temporary storage. At the discretion of the competent authority and if deemed necessary, the physical inspection may be carried out using a remote video connection.
4. Any costs related to an application for an import license shall be borne by the applicant.
5. A competent authority may revoke an import licence it has issued, if the conditions under which it was granted are no longer met. The administrative decision revoking the import licence, together with a statement of reasons and information on the appeal procedure, shall be communicated to the holder of the import licence via the ICG system. The revocation of an import licence shall trigger an alert in the ICG system, informing the other Member States customs and competent authorities.
6. The use of import licences shall not affect obligations related to customs import formalities or related documents.
Consistency of issued import licences
1. The holder of a cultural good for which an import licence has been issued prior to its export or re-export from the Union may refer to that licence in any new application for import.
2. The applicant shall demonstrate that the cultural good has been exported or re-exported from the customs territory of the Union, and that the cultural good for which an import licence is applied for is the same as the one previously licenced. The competent authority shall verify whether these conditions are met and shall issue a new import licence, based on the elements of the previous one, unless it has reasonable doubts about the legal export of the cultural good from the country of interest, based on new information.
List of supporting documents to prove licit provenance in an import licence application
1. The applicant shall provide evidence to the competent authority that the cultural good in question has been exported from the country of interest in accordance with its laws and regulations or shall provide evidence of the absence of such laws and regulations at the time the cultural good was taken out of its territory. In particular:
(a)
The import licence application shall include a signed declaration by which the applicant explicitly assumes responsibility for the veracity of all statements made in the application and states that they have exercised all due diligence to ensure that the cultural good they intend to import has been exported legally from the country of interest.
(b)
Where the laws and regulations of the country of interest subject the export of cultural goods from its territory to the obligation to obtain a prior authorisation, the applicant shall upload to the ICG system copies of the relevant export certificates or export licences issued by the competent public authority of the country of interest, certifying that the export of the cultural good in question was duly authorised by them.
(c)
The application shall be accompanied by photographs in colour of the object against a neutral background, following the specifications set out in Annex II.
(d)
Other types of documents to submit in support of an import licence application may be, but are not limited to the following:
(i)
customs documentation providing evidence as to past movements of the cultural good;
(ii)
sales invoices;
(iii)
insurance documents;
(iv)
transport documents;
(v)
condition reports;
(vi)
property titles, including notarised wills or handwritten testaments declared valid under the laws of the country were they were established;
(vii)
declarations under oath of the exporter, the seller or other third party, which were made in a third country and in accordance with its laws, testifying as to the date on which the cultural good has left the third country where it was created or discovered or other events supporting its licit provenance;
(viii)
expert appraisals;
(ix)
publications of museums, exhibition catalogues; articles in related periodicals;
(x)
auction catalogues, advertisements and other promotional sales material;
(xi)
photographic or cinematographic evidence, which supports the legality of export of the cultural good from the country of interest or allows to determine when it was located there or when it exited its territory.
2. The documents and other records of information listed under paragraph 1 point (d) shall be assessed freely by the competent authority, taking into consideration the circumstances and the perceived risk of illicit trade in each case.
3. The competent authority may require the applicant to upload official translations of the documents referred to in paragraph 1 points (b) and (d) in an official language of the relevant Member State.
Procedural rules on the processing of applications for import licences
1. The competent authority may make multiple requests for additional information in accordance with Article 4(6) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880 within the 21-day time-limit laid down in that provision.
2. The applicant shall provide the additional information requested within 40 days, failing which, the application shall be rejected. Once the applicant has submitted the requested information, the competent authority shall examine it and make a decision within 90 days. If the competent authority has made multiple requests for information, the 90-day period shall start from the submission of the last piece of information by the applicant.
3. Where an application for an import licence is submitted to a Member State other than the one in which the applicant is established, the ICG system shall notify the competent authority of the Member State where the applicant is established.
4. Where the competent authority that receives the notification is in possession of any information that it considers relevant for the processing of the application, it shall forward such information through the ICG system to the competent authority to which the import licence application was submitted.
5. In case the application is not submitted to the authority which is competent to issue the import licence pursuant to Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/880, the authority that received the application shall forward it to the appropriate competent authority without delay.
Controls of import licences
1. When carrying out customs controls in accordance with Articles 46 to 49 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, the customs office to which the customs declaration for the import of the cultural goods is lodged shall ensure that the goods presented correspond to those described in the import licence and that a reference is made to that licence in the customs declaration.
2. Where cultural goods are placed under the customs warehousing procedure referred to in Article 240 of Regulation (EU) 952/2013, the tariff classification number of the goods in TARIC shall be stated in the customs declaration.
3. Where cultural goods are placed under the free zone procedure, the controls referred to in paragraph 1 shall be carried out by the competent customs office to which the import licence is presented in accordance with Article 245(1) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. The holder of the goods shall indicate the tariff classification number of the goods in TARIC upon their presentation to customs.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
