Unesco convention on the means of prohibiting and

In 1970 the United Nations organization UNESCO took on the challenge to counter the pilfering of architectural complexes, destruction of ancient sites, and international trade in stolen cultural properties. UNESCO issued a "convention" (an international agreement to which a number of nations are contractual parties) called the "UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property." Its concern: "the measures to be adopted to forbid and prevent the importation and the transfer of the illicit property of cultural goods." By ratifying this Convention, each state party undertakes to adopt the necessary measures: a) to prevent museums within their territories from acquiring cultural property which has been illegally exported; b) to prohibit the import of cultural property stolen from a museum or a public institution after the entry into force of the Convention; c) at the request of the state of origin, to recover and return any such cultural property stolen and imported.In 1984, these interests were taken up by another international organization, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law, known by the acronym UNIDROIT, which issued the final draft of its Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects in June 1995. The UNIDROIT Convention is a complement to the UNESCO Convention. See the article on it below.Related links: Text of the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. International Council of Museums (ICOM) has posted its "Code of Ethics for Museums." Also see antiquity and museum.