6 SC C70/18/6.SC/Report Paris, May 2018 Original: English Limited Distribution Sixth Session of the Subsidiary Committee of the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (UNESCO, Paris, 1970) Sixth Session Paris, UNESCO Headquarters, Room XI 28 and 29 May 2018 FINAL REPORT MONDAY, 28 MAY – MORNING SESSION OPENING SESSION 1. The Assistant Director•General for Culture, Mr Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, welcomed the delegations to the 6th Session of the Subsidiary Committee, noting the increasing number of participants that indicated the growing interest of the international community in the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural objects. He commended the new ratifications since the last session in 2017. There were now 137 States Parties to the Convention. He spoke of the new worrisome trends including: the destruction of heritage in conflict zones; the funding of terrorism through illicit trafficking of cultural property; money laundering by transnational criminal organizations; sales of cultural goods online; the prevention of illicit trafficking and youth education; and the training of young people to fight this scourge in conflict zones. With these evolving issues in mind, the following instruments emerged: the Council of Europe Convention on Offenses relating to Cultural Property1, adopted in 2017; the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the import of cultural goods2, and the different Resolutions of the UN Security Council3. He spoke of how international cooperation in the fight against illicit trafficking was more vital than ever given the growing internationalization of crime, the privatization of trade, and the outbreak of conflict in regions rich in heritage. Since the last Committee session, there had been numerous successful seizures of trafficked cultural property, as well as returns and restitutions. Operation Pandora 2 in October 2017 resulted in the seizures of over 41,000 cultural objects in Europe. This operational success should be seen as a model of international cooperation and inspire other similar initiatives. These efforts undertaken by UNESCO and its Member States would be in vain if education and training was not placed at the heart of these actions. Activities aimed at young people, such as the #Unite4Heritage campaign, were crucial for preventing the illicit trafficking of cultural heritage. Negotiations were also ongoing between UNESCO and some of the world’s largest universities and the establishment of the UNTWIN Network in the MENA4 region. ELECTION OF THE BUREAU 2. The outgoing Chairperson, Ms Silva Breshani (Albania) joined the podium to oversee the election of the Bureau. On behalf of Group V(b), Iraq proposed Mr Wael Abdelwahab from Egypt as Chairperson. He joined the podium to invite nominations for a Rapporteur and the four Vice-Chairpersons. Cyprus nominated Zambia as Rapporteur. Mr Flexon M. Mizinga of Zambia accepted the nomination. On behalf of Electoral Group I, Sweden nominated Cyprus as Vice-Chairperson. On behalf of Electoral Group III, Honduras nominated Bolivia as Vice-Chairperson. On behalf of Electoral Group II, Armenia proposed Albania as Vice- Chairperson.There were some minor changes to the agenda and Decision 6.SC 3 [on the agenda] was adopted. ORAL REPORT OF THE RAPPORTEUR ON THE 5th SUBSIDIARY COMMITTEE SESSION 3. The Rapporteur, Ms Zeynep Boz (Turkey) recalled that the opening speech was delivered by former Assistant Director-General for Culture, Mr Francesco Bandarin, and she welcomed the new ADG, Mr Ernesto Ottone Ramirez. During the fifth session, seven decisions were adopted, among which Decision 5.SC 4B that called upon States Parties to provide more financial resources and support for activities. In 2017, there were presentations made by the UN Sanctions Monitoring Team, Interpol, WCO, UNIDROIT and 1 Read more about the Convention here. 2 Read more about the Proposal here. 3 Read more about the UN SC Resolution 2347 (2017) here, and UN SC Resolution 2199 (2015) here. 4 MENA – Middle East North Africa. the EU. The UN Sanctions Monitoring Team underlined the challenges they faced while implementing the UN Security Council Resolutions. The WCO spoke about the practical steps taken in relation to enforcement in some cases. Interpol presented Operation Pandora. The EU spoke about import restriction initiatives aimed at impeding the laundering of illegally exported cultural artefacts. ICOM informed the Committee about the G7 meeting that took place in March 2017, which resulted in the signing of the Declaration of Florence. The Secretariat’s presentation informed the Committee on the new electronic reporting system. Presentations were also made by UNESCO Field Offices covering mostly countries in emergency situations. With regard to ‘new perspectives on education’, the Rapporteur recalled the ILLICID Initiative and the UNITWIN Network. In its Decision 5.SC 5A.Rev, the Committee welcomed the UNITWIN Initiative and requested the coordinator to report on the actions taken to support the implementation of the Convention. In its Decision 5.SC 6bis, the Committee requested the Secretariat to prepare a questionnaire and to collect the proposals from States Parties in order to improve the implementation of the Convention, which was the rationale behind the half-day session that took place earlier in the day. REPORT OF THE SECRETARIAT 4. The Secretariat was currently composed of five permanent members, two Assistant Project Officers and two Consultants, and a regular biennium budget of US$680,000 for Headquarters activities and US$539,000 for Field activities. Between May 2017 and May 2018, the Secretariat received extrabudgetary resources of US$88,603 from Sweden and US$5,824 from Monaco. From its cooperation with the European Union, the Secretariat received €100,000 for the project entitled ‘Engaging the European Art Market in the Fight Against Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property’ and €300,000 for the project entitled ‘Training Magistrates and Police Forces of the European Union to Fight Against the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property’. Regarding its activities, the Secretariat spoke of the UNITWIN Network and the conference ‘Cultural Heritage and Identity: an Arab Youth Perspective’5, held in Carthage (Tunisia) in March 2017. On July 27, the UNESCO Beirut Office published an educational video on the prevention of illicit trafficking of cultural property. The Secretariat also worked with the association Marché de l’Art of the Ecole du Louvre on the presentation of a legal framework focused on art professionals, as well as with the University of Sorbonne. The Secretariat outlined the new ratifications of the 1970 Convention. On international cooperation, the Secretariat was pursuing the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2199 (2015). The Secretariat was engaged in large number of emergency actions, notably in Iraq, Mali and Syria whose experts would make a presentation later in the session. A needs assessment mission for the restoration and preservation of ancient manuscripts at the University of Benghazi took place following a report that they were in a worrying state of conservation. The Secretariat, in close collaboration with field offices and governmental and non-governmental partners, was implementing training and capacity-building programmes in all regions of the world. Nine training workshops had been organized in Argentina, Bolivia, Egypt Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Senegal and Swaziland. In accordance with Decision 5.SC 9A, the Secretariat continued working on finalizing the online reporting tool. The Secretariat continued to develop the Database on National Cultural Heritage Laws by extending the coverage of legislation and the availability of translations, requesting contributions from Member States to continue this work. 5. Sweden congratulated the Secretariat for the conference held with the European art market stakeholders. Sweden spoke of exchanges at the national level between Swedish cultural heritage professionals and officials from the police, customs officers and the prosecution authorities in the exchange of information on current cases, including ongoing consultations between several national authorities concerned with illicit trafficking in light of UN Security 5 Read more about the conference here. Council Resolution 2199. In addition, the Nordic Cooperation was still ongoing. Sweden spoke of its priority to provide extrabudgetary funds to strengthen the work carried out by the small Secretariat. It was also engaged in discussions in the Governance Group on governance reform. The Republic of Korea noted the international cooperation from diverse fields, reflecting the complexity of illicit trafficking of cultural property. It noted the increasing number of training and awareness•training workshops, which it considered of great importance, and it spoke of the many government initiatives Korea had undertaken in this regard. Bolivia highlighted a workshop conducted by the Secretariat in Bolivia that included a specialist from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, which resulted in the countries creating a National Committee to work on the prevention and control of illicit trafficking of cultural heritage. 6. Ms Mechtild Rössler thanked Sweden in particular for its financial contributions, assuring the Committee that there was close follow-up on the governance