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| The pre-Colombian archaeological site of Pukará de Quitor in northern Chile. |
The governments of Chile and Jordan have petitioned the United States for import controls on at-risk archaeological material.
The Cultural Property Advisory Committee will meet in April to consider import protections covering archaeological objects from Chile and Jordan that are in jeopardy of looting.
Chile is the fourth South American nation to seek a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that erects U.S. import controls to stem the trafficking of cultural heritage objects. The United States currently has similar bilateral agreements with Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru.
Jordan, meanwhile, is the third MENA country to seek an MoU with the U.S, as it seeks to join the ranks of Egypt and Libya.
On February 4, Chile invoked Article 9 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, asking the United States for import restrictions under the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA), which is the federal statute that implements the 1970 UNESCO Convention in the U.S.
The Jordanian government submitted a similar request last year on November 26.