El Salvador has petitioned the United States for a Memorandum of Understanding to renew cultural property import controls that preserve archaeological objects from looting and smuggling.
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| This Maya effigy vessel is one example of the type of endangered cultural objects looted from El Salvador. |
El Salvador is home to archaeological sites that tell us the histories of peoples like the Maya, Nahua and Lencas. To protect this cultural heritage, the government of El Salvador is asking the United States for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reimpose restrictions on imports of endangered artifacts, first put in place in 1995 and renewed every five years thereafter.
The bilateral agreement of 2015 between the U.S. and El Salvador maintained U.S. import restrictions on specified objects from 8000 B.C. through 1550 A.D. and that are identified on the Designated List. They include figurines, ceramic vessels, incense burners, metal objects, and more cultural artifacts.
El Salvador seeks a continuation of these import protections to protect archaeological material in jeopardy of looting by invoking 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 and companion implementing legislation in the U.S., the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA).
A public hearing on El Salvador's request will be held by the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) on July 23, 2019, at 1:30 p.m. EDT. Go on this State Department link to learn how to attend the meeting online.