US And Mali Extend Agreement to Protect Heritage

Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
September 19, 2007

U.S. and Mali Extend Agreement to Protect the Archaeological Heritage of Mali

We are pleased to announce the extension, effective September 19, 2007, of the "Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Mali Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Archaeological Material from Mali from the Paleolithic Era (Stone Age) to Approximately the Mid-Eighteenth Century." This extension, consistent with a recommendation made by the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, represents a continuation of cooperation that began in 1993 when emergency U.S. import restrictions were implemented to stanch the pillage of Mali's rich archaeological heritage and the illicit trafficking in such material.

This U.S. action is in response to a request made by the Government of Mali under 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. The Convention offers a framework of cooperation among State Parties to reduce the further pillage of intact archaeological sites, activity that destroys information about past cultures and places a nation's cultural heritage in jeopardy.

Sites in the region of the Niger River Valley, for example, represent a continuum of civilizations from the Neolithic period to the Colonial era, lending archaeological significance to the region. Also included in the import restriction is material from the Tellum burial caves of the Bandiagara Cliffs. With this extension, material found in the region of the Sahara Desert is now included.

The Department of Homeland Security has published a Designated List of restricted categories of objects, amending it to include material representing the Paleolithic Era (Stone Age). The restricted objects may enter the United States if accompanied with an export permit issued by Mali or documentation verifying its provenance prior to 1993 and if no other applicable U.S. laws are violated. The Designated List and information about the MOU can be found at http://exchanges.state.gov/culprop.

ENDS

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