Acceptance of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property

September 9, 2002

On September 9 (Mon), the Government of Japan deposited the instrument of acceptance of the "Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property" with Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), at its headquarters in Paris.
The Convention was adopted at the 16th UNESCO General Conference in 1970, and aims at the effective prohibition and prevention of illicit international dealing in cultural properties by, for example, obliging its States Parties to prohibit the import of cultural properties stolen from museums, etc., in the States Parties. Recently, home-and-abroad public opinion on illicit international dealing in cultural properties is rising, and so, in terms of further active contribution to international cooperation in the field of protection of cultural properties, Japan's acceptance of the Convention is significant.
In accordance with its Article 21, the Convention entered into force on April 24, 1972, three months after its third state party, Nigeria, deposited the "instrument of ratification." For Japan, the Convention will enter into force from December 9, three months after the deposit of the instrument of acceptance.
As of September 1, 95 nations are States Parties of the Convention, including the United States, Canada and France.

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