France, new rules for exporting cultural goods: sharp increases to value thresholds

France revises rules for the export of cultural goods: as in Italy, works of art are subject to the issuance of a special permit in order to circulate abroad. In Italy, the rules have recently been reformed, following a very close debate: it was 2017 when the reform of the export of cultural goods came into force, which raised the time threshold of protection for works from 50 to 70 years old (meaning that only works older than 70 years must apply for participation: more recent works can instead simply circulate with self-certification) and introduced a value threshold of 13. 500 euros, meaning that works whose value is deemed by the owner to be below that amount are exempt from the normal permitting process (self-certification is sufficient).

In France, the law provides for a time threshold of 50 years (in most cases), and value thresholds that depend on the type of property: 15,000 euros for paintings, maps, drawings, prints, posters, photographs, films, and coins older than 1500; 1,500 for incunabula, manuscripts, ancient documents, and archaeological finds more than 100 years old; and coins older than 1500 that do not come directly from excavations or archaeological sites; 30.000 for watercolors, 50,000 for sculptures, specimens of zoological, botanical, mineralogical, and anatomical collections, pieces of historical, paleontological, ethnographic, numismatic, and philatelic interest, means of transportation, and other items not included in the first 14 points.

The new decree, 2020-1718, raises the thresholds for several categories of goods: the threshold for paintings goes as high as 300,000 euros, watercolors from 30 go up to 50,000, drawings from 15 to 30,000, prints and posters from 15 to 20,000, sculptures from 50 to 100.000, photographs from 15 to 25,000, incunabula, manuscripts, and ancient documents from 3,000, ancient maps from 15 to 25,000, and historical, paleontological, ethnographic, numismatic, and philatelic artifacts from 50 to 100,000.

Finally, the decree introduces a novelty to streamline the process: it provides for the public administration to communicate with applicants electronically. The legislation came into effect on January 1; for assets for which an application had been made earlier, the previous thresholds apply.

Pictured: entrance to the headquarters of the French Ministry of Culture at the Palais Royal.

France, new rules for exporting cultural goods: sharp increases to value thresholds

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