Regulations relating to a prohibition against the export of cultural objects

Laid down by Royal Decree of 14 December 2001, submitted by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs pursuant to sections 23 and 28 of the Act of 9 June 1978 No. 50 concerning the Cultural Heritage, section 12, item 3, of the Regulations of 9 February 1979 relating to the distribution of responsibility, etc., under the Cultural Heritage Act, and section 28 of the Public Administration Act of 10 February 1967.

§ 1

The purpose of these regulations is, by implementation of the prohibition of section 23 of the Cultural Heritage Act relating to the export of cultural objects, to protect and safeguard archaeological and architectural monuments and sites and cultural objects as part of Norway’s cultural heritage and history, and to ensure that documentation and information is provided on those cultural objects for which export permits are granted.

§ 2

Without a written permit pursuant to section 6 below, it is prohibited pursuant to section 23 of the Cultural Heritage Act to export cultural objects from Norway. Examples of the types of cultural objects to which this prohibition applies are listed in items a-f of section 23 of the Cultural Heritage Act:

1. automatically protected monuments and sites pursuant to this Act,
2. structures of all kinds and parts of structures, coins, archive material, manuscripts, seals and signets, furniture and other inventory or chattels, costumes, weapons and the like that are over 100 years old and that are interesting for artistic or cultural reasons or because of their associations with historic persons. The Ministry may for special reasons extend the export prohibition to such objects irrespective of their age,
3. Sami monuments and sites irrespective of their age,
4. objects commemorating prominent or important persons, and historical remains of activities and events of importance to Norwegian history of whatever age,
5. paintings, sculptures and other pictorial art, handicrafts and prototypes of design products that are more than 50 years old,
6. boats, motor vehicles, aircraft and rolling stock or parts of these that are more than 50 years old.

§ 3

The prohibition of section 2 does not applies to such cultural objects that are publicly or privately owned and are exported temporarily from Norway in connection with loans to exhibitions, if the loan and transport are arranged by a museum in Norway that has expertise in the field in question.

The cultural objects mentioned in section 2, items b-e, do not include items of personal property that are less than 200 years old or cultural objects of the types mentioned in section 2, item f, that are to be used during a stay abroad and will be brought back to Norway within one year of the outward journey.

The cultural objects mentioned in section 2, item c, do not include such objects that belong to their author or new products produced for sale.

The cultural objects mentioned in section 2, item d, do not include such objects that the prominent or important persons in question export themselves, unless such export is prohibited by other provisions of these regulations.

The cultural objects mentioned in section 2, item e, do not include such objects that belong to their authors.

§ 4

As a general rule, an export permit shall be granted unless the cultural object in question is of great importance for research or for the preservation of and dissemination of information about Norway’s cultural heritage.

An export permit may be permanent or may be granted for a limited period of time.

§ 5

Applications for the export of cultural objects to which section 23 of the Cultural Heritage Act may apply shall be submitted on the form specified by the Ministry. The application shall contain information on the type of cultural object, the material of which it is made, its age, size, how it was acquired and when, who it was acquired from, and the name and address of the applicant and recipient. The application shall also include information on the reason for applying for an export permit, and two photographs of the cultural object in question shall be enclosed.

The application shall be sent to the institution that has the authority to make a decision pursuant to section 6 well before the planned date of export. If the applicant is in any doubt as to where the application should be sent, it may be addressed to the Norwegian Museum Authority, which will forward it to the appropriate authority under section 6.

If necessary, the applicant may be required to provide supplementary information and/or produce the cultural object itself.

§ 6

Export permits may be issued by the following institutions within their own fields of expertise: the Armed Forces Museum (Forsvarsmuseet), the Oslo Museum of Decorative Arts and Design (Kunstindustrimuseet i Oslo), the National Library of Norway (Nasjonalbiblioteket), the National Gallery (Nasjonalgalleriet), the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (Norsk Folkemuseum), Norsk museum for fotografi – Preus fotomuseum, the Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum), the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology (Norsk Teknisk Museum), the Directorate for Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvaren), the National Archives of Norway (Riksarkivet), Ringve Museum, the Sami Collections (De samiske samlinger - Samiid Vuorka-Davvirat) and the Oslo University Museum of Cultural Heritage (Universitetets kulturhistoriske museer ved Universitetet i Oslo).

The institutions that have the authority to issue export permits shall seek advice from regional cultural heritage institutions when necessary.

The appropriate institution shall give the applicant written notice of the decision and send a copy of the decision and the application to the Norwegian Museum Authority.

§ 7

The Norwegian Museum Authority is the appeals instance for cases concerning the prohibition against the export of cultural objects, with the exception of cases decided by the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, where the Ministry of the Environment is the appeals instance, and cases concerning Sami monuments and sites, where the Sámediggi (Sami parliament) is the appeals instance.

An appeal shall be lodged with the agency that made the decision, and the provisions of Chapter VI of the Public Administration Act relating to appeals apply correspondingly.

§ 8

Pursuant to Chapter III of the Act of 10 June 1966 No. 5 relating to customs and excise, the Customs and Excise Administration is responsible for control to ensure that cultural objects are not exported from Norway in contravention of these regulations. The provisions of the Customs and Excise Act and appurtenant regulations apply insofar as they are relevant and it is not otherwise provided.

§ 9

These regulations enter into force on 1 January 2002. From the same date, the Regulations of 15 February 1979 relating to a prohibition on the export of cultural objects are repealed.