Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic In 2016, Italian journalist Domenico Quirico, posing as a collector, traced looted artefacts from Libyan archaeological sites to Europe. He reported that the artefacts, shipped from Sirte in Libya and traded for weapons in Calabria, Italy, ended up in private collections in Japan, the UAE, Russia and China, with mafia groups acting as middlemen.This sort of story is why, in June, new EU rules designed to combat terrorism and imposing stringent import controls into the bloc, will take effect. But it also applies to antiquities already in collections, which risk being cast into legal purgatory if a collector wishes to sell or move them. Events where art and antiques are sold, such as the Tefaf art fair in Maastricht, will be directly affected.According to the EU’s Regulation 2019/880, anyone moving “cultural goods” (including paintings and antiquities) more than 200 years old and worth more than €18,000 into the EU, including from the UK, must submit an “importer statement” saying the item is being legally exported, although it is just a declaration and does not require proof. For artefacts from archaeological sites more than 250 years old and of any value, an import licence is required that is only granted if the owner can provide proof of lawful export from the country of origin. If provenance is unclear, the object may be denied entry at customs.The regulation is likely to hurt an art market valued at approximately $10.9bn in the UK and $9bn in the EU, but already experiencing a downturn, according to recent Art Basel research. Artefacts with documentation will go up in value, say dealers, while those without will fall — and are likely to end up in less legitimate hands.After failed mediation attempts with EU officials, Tefaf is now publicly opposing the regulation. “It is being passed with limited consultation and without much concern for the market,” says Will Korner, head of fairs at Tefaf and director of the Cultural Heritage At Risk Database. “And I fear it could undermine cultural dialogue.”The challenge the regulation is designed to address is real. Daniel Dalton, a former member of the European Parliament and the former chief executive of the British Chambers of Commerce, acted as the rapporteur for the law as it moved through the parliament. “The regulation was initially a response to the looting and trafficking of antiquities from Palmyra during the Syrian civil war,” he says. “There was a fear that antiquities would be sold in Europe to fund further terrorist activities.”The European Parliament mentions terrorism several times in the law’s introduction, citing its main objectives as preventing looting of ancient sites and combating money-laundering. The law notes that ancient artefacts can be high-value and portable. Pillaged objects are difficult to trace as they lack clear provenance records, meaning they can be used as flight capital and brought and sold by shell companies or vendors with fake identities to clean money.In 2014, the US launched Operation Inherent Resolve against Isis. A congressional task force claimed the terrorist network was in the process of looting on an “unprecedented scale” — with 4,500 archaeological sites across Syria and Iraq at risk. In October 2020, Unesco launched its Real Price of Art campaign, which estimated that the illicit cultural goods trade was worth $10bn annually, making it the third-largest black market after drugs and arms. The figure remains unverified and has been strenuously challenged by industry figures; Unesco says it is “highly complicated to verify due to its very nature”.Sophie Delepierre, head of heritage protection at the International Council of Museums, a formal associate of Unesco, welcomes the regulation. “For museums, stronger legal measures at the EU level are excellent news,” she says. “Provenance and due diligence are now central to acquisitions.”The case is a prime example of injustice. Merely mentioning ‘antiquities linked to a conflict zone’ was enough to unleash hell, without any evidence Due diligence means, in practice, that dealers and owners of antiquities will now need to familiarise themselves with the regulation’s annex, which lists the categories of cultural goods that require an import licence before they can be brought into the EU. Items are classified based on their susceptibility to illicit trafficking, especially from conflict zones. High-risk ones include archaeological objects more than 250 years old.It is a live challenge for art fairs too. In 2022, a Swiss gallery intending to show an Egyptian sculpture from 1450BC worth €190,000 at Tefaf learnt that it had been originally acquired from a Spanish gallery owner, who was linked to the antiquities trade in conflict zones, according to Spanish police. (The Swiss gallery handed it over to Dutch police.) In fact, the very same sculpture had already been shown at Tefaf in 2020. The dealer, who was held in custody in 2024, had bought it from a Bangkok-based company and provided documentation “to falsify the origin of the sculpture”, according to Spanish police.He denies wrongdoing, says his lawyer, Yves-Bernard Debie. “The case is a prime example of injustice. Merely mentioning ‘antiquities linked to a conflict zone’ was enough to unleash hell, without any evidence.” Debie says his client has not been convicted and most of the seized artworks have been returned to him.Debie himself is a collector of Roman and Egyptian antiquities and disagrees with the new EU regulation. “Many artefacts have been legally traded for decades, but documentation was not always required,” he says. “They are forcing collectors to prove the impossible.”Critics argue that the EU has responded to a legitimate but minor concern with excessive control. Many artefacts traditionally sold at fairs such as Tefaf have passed through multiple private collections, sometimes over centuries, rendering their provenance unknowable. Yet dealers and collectors who own such artefacts could face legal uncertainty if the regulation is strictly enforced.Alexander Herman, director of the Institute of Art & Law in London, calls the law a “clear example of mission creep”. “Originally, it targeted loot from conflict zones like Iraq and Syria,” he says. “But it has ballooned into a broad attempt to control cultural imports into the EU.”This year, several galleries will sell ancient art at Tefaf, including some of Europe’s most prestigious antiquities dealers. David Aaron, Rupert Wace and Kallos Gallery, all from London, are bringing antiquities from ancient Egypt. From Paris, Galerie Kevorkian will show Persian miniature paintings and Iznik pottery originating from Turkey, while Galerie Lucas Ratton will display ritual African art including Tyi Wara crest masks from the Bambara people in Mali and ancestor statuary from the Punu and Fang tribes in Gabon.Even though the law will not have yet come into force, dealers are trying to ensure their sales will be challenge-proof by providing prospective buyers at Tefaf with extensive traceability paperwork for each artefact. Objects that do not have the newly required paperwork risk becoming “orphaned” — unsellable and immovable — despite originally being acquired legally.Paul Hewitt, director-general of the Society of London Art Dealers, warns that the regulation will only drive interest in more lenient markets. “This is well-meaning regulation,” he says. “But overly restrictive legal markets push artefacts into unregulated spaces. If legitimate collectors can’t trade legally acquired antiquities, they might be tempted to look at certain markets that might be more willing to look the other way.”Find out about our latest stories first — follow FT Weekend on Instagram and X, and sign up to receive the FT Weekend newsletter every Saturday morning
