[CPProt.net] FW: Reply to your e-mail of 23 December

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

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-----Original Message-----
From: ancientart at aol.com [mailto:ancientart at aol.com] 
Sent: 24 December 2005 17:07
To: museum-security at museum-security.org
Subject: Re: Reply to your e-mail of 23 December


Further comments concerning your recent review of the Greek documentary on
the illicit trade in antiquities:
I am only one of many dealers in ancient art who would love to see the
illicit trade drastically curtailed, or, to think the impossible,
eliminated.  Unfortunately this requires the serious cooperation of the many
countries who publicly denounce the illicit trade but do very little or
nothing about controlling it.  Fortunately Italy and Egypt are actively
pursuing the quest with appropriate international publicity and Greece is
reluctantly beginning to join in (although opening up their waters to scuba
divers certainly does the opposite!).  
We must acknowledge, however, that there will always be a criminal element
in EVERY country, unscrupulous contractors, politicians and officials with
open pockets, diplomats with open pockets and large suitcases, and most
important of all, poor peasants who till the soil that they consider their
own property and don't wish to donate their discoveries (and often their
property) to the state.

Until some of these countries are willing to let those who find antiquities
keep those not of importance to the national patrimony and give reasonable
compensation to those that are, and allow the import and export of
antiquities up to a fixed value (perhaps $10,000) with appropriate taxes to
the state to fund museum and archaeological activities, the illicit trade
will continue to flourish.  I discussed these issues in my address "IADAA
and a Rational Approach to the Antiquities Market" to the UNIDROIT
Convention in Rome in 1993, but virtually nothing has changed since then in
the export and import policies of any countries, except for the 'free' flow
of goods in the EU.

Jerome M. Eisenberg, Ph.D.

ancientart at aol.com
www.royalathena.com
www.minervamagazine.com