Category Archives: Exports

Caillebotte storm is quelled, twice over

Posted on: April 17, 2019 by Alexander Herman

Last June, a Federal Court decision in Canada caused quite a stir. It related to the export control system that applies in Canada for cultural property and the definition of the term ‘national importance’. As we reported in September, the case involved the attempted export from Canada of an oil painting by French Impressionist Gustave […]

The EU’s parting gift to the UK art market?

Posted on: April 1, 2019 by Emily Gould

On 17th April 2019, shortly after the original date set for the UK’s exit from the European Union, the European Parliament and Council adopted the Regulation on the import of cultural goods, a rather sweeping measure designed to control the import into EU Member States of certain items of cultural property. The legislation is aimed […]

Our submission to the DCMS consultation on UK export controls

Posted on: March 8, 2019 by Alexander Herman

The IAL recently submitted a response to a consultation on export controls released by the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS). The consultation related to a recent proposal to introduce a legally binding offer into the mechanism by which would-be exporters are required to accept fair matching offers from UK institutions (or […]

Update on the US – China Trade War and its implications to the art world

Posted on: September 23, 2018 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

In a welcome development, it has been reported by the Art Newspaper earlier this week that Chinese art and antiques will no longer be subject to the increased tariffs we had discussed here in the ongoing trade war between the US and China. This is the result – at least in part – of the […]

The US – China Trade War… and why it matters for the art world

Posted on: September 6, 2018 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

In the latest of a series of controversial decisions for which the Trump administration has become renowned, the US Government has raised the stakes in the ongoing trade war with China with the result that 25% tariffs are now being applied on what is reported to be $16bn worth of imports on both sides. At […]

Court decision on Caillebotte export rocks the boat

Posted on: September 4, 2018 by Alexander Herman

A once-in-a-generation case has caused major ripples in the Canadian museum world. And we’re not talking about the attempted sale of a Chagall by the National Gallery of Canada this spring. No, this was an actual court case, before the Federal Court of Canada, to determine whether the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (the […]

Attributed Giotto now stuck in legal limbo

Posted on: July 24, 2018 by Alexander Herman

Yesterday, an Italian painting with a colourful history had its fate sealed by a UK court. The Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court has decided that Arts Council England (ACE), the delegated authority that issues export licences for cultural property leaving UK shores, was not the ‘competent authority’ to issue an EU licence for […]

NGC reneges on plan to sell Chagall

Posted on: April 27, 2018 by Alexander Herman

The National Gallery of Canada, as reported earlier, had plans to sell one of its two major works by Marc Chagall, La Tour Eiffel, at auction at Christies in New York on 15 May, with an estimate of $6 million to $ 9 million. This led to much uproar in the Canadian press and amongst the […]