Review of the Committee and the International Fund

In 1976, a committee of experts met under the auspices of UNESCO in Venice and studied the question of the restitution or return of cultural property lost either due to foreign or colonial occupation, or following illicit traffic before the entry into force, for States concerned, of the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.

Underlining the lack of international mechanisms, the experts invited the Director-General of UNESCO to envisage creating an international body with the task of researching the ways and means of facilitating bilateral negotiations for the restitution or return of cultural property and to encourage the countries concerned to reach agreements to this effect.

Thus the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation was created in 1978 by the resolution 20 C4/7.6/5 at the 20th Session of the UNESCO General Conference.

It is a permanent intergovernmental body, independent from the 1970 Convention. The Fund of the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation was also established in 1978.

See also: Illicit trafficking and restitution of cultural property.