Statute

 

This MOU combined and superseded two earlier related agreements:
1. an Emergency Restriction on Byzantine Ecclesiastical and Ritual Ethnological Material (Effective 12 April 1999; extended 29 August 2003; expired 4 September 2006) and 2. a Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Cyprus Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Pre-Classical and Classical Archaeological Objects (Effective 19 July 2002; Expired 15 July 2007). The two categories of objects were combined in an amended agreement on 4 September 2006.

The MOU restricts the importation of Byzantine ethnological and ecclesiastical material dating from approximately the 4th to 15th century AD, and includes objects made of wood, ivory and bone, textiles, stone (mosaics), and frescos (wall paintings), as well as Pre-Classical and Classical archaeological materials including objects of ceramic, stone, and metal, such as vessels, sculptures, mosaics, inscriptions, architectural elements, and jewelry, ranging in date from approximately 8000 BC to 330 AD. The 2007 MOU added coins to the list of restricted items and the 2012 extension added ethnological and ecclesiastical material from the Post-Byzantine era (roughly 1500 to 1850 AD).

For the text of the agreement, see the link above. For background information, full texts of the relevant documents, and examples of the restricted objects, see the U.S. State Department website's Cyprus Information Page.