ABSTRACT

This article draws on interviews with customs officers to identify and discuss the intricacies of controlling the illicit trade in cultural heritage objects from a front-line perspective. The complexity of distinguishing illicit from licit trade in cultural objects presents customs officers with unique challenges. The findings reveal a perpetual relationship between several factors: poor knowledge of what is illicit trade among customs officers, few detections and recorded seizures, limited familiarity with the legal framework, logistical challenges in collaborations with cultural institutions and insufficient allocation of resources for capacity building leading to continued marginalisation of the field. Besides awareness building for officers, recommendations to break the cycle and encourage prioritisation include establishing a national, single point of contact to bridge the gap between organisations and a system that recognises impounding of suspected illicit material as well as formal seizures.

摘要

本文通过对海关官员的采访，从一线的角度识别和讨论控制文化遗产物品非法贸易的复杂性。区分文物的非法和合法贸易的复杂性给海关官员带来了独特的挑战。调查结果揭示了几个因素之间的永久关系：海关官员对什么是非法贸易知之甚少，很少发现和记录的缉获量，对法律框架的熟悉程度有限，与文化机构合作的后勤挑战以及用于领导能力建设的资源分配不足继续边缘化该领域。除了提高警官的意识外，打破循环和鼓励优先排序的建议包括建立一个国家、