By Devin Dowling
Since the Center’s latest edition of Keeping up with the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, the Cultural Property Advisory Committee’s (“CPAC” or the “Committee”) February 2025 meeting has been postponed indefinitely, as of this article’s publication.[1] The public meeting was expected to address a new request for cultural property import restrictions from Vietnam, as well as the renewal of memoranda of understanding with Chile, Italy, and Morocco.[2] The agreements are set to expire on September 30, 2025, and January 12 and 14, 2026, respectively, unless they are extended.[3] Some critics have questioned whether the Committee should convene before President Donald Trump appoints new members.[4] This article explores the President’s executive powers to appoint and remove Committee members.
Historical Context and Enactment
Following the growth in illicit trafficking of cultural objects after World War II, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (“UNESCO”) began drafting an international convention for regulating the cultural property market.[5] After more than a decade of drafting, the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (“1970 UNESCO Convention”) was finalized on November 14, 1970, and went into effect in 1972.[6]
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