From Dr. Catherine P. Foster of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), U.S. Department of State. Please lend your voice in support of this agreement; we’ve had a number of high-profile repatriations from the US to Cambodia over the past few years, and they are facilitated by agreements such as these.

Dear colleagues,

It is with pleasure I bring to your attention that the United States and Cambodia have proposed another 5-year extension of the cultural property agreement first entered into in 2003 under the U.S. Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, which implements the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Official announcement of the proposal can be found here.

The President’s Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) will meet October 23-24 to review this proposed extension and to formulate its recommendations. I encourage you to submit comments to the CPAC regarding the proposed agreement extension, focusing on the four factors or “determinations” that the CPAC must consider:

All comments must be submitted in writing by October 15. Use http://www.regulations.gov, enter docket DOS-2017-0036, and follow the prompts to submit written comments.

CPAC will also hold an open session of its meeting on October 23 at 10:00 am EDT. I also encourage you to participate in this open session, which will be available using the Zoom platform from your work or home office. More details will be posted on the Cultural Heritage Center website in mid-October. More information is available in the CPAC meeting announcement.