Law, crime and regulation

The UK government has confirmed to ATG that it has “no plans to make changes to either the rates of Artist’s Resale Right that are applied or how the levy operates” following the post-Brexit trade deal agreed with the EU.

Brexit, CITES, new ivory act on the way… it can be hard for the UK art and antiques trade to keep up with the many regulations. However, the good news is that much of CITES has not changed fundamentally, as this update from expert Kim McDonald of The Taxidermy Law Company reveals

MADAM – We are concerned about the imminent imposition of restrictions to limit the trade of ivory works of art within the European Union (front page, ATG No 2480).

A Roman floor panel sold at auction in 2018 and then to an international buyer will be reunited with two other fragments from the same mosaic after a successful fundraising appeal to keep it in the UK.

New proposals by the European Commission to prevent the commercial export and import of most antiques containing ivory have been described by The British Antique Dealers Association (BADA) as “hugely damaging and disproportionate”.

A row has erupted over the circumstances surrounding the auction of a collection of Modern British art in Derbyshire in December.

MADAM – I do not see the controversy around ARR within the art market going away as long as it is in existence – because its existence is so peculiar.

Case shows how confidentiality cannot always be completely relied on

France has changed its export licensing system for cultural goods, increasing the value thresholds and removing some red tape.

News of the Supreme Court ruling that will allow thousands of small businesses to receive insurance payouts covering losses from the first national coronavirus lockdown has been largely welcomed within the art and antiques trade.

MADAM – The 2020 National Risk Assessment report, published late last year, rates the art market as ‘high’ risk for money laundering.

The UK has agreed to follow the existing Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) regulations under the Brexit trade deal that came into effect earlier this month.

The organiser of The Open Art Fair is to appeal a small claims court ruling that said two dealers need pay only part of their stand fee as the event was cut short.

MADAM – Your report on the export licence stop placed on the ivory and bronze Triqueti figure of Cleopatra indirectly highlights the tragically arbitrary nature of the Ivory Act (News Digest, ATG No 2474).

MADAM – When ARR was originally introduced we were told that since the UK was in the Common Market, we had to follow their rules.