Official Statistics

Export of Objects of Cultural Interest Statistical Release 2009-10

Annual statistics on the operation of the export controls on objects of cultural interest in the UK in 2009-10, as required by section 10(1)(a) of the Export Control Act 2002.

Documents

Export of objects of cultural interest annual statistical release 2009-10

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Export of objects of cultural interest annual statistical release 2009-10

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Secretary of State’s Operation of the Control table as required by Section 10 (1)(a) of the Export Control Act 2002

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Table showing the figures for the number of cases presented to the RCEWA 2000-01 to 2009-10

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Table showing the figures for the values associated with cases presented to the RCEWA from 2000-01 to 2009-10

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Table showing the value of items placed under deferral (2000-01 to 2009-10) (i) for which permanent licences were issued and (ii) where items were purchased by UK institutions or individuals

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Table showing items licensed for export after reference to expert advisers for advice as to national importance: 1 May 2009-30 April 2010

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Applications considered and deferred on the recommendation of the RCEWA

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Details

Annual statistics on the operation of the export controls on objects of cultural interest, as required by section 10(1)(a) of the Export Control Act 2002, in the UK in 2009-10, produced by the Museums Libraries and Archives Council on behalf of DCMS, were released on 16 November 2010 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Period covered:

1 May 2009 - 30 April 2010

Geographical coverage:

UK

Next release date:

Statistics from 2010-11 will be published in the last quarter of 2011

Previous release date:

Export of Objects of Cultural Interest 2008-09, December 2009

The Export Licensing Unit at the Museums Libraries and Archives Council records all export licence applications made and export licences issued in the UK for the export of cultural goods outside the UK. Its database records the following information: number of applications for individual export licences received and the date of receipt; number of individual export licences issued and the date of issue; number of items to which individual export licences or applications relate; total value of those items as given by the applicant; the type of licence issued (EU or UK), whether it has been referred to an adviser or not and whether it is temporary or permanent a description of the items; the name and address of the applicant and the owner and the country of destination.

Report structure/format

The report sets out the latest annual figures for the 12 months to April 2010 for the export of objects of cultural interest.

It includes:

  • the number of applications for export licences
  • the number of applications for manuscripts, documents or archives
  • the number of cases referred to expert advisers
  • the number of licences granted after the Export Licensing Unit was satisfied that the objects to which they related had been imported into the United Kingdom within the past 50 years and the number of Open Individual Export Licences in operation during the period having been issued in previous years to regular exporters for the export of certain items

The report expands on the information provided by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Cultural Objects (RCEWA): the number of cases considered by RCEWA and the number recommended by them to the Secretary of State for deferral of an export licence

Key messages

During the period covered by the report (1 May 2009 to 30 April 2010):

  • there were 10,437 applications for export licences, covering a total of 35,688 items
  • 1,501 of these applications were for the export of manuscripts, documents or archives
  • 20,713 items, with a total value of £1,183,937,807, were issued with export licences after they had been referred to expert advisers;
  • 91 Open Individual Export Licences were in operation having been issued on 18 December 2007 to take effect for a period of three years commencing on 1 January 2008 and ending on 31 December 2010 to regular 10,770 items, with a total value of £7,194,621,875, were issued with export licences after the Export Licensing Unit was satisfied that they had been imported into the United Kingdom within the past 50 years. Of these, 1,587 were manuscripts, documents or archives covering a total value of £69,196,794
  • 4,146 items, with a total value of £814,289,270, were given an EU licence without reference to the question of national importance   Items referred to the Reviewing Committee on the Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest by Expert Advisers

  • in 2009-10 22 cases were referred to the Committee; of these, 7 were withdrawn before they reached the stage of consideration by the Committee, one gave rise to issues which are still being resolved and the other 14 cases were considered
  • of the 14 cases considered by the Committee, 13 met at least one of the Waverley criteria and four of these were starred as a sign of their outstanding importance
  • 13 cases were referred to the then Secretary of State for deferral and he accepted the Committee’s recommendations on 12 of them
  • the aggregate value of the 13 items deferred was £71.5 million
  • of the 13 cases where items were deferred, one was subsequently withdrawn and six resulted in acquisitions by institutions or individuals in the UK, of which one was starred
  • the 6 cases where items were purchased have a total value of £10.12 million (value price at deferral), which represents 14% of the total value of objects placed under deferral
  • export licences were issued for the remainder of the six items which have a total value of £60.8 million  

The UK Statistics Authority

This release is published in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics (2009), as produced by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA). The UKSA has the overall objective of promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good. It monitors and reports on all official statistics, and promotes good practice in this area

Pre-release access

This document contains a list of Ministers and officials who have received privileged early access to this release of export of objects of cultural interest data. In line with best practice, the list has been kept to a minimum and those given access for briefing purposes had a maximum of 24 hours.

The following officials and Ministers received privileged early access to the last release under the National Statistics Code of Practice:

For briefing purposes only

  • Jeremy Hunt, MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport
  • Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries
  • Adam Smith, Special Adviser
  • Linda Martin, DCMS (Press Office)
  • Sandra McKay DCMS (Press Office)
  • Jonathan Stephens, DCMS Permanent Secretary

For briefing and quality assurance purposes

  • Vivienne Avery, DCMS (Statistics Head of Profession)
  • Peter Antoniades, DCMS (Responsible Statistical lead)
  • Jon Hoare, DCMS (Policy)
  • Hillary Bauer, DCMS (Policy)
  • Anastasia Tenant MLA (Policy)

Contact for enquiries

Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH
evidence@culture.gsi.gov.uk

The responsible analyst for this release is Peter Antoniades
For enquiries on this release contact: 020 7 211 6188
For general enquiries telephone: 020 7211 6000

Updates to this page

Published 15 November 2011

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