CPAC Charter Renewed

The Federal Register (5/26/2012) belatedly reports that CPAC's Charter has been renewed:


DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 7897]
Renewal of Cultural Property Advisory Committee Charter

SUMMARY: The Charter of the Department of State's Cultural PropertyAdvisory Committee (CPAC) has been renewed for an additional two years.  The Charter of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee is being renewed for a two-year period. The Committee was established by the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act of 1983, 19 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. It reviews requests from other countries seeking U.S. import restrictions on archaeological or ethnological material the pillage of which places a country's cultural heritage in jeopardy. The Committee makes findings and recommendations to the President's designee who, on behalf of the President, determines whether to impose the import restrictions. The membership of the Committee consists of private sector experts in archaeology, anthropology, or ethnology; experts in the international sale of cultural property; and representatives of museums and of the general public.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cultural Heritage Center, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, 2200 C Street NW., Washington, DC 20522. Telephone: (202) 632-6301; Fax: (202) 632-6300.

Dated: April 27, 2012.
Maria P. Kouroupas, Executive Director, Cultural Property Advisory, Committee Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2012-12937 Filed 5-25-12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4710-11-P

Comment: CPAC was meant to provide useful advice to the Executive Branch Decision-maker, but unfortunately the body has become little more than a rubber stamp for the State Department Cultural Heritage Center’s efforts to impose the broadest possible restrictions on cultural goods. See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2011/03/cultural-property-implementation-act-is.html.  If anything, the situation has gotten worse under the Obama Administration because non-archaeological slots on CPAC have now become packed with archaeological supporters. See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2011/11/cpacked.html