Peru and USA Extend Agreement to Protect Peruvian Archeological Pieces

A memorandum establishes that objects of a certain kind can only enter the United States if they have a permit of exportation from the Peruvian government or documents that certify ownership before 1997, and as long as they don’t break American laws.

The United States extended the memorandum of understanding for five years. The memorandum prevents illegal shipping of archaeological pieces of pre-Columbian cultures and of the Peruvian colonial period to the U.S. .

The American ambassador to Lima informed the public in a report today that the objective of this agreement is to fight the illegal trafficking of Peruvian cultural objects.

The memorandum, which went into effect in 1997 and was renewed in 2002 and 2007, will continue until 2017.

According to the document, since the agreement’s launch, the agreement has allowed the government to recover about 99 pieces that left Peru illegally, protecting archaeological pieces of pre-Columbian cultures and “distinctive materials” produced during the colonial period (1532-1821), such as sculptures and paintings.

The diplomatic office in Lima today added that “to help face the threat of looting,” the agreement “promotes clean and secure access of the mentioned objects of cultural, educative and scientific purposes, and promotes solutions in the long run to safeguard Peru’s unique past.”