Title: Export of objects of cultural interest annual statistical release 2009-2010
Author: DCMS
Last saved by: 225040
Company: Department for Culture Media and Sport

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Export of objects of cultural interest 
Statistical Release - 16 November 2010

Purpose of release
This statistical release presents the figurFes related to the export of objects of cultural interest, which will be included in the report on the operation of the control of such objects which the Secretary of State is required to present to Parliament under Section 10 (1)(a) of the Export Control Act 2002 (the ‘Act’).

These figures are collated by the Export Licensing Unit at the Museums Libraries and Archives Council on behalf of the Secretary of State.

Current export controls
The export controls are derived from both UK and EU legislation. The UK statutory powers are exercised by the Secretary of State under the Export Control Act 2002. Under the Act, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has made the Export of Objects of Cultural Interest (Control) Order 2003. Export Controls are also imposed by Council Regulation (EC) No 116/09 on the export of cultural goods. The control is enforced by the UK Border Agency on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Export Control Act 2002 
The Export Control Act 2002 replaced the export control powers contained within the Import, Export and Customs Powers (Defence) Act 1939 legislation on strategic export controls. It provides a transparent framework and increases Parliamentary accountability. It is the main UK legislation on export controls for cultural goods.

The purpose of the export control is to give an opportunity for the retention in this country of cultural goods considered to be of outstanding national importance. The system is designed to strike a balance, as fairly as possible, between the various interests concerned in any application for an export licence - for instance, the protection of the national heritage; the rights of the owners selling the goods; the exporter or overseas purchaser; and the position and reputation of the UK as an international art market

The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest
An independent Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art was first appointed in 1952 following the recommendations of the Waverley Committee. It succeeded an earlier Committee of the same name established in 1949, comprising museum directors and officials, which heard appeals against refusals and, from 1950, all cases where refusals were recommended.  The Committee is a non-statutory independent body whose role is to advise the Secretary of State whether a cultural object which is the subject of an application for an export licence is of national importance under the Waverley criteria. The Committee consists of eight full members, appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, seven of whom have particular expertise in one or more relevant fields (paintings, furniture, manuscripts etc), and a Chairman. 

The Committee’s terms of reference are:
i)	To advise on the principles which should govern the control of the export of objects of cultural interest under the Export Control Act 2002 and on the operation of the export control system generally;
ii)	To advise the Secretary of State on all cases where refusal of an export licence for an object of cultural interest is suggested on grounds of national importance;
iii)	To advise in cases where a Special Exchequer Grant is needed towards the purchase of an object that would otherwise be exported.

History | Aesthetics | Scholarship
Is it so closely connected with our history and national life that its departure would be a misfortune? | Is it of outstanding aesthetic importance? | Is it of outstanding significance for the study of some particular branch of art, learning or history?
Waverley 1 | Waverley 2 | Waverley 3

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 exporters for the following categories of objects: (a) 15 for the export of manuscripts, documents, archives and photographic positives and negatives; (b) 3 for the export of goods over 50 years of age imported into the UK within the past 50 years; (c) six for the export of UK origin coins; (d) ) 1 for the export of a Rolls Royce; (e) 1 for the export of an object more than 50 years of age which is in a soil sample that has been taken from an archaeological site in Northern Ireland and (f) 65 for the temporary export of objects over 50 years of age owned by or under the control of a national institution or an institution holding a designated collection. 
•	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 because the items were either: valued at below the appropriate UK monetary limit; owned by a museum or gallery that has an Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL); manuscripts valued at £1,500 or less or coins valued at £500 or less and the exporter holds a valid OIEL; musical instruments exported for less than three months for use in the course of work by a professional musician; a motor vehicle exported for less than three months for social, domestic or pleasure purposes; a foreign registered motor vehicle exported following importation for less than three months for pleasure purposes. 

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, seven 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 £71,488,361.97.
•	Of the 13 cases where items were deferred, one was subsequently withdrawn and six resulted in acquisitions by institutions or individuals in the United Kingdom, of which one was starred.
•	The six cases where items were purchased have a total value of £10,119,674.47 (value price at deferral), which represents 14 per cent 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 £60,813,750.  

Export of objects of cultural interest figures for 2009-10

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

| | 1 May 2009 – 30 April 2010 | 1 May 2008 – 30 April 2009
(a) | Number of applications for individual export licences | 10,437 | 12,015
(b) | Number of above applications which were for manuscripts, documents or archives | 1,501 | 1,518
(c) | Number of items licensed after reference to expert advisers on the question of national importance | 20,713 | 23,123
(d) | Total value of items in (c) | £1,183,937,807 | £1,279,318,431
(e) | Number of Open Individual Export Licences in operation having been issued in previous years to regular exporters for the export of (i) manuscripts, documents, archives and photographic positives and negatives; (ii) objects imported into the UK in the past 50 years; (iii) UK origin coins; (iv) a Rolls Royce; (v) objects in soil samples from archaeological sites in Northern Ireland; (vi) for the temporary export of objects owned or under the control of national institutions or institutions holding designated collections. | 91 | 91
(f) | Number of items licensed for permanent export after the Export Licensing Unit was satisfied of import into the UK within the past 50 years | 10,770 | 12,726
(g) | Total value of items in (f) | £7,194,621,875 | £7,410,302,718
(h) | Number of items in (f) which were manuscripts, documents or archives | 1,587 | 2,245
(i) | Total value of items in (h) | £69,196,794 | £123,000,424
(j) | Number of items given an EU licence without reference to the question of national importance because they were either: valued at below the appropriate UK monetary limit^2 ;  owned by a museum or gallery that has an Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL); manuscripts valued at £1,500 or less or coins valued at £500 or less and the exporter holds a valid OIEL; musical instruments exported for less than three months for use in the course of work by a professional musician; a motor vehicle exported for less than three months for social, domestic or pleasure purposes; a foreign registered motor vehicle exported following importation for less than three months for pleasure purposes; imported into the UK in the last 50 years and were being exported on a temporary basis. | 4,146 | 3,701
(k) | Total value of items in (j) | £814,289,270 | £3,837,586,801

One application may cover several items.

In some cases, an EU export licence may be required to export items that are valued below the relevant UK monetary limit. In such cases, an EU licence will normally be given without referring the licence application to the expert adviser on the question of national importance.

•	The statistics below show the figures for the number of cases from 2000-01 to 2009-10.

(1)
Year

(2)
Cases considered by the Committee

(3)
Cases where 
a decision on the licence application was deferred

(4)
Cases in (3) where items were not licensed for permanent export

(5)
Cases where items were not licensed for permanent export as % of (3)

(6)
Value (at deferral) of cases in (4) where items were not licensed for permanent export (£m)

(7)
Cases in (3) where items were licensed for permanent export

(8)
Cases where items were licensed for permanent export as % of (3)

(9)
Value of items in (3) (at deferral) licensed for export (£m)

2000–01 | 37 | 34 | 27 | 79 | 6.6 | 7 | 21 | 12.6
2001–02 | 34 | 30 | 25 | 83 | 7.5 | 5 | 17 | 11.4
2002–03 | 26 | 23 | 14 | 61 | 51.7 | 9 | 39 | 23.2
July 2003-April 2004 | 18 | 9 | 7 | 78 | 6.8 | 2 | 22 | 1.0
2004-05 | 32 | 25 | 15 | 60 | 16.2 | 10 | 40 | 30.2
2005-06 | 22 | 17 | 9 | 53 | 8.3 | 8 | 47 | 7.3
2006-07 | 28 | 19 | 14 | 74 | 11.8 | 4 | 21 | 10.7
2007-08 | 18 | 16 | 9 | 56 | 2.5 | 7 | 44 | 12.8
2008-09 | 22 | 16 | 9 | 56 | 1.5 | 7 | 44 | 14.2
2009-10 | 15 | 13 | 7 | 46 | 10.1 | 6 | 46 | 60.8
TOTALS | 252 | 202 | 136 | 67 | 123.0 | 65 | 32 | 184.2

Excludes one case where an item was originally thought to be Waverley but subsequently found to have been imported into the UK within the last 50 years.

Excludes one case where a licence was issued but the owner subsequently sold the item to a UK institution.

Excludes one case where an item was originally thought to be Waverley but subsequently found to have been imported into the UK within the last 50 years.

Excludes one case still under deferral at the time of writing and includes two cases where the licence application was withdrawn during the deferral period.

Includes one case where the licence application was refused at the end of the first deferral period because the owner refused to confirm that they were willing to accept a matching offer from a UK purchaser.

Includes one case which was carried over into 2010-11.

•	The statistics below show the figures for the values associated with cases from 2000-2001 to 2009-10.

(1)
Year

(2)
Cases where 
a decision on the licence application was deferred

(3)
Value of items in (2) (£m)

(4)
 Cases where items were acquired by institutions or individuals in the UK

(5)
Value (at deferral) of items in (4) (£m)

(6)
Value of items in (4) as % of (3) (£m)

(7)
Cases where the application was refused or withdrawn after the announcement of the Secretary of State’s decision

(8)
Value of items in (7) (£m)

2000–01 | 34 | 19.3 | 23 | 3.7 | 19 | 4 | 2.9
2001–02 | 30 | 18.9 | 22 | 5.4 | 29 | 3 | 2.0
2002–03 | 23 | 74.9 | 12 | 39.2 | 52 | 2 | 12.5
July 2003-April 2004 | 9 | 7.7 | 7 | 6.8 | 88 | 1 | 0.8
2004- 05 | 25 | 46.4 | 10 | 5.8 | 13 | 7 | 11.3
2005-06 | 17 | 15.6 | 9 | 8.3 | 53 | 0 | 0
2006-07 | 19 | 24.5 | 12 | 7.0 | 29 | 3 | 4.8
2007-08 | 16 | 15.3 | 8 | 1.4 | 9 | 1 | 1.1
2008-09 | 16 | 15.7 | 9 | 1.5 | 10 | 0 | 0
2009-10 | 13 | 71.5 | 6 | 10.1 | 14 | 1 | 0.6
TOTALS | 202 | 309.8 | 118 | 89.2 | 29 | 22 | 36

This only includes items purchased by individuals who agreed to guarantee satisfactory public access, conservation and security arrangements.

Excludes one case where an item was originally thought to be Waverley but subsequently found to have been imported into the UK within the last 50 years.

Includes one case where a licence was issued but the owner subsequently sold the item to a UK institution.

Excludes one case where an item was originally thought to be Waverley but subsequently found to have been imported into the UK within the last 50 years.

•	
 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.

(1)
Year

(2)
Value of items where a decision on the licence application was deferred
(£m)

(3)
Value (at deferral) of cases in (2) where items were licensed for permanent export
(£m)

(4)
Value of items in (3) as % of (2)

(5)
Value of items in (2) that were not licensed for export
(£m)

(6)
Value (at deferral) of cases in (2) where items were purchased by UK institutions or individuals
(£m)

(7)
Value of items in (6) as % of (2)

2000-01 | 19.3 | 12.6 | 65 | 6.6 | 3.7 | 19
2001-02 | 18.9 | 11.4 | 60 | 7.5 | 5.4 | 29
2002-03 | 74.9 | 23.2 | 31 | 51.7 | 39.2 | 52
July 2003-April 2004 | 7.7 | 1.0 | 13 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 88
2004-05 | 46.4 | 30.2 | 65 | 16.2 | 5.8 | 13
2005-06 | 15.6 | 7.3 | 47 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 53
2006-07 | 24.5 | 10.7 | 43 | 11.8 | 7.0 | 29
2007-08 | 15.3 | 12.8 | 84 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 9
2008-09 | 15.7 | 14.2 | 90 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 10
2009-10 | 71.5 | 60.8 | 85 | 10.7 | 10.1 | 14
Totals | 309.8 | 184.2 | 59 | 123.6 | 89.2 | 29

This only includes items purchased by individuals who agreed to guarantee satisfactory public access, conservation and security arrangements.

Includes value of four cases (£2,964,362.50) where the licence application was withdrawn during the deferral period.

Excludes one case where the item was originally found to be Waverley but subsequently found to have been imported into the UK within the last 50 years.

Excludes value of one case (£2,000,000) where a licence was issued, but the owner subsequently sold the item to a UK institution and one case (£65,868.75) where it was subsequently discovered the items had not been in the UK for 50 years so a licence was issued in accordance with normal policy.

Includes value of two cases (£237,607.50) where a matching offer was refused and the Secretary of State therefore refused an export licence; one case (£2,000,000) where a licence was issued but the owner subsequently sold the item to a UK institution and one case (£1,815,750) where the licence application was withdrawn although no matching offer was made.

Includes value of one case (£2,000,000) where a licence was issued but the owner subsequently sold the item to a UK institution.

Includes value of two cases (£12,543,019.38) where a matching offer was refused and the Secretary of State therefore refused an export licence.

Includes value of five cases (£10,422,776) where the application was withdrawn during the deferral period.

Excludes one case where the item was originally found to be Waverley but subsequently found to have been imported into the UK within the last 50 years.

Includes value of one case (£554,937.50) where the application was withdrawn during the deferral period.

•	
Items licensed for export after reference to expert advisers for advice as to national importance: 1 May 2009 - 30 April 2010. 

Category | Advising authority | No of Items | Total value (£)
Arms and armour | Royal Armouries, Leeds, Associate Director | 9 | 2,091,454
Books, maps etc | British Library, Keeper of Printed Books, Head of Map Collections | 25 | 4,062,100
Books (natural history) | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Head of Library and Archives | 1 | 97,250
Clocks and watches | British Museum, Keeper of Clocks and Watches | 21 | 3,881,876
Coins and medals | British Museum, Keeper of Coins and Medals | 241 | 2,962,773
Drawings: architectural, engineering and scientific | Victoria & Albert Museum, Keeper of Word & Image Department | 70 | 12,669,234
Drawings, prints, water-colours | British Museum, Keeper of Prints and Drawings | 339 | 142,079,392
Egyptian antiquities | British Museum, Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities | 4 | 355,250
Ethnography | British Museum, Keeper of Ethnography | 18 | 14,060

Furniture and woodwork

Victoria & Albert Museum, 
Keeper of Furniture and Textiles & Fashion Department

175

108,656,897

Greek and Roman antiquities | British Museum, Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities | 3 | 152,935

Indian furniture

Victoria & Albert Museum, 
Senior Curator of Asian Department, South & South East Asian Collection

1

468,837

Japanese antiquities | British Museum, Department of Asia | 7 | 663,250
Manuscripts, documents and archives | British Library, Curator, Department of Manuscripts | 1,365 | 65,301,117
Maritime material, including paintings | National Maritime Museum, Director of Collections | 2 | 220,000
Oriental antiquities (except Japanese) | British Museum, Department of Asia | 85 | 19,564,479

Oriental furniture

Victoria & Albert Museum, 
Senior Curator of Asian Department, Chinese Collection

3

240,000

Paintings, British, modern | Tate Gallery | 189 | 292,876,631
Paintings, foreign | National Gallery, Director | 151 | 444,807,958

Paintings, miniature

Victoria & Albert Museum, 
Senior Curator of Painting Section, Word & Image Department

0

-

Paintings, portraits of British persons | National Portrait Gallery, Director | 39 | 18,052,751
Photographs | National Media Museum, Head | 44 | 2,826,047
Pottery | Victoria & Albert Museum, Head of Ceramics & Glass Department | 34 | 2,542,489

Prehistory & Europe (inc. Archaeological material, Medieval and later antiquities & Metal Detecting Finds)

British Museum, Keeper of Prehistory & Europe
Department of Portable Antiquities & Treasure (Metal Detecting Finds)

17,628

7,837,141

Scientific and mechanical material | Science Museum, Head of Collections | 4 | 745,500

Sculpture

Victoria & Albert Museum, 
Senior Curator of Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramic & Glass Department
Tate Gallery (20^th Century Sculpture)

60

8,801,150

Silver and weapons, Scottish | National Museum of Scotland, Director | 0 | -

Silver, metalwork and jewellery

Victoria & Albert Museum, 
Senior Curator of Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramic & Glass Department

102

20,903,192

Tapestries, carpets (and textiles)

Victoria & Albert Museum, 
Senior Curator of Furniture, Textiles & Fashion Department

34

2,115,277

Toys | Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, Head | 0 | -
Transport | Heritage Motor Centre | 49 | 13,696,379

Wallpaper

Victoria & Albert Museum, 
Senior Curator of Prints Section, Word & Image Department

0

-

Western Asiatic antiquities | British Museum, Keeper of Ethnography | 10 | 5,252,388
Zoology (stuffed specimens) | Natural History Museum, Director of Science | 0 | -
Totals | | 20,713 | 1,183,937,807

•	Applications considered and deferred on the recommendation of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (2000-01 to 2009-10)

Year | Number of Waverley items granted a permanent export licence | Value of Waverley items granted a permanent export licence (£) | Number of Waverley items purchased during deferral | Total amount spent on Waverley items purchased during deferral (£) | Number of Waverley items supported by HLF/NHMF | Support by HLF/NHMF (£) | Number of Waverley items supported by The Art Fund | Support by The Art Fund (£) | Number of Waverley items supported by MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund | Support by MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund (£)
2000-01 | 7 | 12,367,972 | 23 | 3,168,087 | 6 | 1,780,630 | 7 | 690,701 | 2 | 5,012
2001-02 | 5 | 11,436,169 | 21 | 2,944,208 | 18 | 1,627,956 | 19 | 69,395 | 3 | 78,000
2002-03 | 9 | 23,191,548 | 12 | 26,173,106 | 7 | 14,283,115 | 9 | 905,184 | 1 | 30,000
July 2003-April 2004 | 2 | 1,000,000 | 5 | 2,237,604 | 1 | 110,000 | 2 | 79,000 | 1 | 40,000
2004-05 | 10 | 30,193,090 | 10 | 5,825,135 | 4 | 2,577,000 | 4 | 975,000 | 1 | 3,500
2005-06 | 8 | 7,285,012 | 9 | 8,278,510 | 4 | 855,200 | 5 | 308,330 | 3 | 32,330
2006-07 | 5 | 10,709,778 | 12 | 7,009,075 | 4 | 1,944,032 | 3 | 700,275 | 2 | 40,000
2007-08 | 7 | 12,770,031 | 8 | 1,431,256 | 6 | 471,986 | 6 | 248,750 | 2 | 50,000
2008-09 | 7 | 14,186,010 | 9 | 1,521,684 | 2 | 378,000 | 4 | 329,292 | 3 | 118,500
2009-10 | 6 | 60,813,750 | 6 | 10,119,674.47 | 2 | 186,000 | 3 | 245,100 | 1 | 17,000

Including a series of 13 related finds.

Offers of grants were made for a further two items by the NHMF. In both cases, the licence applications were withdrawn.

Offers of grants were made for a further two items by The Art Fund. In both cases, the licence applications were withdrawn.

A licence was issued for a further item, but it was subsequently sold to a UK institution.

Includes one item where the licence was issued following receipt of satisfactory proof that it had been imported into the UK within the last 50 years.

Year | Item | Purchaser | Price (£) | Support by HLF/NHMF (£) | Support by The Art Fund (£) | Support by MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund (£)
2009-10 | The Eglinton Tournament | East Ayrshire Council | £85,100.47 | £20,000 | £30,100 | £0
2009-10 | Welsh landscape with two women knitting by William Dyce | Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales | £557,218 | £166,000 | £166,000 | £0
2009-10 | Thomas Hardy typescripts | Dorset County Museum | £50,000 | £0 | £0 | £17,000
2009-10 | A Photograph by Roger Fenton, Pasha & Bayadere | National Media Museum | £108,506 | £0 | £49,000 | £0
2009-10 | Thomas Walker archive | British Library | £93,600 | £0 | £0 | £0
2009-10 | A Painting by Domenico Zampieri, Saint John the Evangelist | Private purchaser | £9,225,250 | £0 | £0 | £0

Format of Statistical Release:
This release is available in rtf and pdf format.

Previous reports:
Statistics covering previous years can be found at: 
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/6515.aspx

Next release of data:
Statistics from 2010-11 will be published in the last quarter of 2011

Methodology:
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.

The database has an inbuilt programme that extracts the information required to produce the statistics contained in this release by way of “reports”. The number of Open Individual Export Licences issued and in operation at any one time is recorded on an excel spreadsheet. This records the type of object they relate to; the name and address of the holder; the date of issue and the date of expiry.

The statistics gathered from the database and the excel spreadsheet together with further details of the objects found to be of national importance have previously been published annually in the Export of Objects of Cultural Interest 2008-09.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/6515.aspx

The Code of Practice for Official Statistics and specifically the Principle on Confidentiality set out practices for how we protect data from being disclosed. The Principle includes the statement that the Office of National Statistics’(“ONS”) outputs should “ensure that official statistics do not reveal the identity of an individual or organisation, or any private information relating to them, taking into account other relevant sources of information”. More information can be found in National Statistician’s Guidance: Confidentiality of Official Statistics and also on the Statistical Disclosure Control Methodology page of the ONS website.

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