Topics in brief

• Pages: 27-27

27

international law update Volume 18, January–March 2012

© 2012 Transnational Law Associates, LLC. All rights reserved. ISSN 1089-5450, ISSN 1943-1287 (on-line) | www.internationallawupdate.com

e United States and Greece agree to restrict

imports of most Greek antiquities. Standing at

the Parthenon Museum in Athens, Greece last

week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed

an agreement with the Greek Minister of Foreign

Aairs to restrict imports of ancient Greek

artifacts to the U.S. Once ratied by the Greek

parliament, the agreement, called a Memorandum

of Understanding (MOU), would give the Greek

government the right to restrict import of “cultural

heritage” objects to the U.S. It would cover a list of

objects dating from the late Stone Age through the

end of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century.

e U.S. and Greece will agree upon a list of objects

to be restricted, and the U.S. will enter the list

into the Federal Register. is is the fteenth such

cultural heritage agreement signed by the U.S. e

agreements fulll obligations of the U.S. as a party

to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of

Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export,

and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property,

[TIAS; 823 UNTS 231; in force for U.S. Dec. 2,

1983]. e Convention seeks to protect the pillage

of cultural heritage in countries which have a rich

history but limited means with which to protect it.

e U.S. has similar agreements with countries as

diverse as Canada, Iraq, China, and Cyprus.

: “Elginism” Posted online under Art Info,

Greece Archaeology at 1:54 p.m. on February 2, 2012,

at www.elginism.com.

e United States has signed agreements to

promote freedoms of international trade and

investment among all nations. (1) e U.S.

pursues the signing of expansive Free Trade

Agreements (FTAs) to furnish new opportunities

for American workers, farmers, ranchers, and service

providers. In recent years, the United States has

adopted FTAs, inter alia, with: Canada, Mexico,

Israel, Jordan, Chile, Singapore, Australia, Morocco,

the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala,

Honduras, Nicaragua and Bahrain. (2) e U.S.

Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) program focuses

on protecting private investment, in fostering

market-oriented policies in signatories, and in

expanding U.S. exports. BITs try to eectuate these

goals: [1] by safeguarding investment abroad in

countries which do not already protect investor

rights e.g. through existing agreements (such as

updated treaties of friendship, commerce, and

navigation (FCNs), or by FTAs; [2] by fostering the

adoption of market-oriented domestic policies that

treat private investment in an open, transparent, and

non-discriminatory way; and [3] by supporting the

growth of, and compliance with, international law

standards consistent with these objectives. Among

the regional BIT members are the FTAA, NAFTA,

MEFTA and APEC. Most of the above FTA nations

are also BIT members.

: Website of the Oce of the U.S. Trade

Representative, www.ustr.gov.

TOPICS IN BRIEF