Treasury, CBP Extend and Revise Import Restrictions on Archaeological Objects from Cyprus

The Treasury Department and CBP issued a final rule, effective July 16, which amends CBP regulations to reflect the extension of import restrictions on Pre-Classical and Classical Archaeological Objects and Byzantine Ecclesiastical and Ritual Ethnological Materials from Cyprus for an additional five years, and contains a list of articles to which the restrictions apply. The last extension in 2007 is scheduled to expire on July 16. A notice on the extension ran in the Federal Register July 13. A designated list of cultural property will be revised to include items dating from the Post-Byzantine period (c. 1500 A.D. to 1850 A.D.) The revised Designated List also clarifies that certain mosaics of stone and wall hangings (specifically, to include images of Saints among images of Christ, Archangels, and the Apostles) are covered under the import restrictions.