International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property

The International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property, celebrated every year on November 14, reminds the world that the theft, looting and illicit trafficking in cultural property takes place in every country, robbing people of their culture, identity and history, and that we need to work together to combat this crime.

Illicit trafficking in cultural property has many causes, and ignorance and lack of ethics are at its root. Illicitly traded cultural property is often transferred either through illicit markets around the world or licit markets such as auctions, including through the Internet. Individuals, governments, the art market and institutions can do their part to combat this through awareness-raising, information and ethics in the buying and selling of art and cultural objects, the enactment and enforcement of laws and the protection of cultural heritage and cultural property.

UNESCO first adopted November 14 as the International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property during its 40th General Conference in 2019, with the aim of drawing more attention to this crime and ways to combat it, as well as to highlight the importance of international cooperation and proactive measures through the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970).