Customs officers have been long awaiting draft legislation to tackle the arrival in the European Union of smuggled cultural goods and antiques, which the European Commission unveiled on Thursday 13 July (see EUROPE 11828).
The Commission proposes to force importers and owners of such goods to certify that the objects are transported in full legality, but such a proposal will not be easy to adopt due to the intense lobbying expected by industry.
In its proposal, the European Commission...