New rules will help protect UK treasures from overseas buyers, minister says

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is introducing new rules from January 1.

New rules aimed at protecting UK museums and galleries from losing valuable items to overseas buyers will be introduced from January 1, the Government has said.

Under the current system, a pause in the export of national treasures overseas can be ordered by the Culture Minister to give UK museums and buyers the chance to raise funds to keep them in the country.

If a UK institution puts in a matching offer on an item subject to an export deferral, and the owner has agreed to sell, it is down to the seller to honour that commitment.

Lawrence of Arabia’s steel and silver dagger found a home at the National Army Museum (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said that from next year legally binding offers will see an end to the gentleman’s agreement.

In 2017, the National Gallery raised £30 million to acquire a work which was subsequently pulled from sale by the owner.

The introduction of legally binding offers, which marks the first major change in the export deferral system in over 65 years, will mean that this can no longer happen, the Government has said.

The notebooks of Charles Lyell, Darwin’s mentor that were acquired by the University of Edinburgh (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)

She said: “Our museums and galleries are full of treasures that tell us about who we are and where we came from.

“The export bar system exists so that we can offer public institutions the opportunity to acquire new items of national importance.

“It is right that this crackdown will make it easier for us to save items and avoid wasted fundraising efforts by our museums.”

The flag from Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod Antarctic Expedition of 1907-09, which has been acquired by the National Maritime Museum and the Scott Polar Research Institute (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)

Funds from the DCMS have also been made available for the development of a new digital system for export licences, which will be overseen by Arts Council England.

The new system, which is expected to be running by autumn 2021, will allow sellers to apply for their export licence online, aimed at saving time, effort and expense.

Salvador Dali’s Mae West Lips Sofa which was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport)

Lawrence of Arabia’s steel and silver dagger, which found a home at the National Army Museum, and the notebooks of Charles Lyell, Darwin’s mentor, that were acquired by the University of Edinburgh, were also kept in the UK.

In the 10-year period ending in 2018-19, 39% of items at risk of leaving the UK – worth a total of £103.3 million – were retained by UK institutions, according to DCMS.