On March 11, 2009, the United States and Honduras extended their Memorandum of Understanding that restricts the import into the United States of Pre-Columbian archaeological materials. The United States enters into MOUs or bilateral agreements with other States Parties to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property under Article 9 of the Convention and the U.S.’s implementing legislation, the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act. These agreements last for a maximum of five years but can be renewed an indefinite number of times.
This agreement is substantially the same as the 2004 agreement with Honduras, the text of which can be found at: http://culturalheritage.state.gov/hnfact.html. Pre-Columbian objects that belong to one of the designated categories and are therefore subject to import restriction may enter the United States if accompanied by an export license from Honduras or if they left Honduras before March 12, 2004, the date of entry into force of the original agreement. The Federal Register notice may be found at: Vol. 74, No. 46 / Wednesday, March 11, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 10483.
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