A. Background

The 1970 UNESCO Convention[1] aims to protect cultural heritage and establishes measures to prohibit and prevent the illicit import, export and transfer of cultural property. Switzerland ratified the 1970 UNESCO Convention in 2003 and transposed it into national law with the introduction of the Cultural Property Transfer Act (CPTA)[2] on June 1, 2005. The CPTA and the implementing provisions in the Cultural Property Transfer Ordinance (CPTO)[3] contain a wide range of measures to preserve the cultural heritage of humanity and combat the illegal import and export, theft and looting of cultural property.[4] These include the obligation to declare cultural property upon import, transit, or export, duties of diligence for persons engaged in the art trade and auction business, guarantees of return to foreign lenders of cultural property, repatriation actions for foreign states and financial assistance and intergovernmental cooperation.

On January 1, 2026, the partially revised CPTO (revCPTO) came into force, introducing a number of important changes for the art trade, auction houses, transporters and freight forwarders of art and cultural property, as well as for public and private museums and collections.

B. Stricter Duties of Diligence for the Art Trade and Auction Houses

Special duties of diligence apply to persons engaged in the art trade and auction business who trade in cultural property on a commercial basis in Switzerland (Article 16 CPTA). These may be natural persons or legal entities based in Switzerland or abroad.

These duties of diligence apply regardless of value to cultural property from archaeological or paleontological excavations or discoveries, to fragments of historical monuments and finds from excavation sites and to ethnological cultural property. For all other cultural property, the due diligence obligations apply from an estimated value of CHF 5,000.

1. Determination of Identity and Right of Disposal

Persons engaged in the art trade and auction business are required to keep records of their acquisition of cultural property. The origin of the cultural property (if known), its description, the purchase price and the name and address of the seller or consignor must be documented. The identity of the seller or consignor must now be verified in all cases with a probative document (Article 17(2) revCPTO). Previously, this obligation only applied if there were doubts about the accuracy of the information provided.

The seller or consignor must sign a declaration confirming its right to dispose of the cultural property. This obligation was tightened as of January 1, 2026, so that the declaration must now expressly state who the owner of the cultural property is (Article 18 revCPTO).

2. Informing Customers About Existing Import and Export Regulations and Retaining the Relevant Evidence

Another element of due diligence is informing customers about existing import and export regulations of signatory states to the 1970 UNESCO Convention (Article 16(2)(b) CPTO). This also includes bilateral cultural property agreements between Switzerland and third countries. If, for example, a sale with subsequent export to the EU is planned, customers must also be informed about the EU Import Regulation 2019/880 with its complex import regime.

Neither the CPTA nor the revised CPTO specify which import and export rules must be explained in each individual case and in what level of detail. Written information on all import and export rules of the 149 signatory states (as of February 2026) to the 1970 UNESCO Convention is not feasible due to the scope of these regulations. A proportionate implementation of this stricter duty of care could, for example, be written information based on risk-based principles (tailored to the customer) with references to the relevant regulations and materials.

3. Extended Documentation and Retention Requirements

As of January 1, 2026, two new obligations have been added to the documentation and storage requirements (Article 19(1) revCPTO): First, meaningful photographs of the cultural property must be taken. This brings the regulations into line with EU Regulation 2019/880 on the movement and import of (non-EU) cultural goods into the EU customs territory, which requires color photographs of the cultural goods for applications for an import license or an import declaration.[5] Secondly, these photographs and the customer’s written confirmation that they have been informed must be kept for 30 years. The Specialised Body for the International Transfer of Cultural Property (the Specialised Body) as the administrative body to implement the CPTA (part of the Federal Office of Culture, FOC) may inspect these documents during on-site checks at art dealers or auction houses (Article 20 CPTO).

4. Customs Declaration

Cultural property must be declared as such at customs upon import into Switzerland, transit and export, with detailed information provided. The storage of cultural property in an open customs warehouse or a freeport is also considered import and is subject to declaration.

The date and dimensions of the cultural property must now be specified in the customs declaration (Article 25(1)(c-d) revCPTO). Determining the age of cultural property is difficult in practice and can often only be estimated. It can be assumed that the new requirement to state the date was introduced in line with EU Import Regulation 2019/880, which applies thresholds of 250 years for archaeological cultural property and 200 years for categories of cultural property classified as less endangered.

The extended declaration requirements now stipulate that it must be stated whether the cultural property is subject to an export license from Switzerland, which is only required for Swiss cultural property that is listed in the federal or cantonal register. In addition, it must be stated whether the cultural property is subject to a bilateral agreement and whether it is subject to an export license requirement under the law of the foreign contracting state (Article 25(2) revCPTO). The CPTA and the CPTO do not provide for an export license requirement for the export of non-Swiss cultural property. In the case of collective shipments of cultural property, it is now stipulated that the type of object, details of the place of manufacture or excavation, the date and the dimensions must be specified for each individual object (Article 25(3) revCPTO).

C. Changes for Collections, Museums and Research Institutions

1. Return Guarantees

If a museum or other cultural institution in Switzerland wishes to temporarily borrow cultural property from a lender in another UNESCO member state, the borrowing institution in Switzerland can apply to the Specialised Body to issue a return guarantee to the (foreign) lending institution for the duration of the exhibition in Switzerland (Article 10 CPTA). Such a guarantee protects the loans from legal claims by third parties and thus grants state «immunity» for the duration of the loan.

As before, the application for a return guarantee must be submitted at least three months before the intended import of the cultural property into Switzerland. A loan agreement signed by all parties must now be enclosed with the application (Article 7(4) revCPTO). Previously, an extract from the loan agreement was sufficient. If a return guarantee has already been issued, it is now possible to extend it by a maximum of four months in the event of an uninterrupted extension of the exhibition (Article 7(6) revCPTO).

2. Financial Assistance

The CPTA provides for the granting of financial assistance to private and public-law organizations. This assistance may be granted for the purpose of temporarily storing cultural property endangered abroad due to extraordinary events in museums or similar institutions in Switzerland. It may also be granted for projects aimed at preserving the cultural heritage of other signatory states to the 1970 UNESCO Convention and, in exceptional cases, to facilitate restitution.

A new provision gives priority to applications that correspond to the current threat to the cultural property in question (Article 15 revCPTO). Applications for the current year must be submitted to the Specialised Body by May 31.

3. Use for Research Purposes Instead of Restitution to the Country of Origin

Law enforcement authorities may order the seizure of cultural property. Cultural property confiscated in criminal proceedings becomes the property of the federal government, which then restitutes it to its country of origin. The new Article 27a CPTO gives the Specialised Body more leeway in cases where confiscated cultural property cannot be restituted to the country of origin because it does not want the object to be returned or because it cannot be attributed to a specific country of origin. In such cases, the Specialised Body may transfer confiscated cultural property to suitable institutions for research or educational purposes or destroy it in a controlled manner if this is justified due to its minor significance or advanced state of decay.

D. Practical Significance and Outlook

The partial revision of the CPTO clarifies and tightens the regime for the cross-border or domestic transfer of cultural property that has been in place since 2005, without changing its basic structure. The focus is on duties of diligence for dealers and auction houses, which entail additional obligations regarding information, clarification, documentation and storage. For persons involved in the art trade and auction business, this means that they must rethink existing processes, from consignment to export and critically review their contracts to ensure compliance with the revised CPTO. The aim of informing customers of existing import and export regulations and obtaining their written confirmation is to increase transparency and awareness of the existing import and export rules. It seems that the Swiss legislator no longer considers a clause in the general terms and conditions, the auction terms, or a verbal notice to be sufficient to fulfill the duty of information. Therefore, it is crucial to review and, if necessary, revise the information sheets, forms and clauses.

In customs matters, the requirements for the declaration of cultural property are being expanded. In addition to the existing declaration requirements of, inter alia, the type of object and its origin, the date and dimensions must now be declared. Cultural property must be explicitly declared as such and in the case of collective shipments, the information must now be provided for each individual object. This increases the transparency of cross-border transfers but in practice leads to a noticeable increase in workload for art dealers, auction houses, transporters and ultimately also operators of freeports.

Overall, the revision of the CPTO aims to improve traceability and documentation and further aligns the Swiss cultural property regulation with European standards. Against the backdrop of efforts to combat illegal trade, these changes, which facilitate the tracking of cultural property by customs and law enforcement authorities, are understandable.

For dealers, collectors and museums, it will ultimately be crucial that the new requirements are implemented in a risk-based and proportionate manner so that they are perceived as practical instruments for clean trade and lending of cultural property and not as a predominantly bureaucratic burden.

[1] Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property of November 14, 1970 (SR 0.444.1).
[2] Federal Act on the International Transfer of Cultural Property (Cultural Property Transfer Act, CPTA) of June 20, 2003 (SR 444.1).
[3] Ordinance on the International Transfer of Cultural Property (Cultural Property Transfer Ordinance, CPTO) of April 13, 2005 (SR 444.11).
[4] The Federal Council has enacted special measures for the protection of cultural property from conflict regions in the ordinances on Iraq, Syria and Ukraine.
[5] Article 8(1)(c) and Article 12(2)of EU Implementing Regulation 2021/1079 of June 24, 2021.