Cultural goods: French Customs strengthens controls and increases seizures
On 24 April 2026, French Customs published a news release concerning the increase in seizures of cultural property throughout France in 2025. In recent months, several operations have been carried out in Bayonne, Lille-Lesquin, Saint-Quentin, Béziers and Sète, involving archaeological objects, fossils, ancient coins, fragments of monuments and cultural property from third countries. The locations and types of cultural property vary, but the underlying infringement is the same: the absence of proper supporting documentation relating to possession.
This news release illustrates the increased vigilance of customs authorities regarding the circulation of cultural goods, in conjunction with the Regional Directorates of Cultural Affairs (DRAC), regional archaeology services and specialists, who are often the source of the reports that trigger customs intervention.
In Bayonne, customs officers seized 402 archaeological objects, including Bronze Age copper ingots, spearheads, protohistoric swords and a Merovingian buckle, from a person who was unable to justify their possession. At Lille-Lesquin, four Iranian cultural objects intended for export to the United Kingdom, declared at a value far below the value ultimately determined by an expert assessment carried out during the customs procedure, were estimated at between €106,000 and €137,000.
The customs news release also mentions the seizure, in the Aisne department, of 280 archaeological objects from a collector, including Palaeolithic bifaces, a Neolithic polished axe and Gallo-Roman coins. In Béziers, nearly 2,000 prehistoric archaeological objects, most of them originating from Algeria, were about to be offered for sale at public auction in an auction house, without either their acquisition or lawful importation being justified. Finally, in Sète, around sixty fossils, bones and minerals transported from Morocco without declaration were placed under detention in order to determine their origin, authenticity and value, undoubtedly with a view to eventual confiscation.
A news release that highlights the importance of provenance
These seizures, now made public, show that customs controls do not concern only organized trafficking. They may also target collectors, gallerists, antique dealers, auction houses, carriers, heirs or mere holders of cultural property.
In matters involving cultural property, the main difficulty often lies in proving possession and in the quality of that proof. An object may have been acquired in good faith, inherited within a family, or kept for many years without its holder immediately having all the documents required to establish its origin and lawful possession.
However, for cultural property as precisely defined in Annex 1 referred to in Article R. 111-1 of the French Heritage Code, failure to immediately produce supporting documentation may lead the authorities to question the regularity of the possession, importation, exportation or offer for sale of the property.
The documents usually requested and accepted include purchase invoices, auction sale bills, certificates of provenance, estate inventories, import documents, export authorizations, auction catalogues, old photographs, attestations, and correspondence with experts, sellers or public auction houses. The evidential value of these documents varies, and their admissibility by customs authorities is subject to assessment.
The legal framework applicable to cultural property
Cultural property is subject to a specific legal regime designed to protect cultural heritage and to fight the international trafficking of artworks, archaeological objects and antiquities.
The French Heritage Code governs the movement of certain cultural property outside French territory. Where cultural good falls within protected categories, its exit from the territory may require an export certificate or a temporary export authorization. When leaving the customs territory, these documents must be capable of being presented to customs officers. Accordingly, depending on the nature of the property, its age, value, country of origin, date of entry into the territory or mode of circulation, several legal regimes may apply cumulatively: customs law, heritage law, European regulations, criminal law, and even rules specific to archaeological objects.
However, the mere possession of cultural property within the national customs territory, or its circulation within France itself, requires the holder to be able to produce, in accordance with the French Customs Code, any supporting document evidencing lawful possession.
The risks in the event of unjustified possession
Indeed, when possession of cultural property is checked and the supporting documents produced are insufficient, the consequences can be very serious for the holder, whether or not that person is the owner.
Customs may place the property under detention, consignment or seizure while its nature, origin, value and the regularity of its circulation are verified. An expert assessment may be entrusted to the DRAC or to a specialized administrative service, such as a heritage curator, or even to private-sector third parties.
The matter may then lead to a request for restitution, confiscation, a customs settlement or prosecution. Article 414 of the French Customs Code provides in particular that such an offence is punishable by three years’ imprisonment, confiscation of the object of the fraud and confiscation of the means of transport. The fine may amount to twice the value of the confiscated property.
The situation is particularly sensitive where the property may originate from unauthorized excavations in France or abroad, from a country whose cultural heritage is protected, from an irregular importation or from an export carried out without the necessary authorizations. It is therefore not always enough to be the owner of the cultural good. In certain cases, it must also be possible to demonstrate that its possession, acquisition, importation or circulation is lawful.
The role of a lawyer in the event of a customs control
The lawyers of Fournol & Associés assist collectors, gallerists, antique dealers, auction houses, galleries and carriers throughout France when they are faced with a customs control concerning cultural property.
The involvement of a lawyer with precise knowledge of both customs law and cultural heritage law is useful from the very first exchanges with the authorities. It makes it possible to analyze the regularity of the control, identify the legal regime applicable to the property and avoid imprecise or incomplete responses that could weaken the holder’s future defence.
Our law firm, which practices in customs law and cultural heritage law, assists in particular with:
examining official reports, seizure notices and requests for supporting documents;
reconstructing the ownership and circulation history of the property;
gathering provenance, acquisition, import or export documents;
communicating with customs, the DRAC, experts or the Public Prosecutor’s Office;
challenging, where justified, a seizure, valuation or confiscation measure;
assisting any client in the context of an interview, customs procedure or criminal proceedings.
In this type of case, the defence often relies on a dual approach: legal and documentary. It is necessary both to determine which obligations were actually applicable to the cultural good concerned and to produce the evidence needed to demonstrate the holder’s good faith, the lawfulness of the acquisition or the absence of any offence.
A preventive issue for art market participants
The news release published by French Customs on 24 April 2026 also highlights the importance of prevention. Before organizing a sale, export, import or international transport operation, it is essential to verify the available documentation and anticipate any requests from the authorities.
This vigilance is particularly important for archaeological objects, antiquities, fossils, ancient coins, ethnographic objects, architectural fragments and works originating from sensitive geographical areas. However, these are not the only goods concerned, since all cultural property is subject to this regulatory framework and to potential customs intervention.
Acting quickly in the event of seizure
When cultural property is seized or placed under detention, it is necessary to act quickly. The holder must keep all documents handed over by the officers, avoid any approximate statement and gather without delay the documents needed to establish the provenance of the property and justify its lawful possession.
A lawyer can then intervene to structure the response, submit relevant observations, produce the appropriate supporting documents and, where necessary, request the return of the cultural good.
The recent intensification of controls shows that documentation relating to cultural property is becoming a central issue for collectors and art market professionals alike. The need for a precise estate and tax inventory of cultural property is becoming increasingly important in a context of intergenerational transmission, where documentary evidence may disappear, be lost or be forgotten.
Article written by Maître Alexis Fournol,
Attorney at the Paris Bar and Partner of the Firm.
As part of its practice dedicated to art law and art market law, the Firm assists its clients—including dealers and auctioneers—facing issues relating to the circulation of cultural property (national treasure classification, historic monument listing, issuance of export certificates or licences, etc.) or any action for recovery of cultural property brought by a foreign State, the French State, or private individuals.
As Attorneys specialising in art law and art market law, we also represent clients in contract law, liability law, public auction law, and cultural heritage law, both in Paris and throughout France and Belgium (Brussels).