CZECH REPUBLIC Trends and Developments Contributed by: Daniela Kozáková and Pavel Široký, ŠIROKÝ ZRZAVECKÝ, attorneys-at-law
safe storage and examination by a professional con - tributory organisation, until a decision on their confis - cation and subsequent return to the country of origin. Several new amendments were also implemented by the 2025 amendment of the Act 362/2022 Coll. This amendment implemented the protection of cultural property included in parts B and C of the Annex to EU Regulation 2019/880 as before the amendment only the regulation on cultural goods included in part A of the Annex was implemented in the Act effective from 28 June 2025. The amendment implemented the above import licence in the form of an electronic licence using the ICG system. In addition, the 2025 amendment to the Act No 71/1994 Coll., on the Sale and Export of Objects of Cultural Value implements a new obligation of apply - ing for a certificate concerning cultural goods being imported from abroad. Within 60 days of importing the relevant cultural goods into the Czech Republic, the owner must apply to the Ministry of Culture for a certificate confirming that the item of cultural value has been relocated to the Czech Republic. The appli - cation must include proof that the item left its country of origin legally – either by presenting an export per - mit issued by the local authorities or by proving that the item did not require such a permit in its country of origin. If the Ministry of Culture finds out that the conditions for import are fulfilled (including EU Regu - lation No 2019/880 and Implementing EU Regulation 2021/1079), the Ministry of Culture will then issue an import certificate that shall be valid for ten years. Update of legislation on cultural heritage and on export of objects of cultural value The Act on the Sale and Export of Objects of Cul - tural Value enacted in 1994 establishes in its Annex 1 the relevant categories of cultural objects subject to export based on (i) age and (ii) value. Such value has not been amended since then. As a part of the 2025 customs amendments imple - mented, these limits were changed, to reflect better the changes in prices (this does not apply to objects declared national monuments, for which a different regime applies).
For example, an export permit needed for a painting older than 50 years and worth more than CZK30,000 (approx. GBP1,000) is now CZK150,000 (approx. GBP5,000) (ie, it was increased by five times the for - mer amount); for drawings more than 50 years old, it is now CZK30,000 compared to former CZK10,000 (ie, a threefold increase). The amendment further aims to decrease the admin - istrative burden on the art businesses dealing with imports of cultural property, by introducing the pos - sibility of applying for the permit electronically. The term “displacement” (within EU) is introduced in comparison to “export” (outside EU) whereas the for - mer regulation used the word export for both options. The amendment also introduces the possibility of extending a certificate of temporary export whereas formerly a new permit needed to be issued. Issues To Be Addressed in the Future As an increasingly developing (emerging) art market, the Czech art market continuously faces several chal - lenges. The occurrence of fakes This difficulty is experienced by every art market to a greater or lesser extent. The Czech market has coun - terfeits not only of the most important authors from the period of Czech modernism, but also of contem - porary authors and lesser-known authors of the 19th and 20th centuries. Despite the success in developing new tools to detect fakes in the past decade, this topic is still pertinent. The legal regulation of experts’ activities should con - tribute to reducing this issue and the results of these measures will become clear in the future. However, according to the Ministry of Justice, the experience so far is that many experts still work in the old way they have been used to for years and have not yet adapted to the new law. Therefore, certain (mainly administra - tive) obligations were reduced and eased; however, the principles applicable to the content of expert opin - ion should remain the same. Some experts also ended their expert activities due to the need to pay for insur - ance, which made this activity economically unattrac - tive for them. Therefore, the recent amendment can -
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