Laissez-passer rule
To ease the administrative burden chiefly on art dealers and to facilitate cross-border art transactions, the legislator introduced a “laissez-passer” rule modelled on French law (Section 24 (8) of the Act on the Protection of Cultural Property – Kulturgutschutzgesetz, KGSG)). This allows cultural property, whatever its age and value and regardless of the purpose for which it was imported, to be re-exported within the EU’s internal market without a licence, provided it can be shown to have been in Germany for no longer than two years at the time it is exported. The only proviso is that the object in question must have been imported into Germany legally and – if it has spent time in Germany before – must always have been exported legally. This means that dealers and gallery owners can – as hitherto – complete short-term purchases and sales within the EU’s internal market without further licensing costs and red tape. In users best interest the time of import and export should be tracked by freight, insurance or other documents.