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Bulgaria

Contracting State since
1971.09.15
Lastly updated
2022.08.02

Contact for consular services

German Embassy
Bilateral relations and German missions
homepage: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/laenderinformationen

Review

Please be aware: certain cultural goods belonging to the cultural heritage of this state are included in object categories of the so called Red List for Southeast European Cultural Objects at risk of the particularly endangered cultural heritage by the International Council of Museums ICOM.

National legal bases

Culture Heritage Act, Section VI. Export and temporary export of movable cultural valuables Art. 128 - 131

Ordinance no. 2 of 25 February 2014 on the arrangements for the issuing of permits for export, temporary export and temporary removal of movable cultural property and of the certificate under art. 128, para. 3 of the cultural heritage act for removal and temporary removal.

EU regulations
The licence for the export of cultural goods from the European customs territory is subject to Council Regulation (EC) No. 116/2009 of 18 December 2008 on the export of cultural goods (OJ L 39, 10.2.2009, p. 1). Exports to the internal market, however, are subject to national regulations, which may differ from the Council regulation with respect to the value and age thresholds of the categories of the protected cultural property.

Further information on the legal situation can be requested from the EUR-Lex Datenbank. The EU also maintains a special database for the regulations regarding the protection of cultural property.

The multilingual UNESCO Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws provides access to the relevant national legal bases. Another source of information on national cultural asset protection laws is the Sharing Electronic Resources and Laws On Crime (SHERLOC) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Definition of cultural property

All cultural objects that fall in the definition of art. 7, art. I3 of Culture Heritage Act after being identified as cultural valuables, are protected.

The Ordinance no. N-3 of 3 December 2009 on the arrangements regulating the identification and keeping the register of movable cultural property sets the procedure.

Most valuable cultural goods are given the statute of "national wealth", Art. 54 of Culture Heritage Act4.

There are national regulations for archaeological objects. According to art. 2a and art. 146 of Culture Heritage Act they are state property.

Export ban

There is blanket export ban for cultural valuables with category "national wealth" and those registered in basic museum funds. See art. 129 of Culture Heritage Act.

There are limits according to Regulation 116/09 EC and also Ordinance no. N-3 of 3 December 2009 on the arrangements regulating the identification and keeping the register of movable cultural property. The limits according to Ordinance no. N-3 are defined in Application N 12 at the end of it.

Sanctions

There are provisions for administrative and penal sanctions according Culture Heritage Act and Art. 278a of Penal Code6. Except punishment by a fine, the object of the violation shall be taken away in favor of the state.

Authorities responsible for issuing export permits

Competent authority for issuing export licenses/permits for export is Ministry of Culture, DG Inspectorate for Protection of Cultural Heritage.

Ministry of Culture,
Directorate General “Inspectorate for Protection of Cultural Heritage”
Director-general Arch. Dimitrijka Dobreva-Angelova
Al Stamboliiski Blvd. 17
1040 Sofia
Bulgaria
Contact
Phone: 00 359 2/ 94 00 871
E-Mail: d.dobreva@mc.government.bg
homepage: http://mc.government.bg/index.php?l=2

Procedure

Duration
According to art. 5 from Ordinance no. 2 of 25 February 2014 on the arrangements for the issuing of permits for export, the export license should be issued in a month after application is sent
Costs
No fees are charged for the applicant.

Forms

The permits for export differ from UNESCO-WCO model but they contain the same information about the object.

The licenses could be verified upon request to Ministry of culture by their outgoing number

Further Information

Ministry of culture is the competent authority for information about cultural valuables and export of cultural goods. Directorate "Cultural heritage, Museums and Arts"9 maintains the Register of the movable cultural valuables having acquired a status of national wealth. The Register is not public.

Directorate General "Inspectorate for Protection of Cultural Heritage" maintains the Register of issued export licenses. It is not public too but accessible upon request for partner authorities such as Ministry of interior, Ministry of defense, The Prosecutors Office, competent authorities from other member states etc.

The information about cultural goods and export is given free of charge by the competent directorates at Ministry of culture upon request.

Further Information is available in German language.

Disclaimer:
The above information is based on the information available and deemed trustworthy at the time indicated, in particular the information provided by the State and the information as available in the UNESCO database . No guarantee can be given for the correctness and completeness of this information, nor can any liability be accepted for any damage that may occur. Legal regulations may change at any time without the Minister of State for Culture and the Media being informed. The decision to acquire, import, export or place cultural property on the market is your sole responsibility. It is therefore recommended that you contact the relevant diplomatic or consular representation and/or the export authorities of the respective foreign country.