By Prensa Latina
Paris : The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has issued guidelines enumerating measures to stop illegal traffic of works of art and historic objects on the Internet.
In a release Thursday the UN agency said, in close cooperation with INTERPOL and the International Council of Museums, "it has decided to react against this plague, aware of the difficulties national authorities are currently facing."
Expressing concern over the growing traffic in art works on the web, it referred to bogus paintings by Degas and Klimt on Internet auctions, as well as a huge amount of real archaeological objects, South American fossils, and some 7,000 coins.
"All those cultural items were results of illegal trade and have been confiscated. A survey carried out by INTERPOL in 56 countries shows the increasing use of illegal Internet auctions to sell cultural items," UNESCO said.
It said the guidelines are in line with the UNESCO Convention about measures to prohibit illegal import, export and property transfer of cultural objects.