Rule2024-00689
Extension and Amendment of Import Restrictions on Archaeological and Ecclesiastical Ethnological Materials of Bulgaria
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
January 16, 2024
Effective
January 14, 2024
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security DepartmentU.S. Customs and Border ProtectionTreasury Department
Abstract
This document amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to reflect the extension and modification of import restrictions on certain archaeological and ecclesiastical ethnological material of Bulgaria. The Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State, has made the requisite determinations for extending and modifying the import restrictions originally imposed by CBP Dec. 14-01, and amended by CBP Decision 19-01. The restrictions are being extended through January 14, 2029. The CBP regulations are being amended to reflect these changes. The Designated List of materials to which the restrictions apply is published below.
Full Text
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 16, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2482-2487]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00689]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
19 CFR Part 12
[CBP Dec. 24-02]
RIN 1515-AE88
Extension and Amendment of Import Restrictions on Archaeological
and Ecclesiastical Ethnological Materials of Bulgaria
AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland
Security; Department of the Treasury.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This document amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) regulations to reflect the extension and modification of import
[[Page 2483]]
restrictions on certain archaeological and ecclesiastical ethnological
material of Bulgaria. The Assistant Secretary for Educational and
Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State, has made the
requisite determinations for extending and modifying the import
restrictions originally imposed by CBP Dec. 14-01, and amended by CBP
Decision 19-01. The restrictions are being extended through January 14,
2029. The CBP regulations are being amended to reflect these changes.
The Designated List of materials to which the restrictions apply is
published below.
DATES: Effective January 14, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For legal aspects, W. Richmond
Beevers, Chief, Cargo Security, Carriers and Restricted Merchandise
Branch, Regulations and Rulings, Office of Trade, (202) 325-0084, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#94fbe0b9fbe0e6e6f7e1f8e0e1e6f5f8e4e6fbe4f1e6e0edd4f7f6e4baf0fce7baf3fbe2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1778633a7863656574627b636265767b676578677265636e5774756739737f6439707861">[email protected]</span></a>. For operational aspects, Julie L.
Stoeber, Chief, 1USG Branch, Trade Policy and Programs, Office of
Trade, (202) 945-7064, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e8d9bdbbafaa9a89868b80a88b8a98c68c809bc68f879e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d1e084829693a3b0bfb2b991b2b3a1ffb5b9a2ffb6bea7">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (Pub. L. 97-
446, 19 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) (CPIA), which implements the 1970 United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit
Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (823
U.N.T.S. 231 (1972)) (the Convention), allows for the conclusion of an
agreement between the United States and another party to the Convention
to impose import restrictions on eligible archaeological and
ethnological materials. Under the CPIA and applicable U.S. Customs and
Border Protection (CBP) regulations, found in section 12.104 of title
19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR 12.104), the restrictions
are effective for no more than five years beginning on the date on
which an agreement enters into force with respect to the United States
(19 U.S.C. 2602(b)). This period may be extended for additional
periods, each extension not to exceed five years, if it is determined
that the factors justifying the initial agreement still pertain and no
cause for suspension of the agreement exists (19 U.S.C. 2602(e); 19 CFR
12.104g(a)).
On January 14, 2014, the United States entered into a memorandum of
understanding (2014 MOU) with the Republic of Bulgaria (Bulgaria),
concerning the imposition of import restrictions on certain categories
of archaeological and ecclesiastical ethnological material of Bulgaria.
On January 16, 2014, CBP published a final rule, CBP Dec. 14-01, in the
Federal Register (79 FR 2781) to reflect the imposition of restrictions
on this material, including a list designating the types of
archaeological and ecclesiastical ethnological materials covered by the
restrictions. Consistent with the requirements of 19 U.S.C. 2602(b) and
19 CFR 12.104g, these restrictions were effective for a period of five
years, through January 14, 2019.
The import restrictions were subsequently extended in accordance
with 19 U.S.C. 2602(e) and 19 CFR 12.104g(a). On January 8, 2019, the
United States entered into a superseding memorandum of understanding
(2019 MOU) with Bulgaria to extend the import restrictions.
Accordingly, CBP published a final rule, CBP Dec. 19-01, in the Federal
Register (84 FR 112) amending 19 CFR 12.104g(b) to extend the import
restrictions and correct an inconsistency in the 2014 MOU listing the
ecclesiastical ethnological material as ranging in date from A.D. 681
rather than as listed in the Designated List as from the beginning of
the 4th century A.D.
On May 19, 2023, the United States Department of State published a
proposal to extend and amend the 2019 MOU, in the Federal Register (88
FR 32265). On November 7, 2023, after considering the views and
recommendations of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, the Acting
Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States
Department of State, made the determinations necessary to extend and
amend the 2019 MOU. Following an exchange of diplomatic notes, the
United States Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Bulgaria have agreed to amend the 2019 MOU, and
extend the restrictions for an additional five-year period, through
January 14, 2029.
Accordingly, CBP is amending 19 CFR 12.104g(a) to reflect the
extension of the import restrictions and amendment of the Designated
List of cultural property described in CBP Dec. 14-01 and revised by
CBP Dec. 19-01. The amendments include the expansion of dates for
archaeological and ecclesiastical ethnological material, corrections to
minor inconsistencies in the Designated List in CBP Dec. 19-01, and
explicit clarification that wood is covered by import restrictions on
archaeological organic materials. The restrictions on the importation
of archaeological and ecclesiastical ethnological material will be in
effect through January 14, 2029. Importation of such material of
Bulgaria, as described in the Designated List below, will be restricted
through that date unless the conditions set forth in 19 U.S.C. 2606 and
19 CFR 12.104c are met.
The Designated List includes archaeological and ecclesiastical
ethnological material. Archaeological material ranges in date from
approximately 1.6 million years ago through approximately A.D. 1750.
Ecclesiastical ethnological material ranges in date from the beginning
of the 4th century A.D. through approximately A.D. 1900. For the
reader's convenience, CBP is reproducing the Designated List contained
in CBP Dec. 14-01 and last revised by CBP Dec. 19-01 in its entirety,
with the changes discussed herein.
The list is divided into the following categories of objects:
I. Archaeological Material
A. Stone
B. Metal
C. Ceramic
D. Bone, Ivory, Horn, Wood, and other Organics
E. Glass and Faience
F. Paintings
G. Mosaics
II. Ecclesiastical Ethnological Material
A. Stone
B. Metal
C. Ceramic
D. Bone and Ivory Objects
E. Wood
F. Glass
G. Textile
H. Parchment
I. Painting
J. Mosaics
The Designated List and additional information may also be found at
the following website address: <a href="https://eca.state.gov/cultural-heritage-center/cultural-property-advisory-committee/current-import-restrictions">https://eca.state.gov/cultural-heritage-center/cultural-property-advisory-committee/current-import-restrictions</a>
by selecting the material for ``Bulgaria.''
Designated List of Archeological and Ecclesiastical Ethnological
Material of Bulgaria
The bilateral agreement between the United States and Bulgaria
includes, but is not limited to, the categories of objects described in
the designated list set forth below. These categories of objects are
subject to the import restrictions set forth above, in accordance with
the above explained applicable law and the regulation amended in this
document (19 CFR 12.104g(a)).
The import restrictions cover complete examples of objects and
fragments thereof.
[[Page 2484]]
The archaeological materials represent the following periods and
cultures: Paleolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age,
Thracian, Hellenistic, Roman, Middle Ages, First Bulgarian Empire,
Byzantine, Second Bulgarian Empire, and Ottoman. The ecclesiastical
ethnological materials represent the following periods and cultures:
Middle Ages, First Bulgarian Empire, Byzantine, Second Bulgarian
Empire, Ottoman, and Third Bulgarian State. Ancient place names
associated with the region of Bulgaria include Odrysian Kingdom,
Thrace, Thracia, Moesia Inferior, Moesia Superior, Coastal Dacia, Inner
Dacia, Rhodope, Haemimontus, Europa, Bulgaria, and Eyalet of Rumeli.
I. Archaeological Material
The categories of Bulgarian archaeological objects on which import
restrictions are imposed were made from approximately 1.6 million years
ago through approximately A.D. 1750.
A. Stone
1. Sculpture
a. Architectural Elements--In marble, limestone, gypsum, and other
kinds of stone. Types include acroterion, antefix, architrave, base,
capital, caryatid, coffer, column, crowning, fountain, frieze,
pediment, pilaster, mask, metope, mosaic and inlay, jamb, tile,
triglyph, tympanum, basin, and wellhead.
Approximate date: First millennium B.C. to A.D. 1750.
b. Monuments--In marble, limestone, granite, sandstone, and other
kinds of stone. Types include, but are not limited to, votive statues,
funerary, documentary, votive stelae, military columns, herms, stone
blocks, bases, and base revetments. These may be painted, carved with
borders, carry relief sculpture, and/or carry dedicatory, documentary,
official, or funerary inscriptions, written in various languages
including Thracian, Proto-Bulgarian, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Turkish, and
Bulgarian.
Approximate date: First millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
c. Sarcophagi and Ossuaries--In marble, limestone, and other kinds
of stone. Some have figural scenes painted on them, others have figural
scenes carved in relief, and some are plain or just have decorative
moldings.
Approximate date: Third millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
d. Large Statuary--Primarily in marble, also in limestone and
sandstone. Subject matter includes human and animal figures and groups
of figures in the round. Common types are large-scale, free-standing
statuary from approximately 1 m to 2.5 m in height and life-size busts
(head and shoulders of an individual).
Approximate date: Third millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
e. Small Statuary and Figurines--In marble and other stone. Subject
matter includes human and animal figures and groups of figures in the
round. These range from approximately 10 cm to 1 m in height.
Approximate date: Paleolithic through A.D. 1750.
f. Reliefs--In marble and other stone. Types include carved relief
vases and slabs carved with subject matter such as a horseman,
vegetative, floral, or decorative motifs, sometimes inscribed. Used for
architectural decoration, funerary, votive, or commemorative monuments.
Approximate date: Third millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
g. Furniture--In marble and other stone. Types include tables,
thrones, and beds.
Approximate date: Third millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
2. Vessels--In marble, steatite, rock crystal, and other stone.
These may belong to conventional shapes such as bowls, cups, jars,
jugs, and lamps, or may occur in the shape of a human or animal, or
part of a human or animal.
Approximate date: Neolithic through A.D. 1750.
3. Tools, Instruments, and Weapons--In flint, quartz, obsidian, and
other hard stones. Types of stone tools include large and small blades,
borers, scrapers, sickles, awls, harpoons, cores, loom weights, and
arrow heads. Ground stone types include grinders (e.g., mortars,
pestles, millstones, whetstones), choppers, axes, hammers, moulds, and
mace heads.
Approximate date: Paleolithic through A.D. 1750.
4. Seals and Beads--In marble, limestone, and various semiprecious
stones including rock crystal, amethyst, jasper, agate, steatite, and
carnelian. May be incised or cut as gems or cameos.
Approximate date: Paleolithic through A.D. 1750.
B. Metal
1. Sculpture
a. Large Statuary--Primarily in bronze, including fragments of
statues. Subject matter includes human and animal figures, and groups
of figures in the round. Common types are large-scale, free-standing
statuary from approximately 1 m to 2.5 m in height and life-size busts
(head and shoulders of an individual).
Approximate date: Fifth millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
b. Small Statuary and Figurines--Subject matter includes human and
animal figures, groups of figures in the round, masks, plaques, and
bronze hands of Sabazios. These range from approximately 10 cm to 1 m
in height.
Approximate date: First millennium B.C. through Roman.
c. Reliefs--In gold, bronze, or lead. Types include burial masks,
leaves, and appliqu[eacute] with images of gods, mythical creatures,
etc.
Approximate date: First millennium B.C. through Roman.
d. Inscribed or Decorated Sheet Metal--In bronze or lead. Engraved
inscriptions, ``military diplomas,'' and thin metal sheets with
engraved or impressed designs often used as attachments to furniture.
Approximate date: First millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
2. Vessels--In bronze, gold, and silver. Bronze may be gilded or
silver-plated. These may belong to conventional shapes such as bowls,
cups, jars, jugs, strainers, cauldrons, candelabras, and lamps, or may
occur in the shape of a human or animal or part of a human or animal.
Approximate date: Fifth millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
3. Personal Ornaments--In copper, bronze, gold, and silver. Bronze
may be gilded or silver-plated. Types include torques, rings, beads,
pendants, belts, belt buckles, belt ends/appliqu[eacute]s, earrings,
ear caps, diadems, spangles, straight and safety pins, necklaces,
mirrors, wreaths, cuffs, pectoral crosses, and beads.
Approximate date: Fifth millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
4. Tools--In copper, bronze, and iron. Types include knives, hooks,
weights, axes, scrapers (strigils), trowels, keys, dies for making
coins, and the tools of physicians and artisans such as carpenters,
masons, and metal smiths.
Approximate date: Fifth millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
5. Weapons and Armor--In copper, bronze, and iron. Types include
both launching weapons (harpoons, spears, and javelins) and weapons for
hand-to-hand combat (swords, daggers, battle axes, rapiers, maces
etc.). Armor includes body armor, such as helmets, cuirasses, shin
guards, and shields, and horse armor/chariot decorations often
decorated with elaborate engraved, embossed, or perforated designs.
Approximate date: Fifth millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
6. Seals--In lead, tin, copper, bronze, silver, and gold. Types
include rings, amulets, stamps, and seals with shank. They pertain to
individuals, kings, emperors, patriarchs, and other spiritual leaders.
[[Page 2485]]
Approximate date: Bronze Age through A.D.1750.
7. Coins--In copper, bronze, silver, and gold. Many of the listed
coins with inscriptions in Greek can be found in B. Head, Historia
Numorum: A Manual of Greek Numismatics (London, 1911) and C.M. Kraay,
Archaic and Classical Greek Coins (London, 1976). Many of the Roman
provincial mints in modern Bulgaria are covered in I. Varbanov, Greek
Imperial Coins I: Dacia, Moesia Superior, Moesia Inferior (Bourgas,
2005), id., Greek Imperial Coins II: Thrace (from Abdera to Pautalia)
(Bourgas, 2005), id., Greek Imperial Coins III: Thrace (from Perinthus
to Trajanopolis), Chersonesos Thraciae, Insula Thraciae, Macedonia
(Bourgas 2007). A non-exclusive list of pre-Roman and Roman mints
includes Mesembria (modern Nesembar), Dionysopolis (Balchik),
Marcianopolis (Devnya), Nicopolis ad Istrum (near Veliko Tarnovo),
Odessus (Varna), Anchialus (Pomorie), Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol),
Cabyle (Kabile), Deultum (Debelt), Nicopolis ad Nestum (Garmen),
Pautalia (Kyustendil), Philippopolis (Plovdiv), Serdica (Sofia), and
Augusta Traiana (Stara Zagora). Later coins may be found in A. Radushev
and G. Zhekov, Catalogue of Bulgarian Medieval Coins IX-XV c. (Sofia
1999) and J. Youroukova and V. Penchev, Bulgarian Medieval Coins and
Seals (Sofia 1990).
a. Pre-monetary media of exchange including ``arrow money,'' bells,
and bracelets.
Approximate date: 13th century B.C. through 6th century B.C.
b. Thracian and Hellenistic coins struck in gold, silver, and
bronze by city-states and kingdoms that operated in the territory of
the modern Bulgarian state. This designation includes official coinages
of Greek-using city-states and kingdoms, Scythian and Celtic coinage,
and local imitations of official issues. Also included are Greek coins
from nearby regions that are found in Bulgaria.
Approximate date: 6th century B.C. through 1st century B.C.
c. Roman provincial coins--Locally produced coins usually struck in
bronze or copper at mints in the territory of the modern state of
Bulgaria. May also be silver, silver plate, or gold.
Approximate date: 1st century B.C. through 4th century A.D.
d. Coinage of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires and Byzantine
Empire--Struck in gold, silver, and bronze by Bulgarian and Byzantine
emperors at mints within the modern state of Bulgaria.
Approximate date: 4th century A.D. through A.D. 1396.
e. Ottoman coins--Struck at mints within the modern state of
Bulgaria.
Approximate date: A.D. 1396 through A.D. 1750.
C. Ceramic
1. Sculpture
a. Architectural Elements--Baked clay (terracotta) elements used to
decorate buildings. Elements include tiles, acroteria, antefixes,
painted and relief plaques, metopes, cornices, roof tiles, pipes, and
revetments. May be painted as icons. Also included are wall and floor
plaster decorations.
Approximate date: First millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
b. Large Statuary--Subject matter includes human and animal figures
and groups of figures in the round. Common types are large-scale, free-
standing statuary from approximately 1 m to 2.5 m in height and life-
size busts (head and shoulders of an individual).
Approximate date: Neolithic through 6th century A.D.
c. Small Statuary--Subject matter is varied and includes human and
animal figures, human body parts, groups of figures in the round,
shrines, houses, and chariots. These range from approximately 10 cm to
1 m in height.
Approximate date: Neolithic through 6th century A.D.
2. Vessels
a. Neolithic and Chalcolithic Pottery--Handmade, decorated with
appliqu[eacute] and/or incision, sometimes decorated with a lustrous
burnish or added paint. These come in a variety of shapes from simple
bowls and vases with three or four legs, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic
vessels, to handled scoops and large storage jars.
b. Bronze Age through Thracian Pottery--Handmade and wheel-made
pottery in shapes for tableware, serving, storing, and processing, with
lustrous burnished, matte, appliqu[eacute], incised, and painted
decoration.
c. Black Figure and Red Figure Pottery--These are made in a
specific set of shapes (e.g., amphorae, kraters, hydriae, oinochoi,
kylikes) decorated with black painted figures on a clear clay ground
(Black Figure), decorative elements in reserve with background fired
black (Red Figure), and multi-colored figures painted on a white ground
(White Ground).
Approximate date: First millennium B.C.
d. Terra Sigillata--Is a high-quality tableware made of red to
reddish brown clay and covered with a glossy slip.
Approximate date: Roman.
e. Middle Ages Pottery--Includes undecorated plain wares,
utilitarian wares, tableware, serving and storage jars, and special
containers such as pilgrim flasks. These can be matte painted or
glazed, including incised as ``sgraffito,'' stamped, and with elaborate
polychrome decorations using floral, geometric, human, and animal
motifs.
3. Seals--On the handles and necks of bottles (amphorae).
Approximate date: First millennium B.C. through Middle Ages.
D. Bone, Ivory, Horn, Wood, and other Organics
1. Small Statuary and Figurines--Subject matter includes human and
animal figures and groups of figures in the round. These range from
approximately 10 cm to 1 m in height.
Approximate date: Paleolithic through Middle Ages.
2. Personal Ornaments--In bone, ivory, wood, and spondylus shell.
Types include amulets, combs, pins, spoons, small containers,
bracelets, buckles, and beads.
Approximate date: Paleolithic through Middle Ages.
3. Seals and Stamps--Small devices with at least one side engraved
with a design for stamping or sealing; they can be discoid, cuboid,
conoid, or in the shape of animals or fantastic creatures (e.g., a
scarab).
Approximate date: Neolithic through Middle Ages.
4. Tools and Weapons--In bone, horn, and wood. Needles, awls,
chisels, axes, hoes, picks, and harpoons.
Approximate date: Paleolithic through Middle Ages.
E. Glass and Faience
1. Vessels--Shapes include small jars, bowls, animal shaped,
goblet, spherical, candle holders, and perfume jars (unguentaria).
Approximate date: First millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
2. Beads--Globular and relief beads.
Approximate date: Bronze Age through Middle Ages.
F. Paintings
1. Domestic and Public Wall Painting--These are painted on mud
plaster, lime plaster (wet--buon fresco--and dry--secco fresco); types
include simple applied color, bands and borders, landscapes, scenes of
people and/or animals in natural or built settings.
Approximate date: First millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
2. Tomb Paintings--Paintings on plaster or stone, sometimes
geometric or floral but usually depicting gods, goddesses, or funerary
scenes.
Approximate date: First millennium B.C. through 6th century A.D.
G. Mosaics--Floor mosaics including landscapes, scenes of humans or
gods, and activities such as hunting and
[[Page 2486]]
fishing. There may also be vegetative, floral, or decorative motifs.
Approximate date: First millennium B.C. through A.D. 1750.
II. Ecclesiastical Ethnological Material
The categories of Bulgarian ecclesiastical ethnological objects on
which import restrictions are imposed were made from the beginning of
the 4th century A.D. through approximately A.D. 1900.
A. Stone
1. Architectural Elements--In marble and other stone, including
thrones, upright ``closure'' slabs, circular marking slabs (omphalion),
altar partitions, and altar tables which may be decorated with crosses,
human, or animal figures.
2. Monuments--In marble and other stone; types such as ritual
crosses, funerary inscriptions.
3. Vessels--Containers for holy water.
4. Reliefs--In steatite or other stones, carved as icons in which
religious figures predominate in the figural decoration.
B. Metal
1. Reliefs--Cast as icons in which religious figures predominate in
the figural decoration.
2. Boxes--Containers of gold and silver, used as reliquaries for
sacred human remains.
3. Vessels--Containers of lead, which carried aromatic oils and are
called ``pilgrim flasks.''
4. Ceremonial Paraphernalia--In bronze, silver, and gold including
censers (incense burners), book covers, processional crosses,
liturgical crosses, archbishop's crowns, buckles, and chests. These are
often decorated with molded or incised geometric motifs or scenes from
the Bible, and encrusted with semi-precious or precious stones. The
gems themselves may be engraved with religious figures or inscriptions.
Ecclesiastical treasure may include all of the above, as well as rings,
earrings, and necklaces (some decorated with ecclesiastical themes) and
other implements (e.g., spoons, baptism vessels, chalices).
C. Ceramic--Vessels which carried aromatic oils and are called
``pilgrim flasks.''
D. Bone and Ivory Objects--Ceremonial paraphernalia including
boxes, reliquaries (and their contents), plaques, pendants, candelabra,
stamp rings, crosses. Carved and engraved decoration includes religious
figures, scenes from the Bible, and floral and geometric designs.
E. Wood--Wooden objects include architectural elements such as
painted wood screens (iconostases), carved doors, crosses, painted
wooden beams from churches or monasteries, furniture such as thrones,
chests, and other objects, including musical instruments. Religious
figures predominate in the painted and carved figural decoration.
Ecclesiastical furniture and architectural elements may also be
decorated with geometric or floral designs.
F. Glass--Vessels of glass include lamps and candle sticks.
G. Textile--Robes, vestments and altar cloths are often of a fine
fabric and richly embroidered in silver and gold. Embroidered designs
include religious motifs and floral and geometric designs.
H. Parchment--Documents such as illuminated ritual manuscripts
occur in single leaves or bound as a book or ``codex'' and are written
or painted on animal skins (cattle, sheep/goat, camel) known as
parchment.
I. Painting
1. Wall Paintings--On various kinds of plaster and which generally
portray religious images and scenes of Biblical events. Surrounding
paintings may contain animal, floral, or geometric designs, including
borders and bands.
2. Panel Paintings (Icons)--Smaller versions of the scenes on wall
paintings, and may be partially covered with gold or silver, sometimes
encrusted with semi-precious or precious stones, and are usually
painted on a wooden panel, often for inclusion in a wooden screen
(iconostasis). May also be painted on ceramic.
J. Mosaics--Wall mosaics generally portray religious images and
scenes of Biblical events. Surrounding panels may contain animal,
floral, or geometric designs. They are made from stone and glass cut
into small bits (tesserae) and laid into a plaster matrix.
Inapplicability of Notice and Delayed Effective Date
This rule involves a foreign affairs function of the United States
and is, therefore, being made without notice or public procedure under
5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1). For the same reason, a delayed effective date is
not required under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Executive Orders 12866 (as amended by Executive Order 14994) and
13563 direct agencies to assess the costs and benefits of available
regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select
regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential
economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, distributive
impacts, and equity). Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the importance
of quantifying both costs and benefits, of reducing costs, of
harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility. CBP has determined
that this document is not a regulation or rule subject to the
provisions of Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 because it pertains to a
foreign affairs function of the United States, as described above, and
therefore is specifically exempted by section 3(d)(2) of Executive
Order 12866 and, by extension, Executive Order 13563.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), as amended
by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996,
requires an agency to prepare and make available to the public a
regulatory flexibility analysis that describes the effect of a proposed
rule on small entities (i.e., small businesses, small organizations,
and small governmental jurisdictions) when the agency is required to
publish a general notice of proposed rulemaking for a rule. Since a
general notice of proposed rulemaking is not necessary for this rule,
CBP is not required to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis for
this rule.
Signing Authority
This regulation is being issued in accordance with 19 CFR 0.1(a)(1)
pertaining to the Secretary of the Treasury's authority (or that of the
Secretary's delegate) to approve regulations related to customs revenue
functions.
Troy A. Miller, the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the
Commissioner, having reviewed and approved this document, has delegated
the authority to electronically sign this document to the Director (or
Acting Director, if applicable) of the Regulations and Disclosure Law
Division for CBP, for purposes of publication in the Federal Register.
List of Subjects in 19 CFR Part 12
Cultural property, Customs duties and inspection, Imports,
Prohibited merchandise, and Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Amendment to the CBP Regulations
For the reasons set forth above, part 12 of title 19 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (19 CFR part 12), is amended as set forth below:
PART 12--SPECIAL CLASSES OF MERCHANDISE
0
1. The general authority citation for part 12 and the specific
authority citation for Sec. 12.104g continue to read as follows:
[[Page 2487]]
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 66, 1202 (General Note 3(i),
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)), 1624.
* * * * *
Sections 12.104 through 12.104i also issued under 19 U.S.C.
2612;
* * * * *
0
2. In Sec. 12.104g, the table in paragraph (a) is amended by revising
the entry for Bulgaria to read as follows:
Sec. 12.104g Specific items or categories designated by agreements or
emergency actions.
(a) * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State party Cultural property Decision No.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * *
Bulgaria..................... Archaeological material from Bulgaria CBP Dec. 24-02.
ranging from approximately 1.6 million
years ago through approximately A.D. 1750,
and ecclesiastical ethnological material
of Bulgaria ranging in date from the
beginning of the 4th century A.D. through
approximately A.D. 1900.
* * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
Robert F. Altneu,
Director, Regulations & Disclosure Law Division, Regulations & Rulings,
Office of Trade U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Thomas C. West, Jr.,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy.
[FR Doc. 2024-00689 Filed 1-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 16, 2024.
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