Netherlands/ 5.3 Sector specific legislation  

5.3.3 Cultural heritage

Several laws exist and the most important ones are listed below:

• Cultural Heritage Preservation Act [Wet tot behoud cultuurbezit, 1984]; this Act aims to prevent the export of objects that are significant to Dutch cultural history. One illustration includes a dispute between a manager and the staff of the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum. The manager was planning to sell a Rothko painting to a private person. His staff disagreed sharply, pointing out the existence of the Act. In the end, the painting was not sold;
• Archaeology Act [Wet op de Archeologische Monumentenzorg, 2007]: important regarding changes to the Monuments and Historic Buildings Act of 1988 and other laws, in order to be able to implement the Valetta Treaty (1992);
• Public Records Act [Archiefwet, 1995]: stipulates that all government records must be transferred to the Dutch State Archives Services and be kept for 50 years. In the memorandum Information in order [Informatie op orde, 2006] the digitisation of governmental information was put to the floor, next to the need for clear selection processes in archives and the catch up of arrears;
• within the framework of the Valletta Treaty [Verdrag van Malta, 1992], archaeological monument care and heritage preservation is an integral part of overall environmental planning practices.

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