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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR METAL DETECTING THE
VALETTA CONVENTION
The NCMD Executive Committee, concerned to protect the best interests of this organisation’s members and all other legitimate hobby detector users, has been in ongoing consultations with the relevant government departments responsible for the ratification of this Convention which came into effect in England and Wales in March of this year. A letter received from the Department of Culture Media & Sport, dated 30th May, contained the following statements :- 1.
….The Explanatory Report on the Convention….makes it clear, that, “A
state, however, may only require the mandatory reporting of precious metals or
on already listed sites.” 2.
…Article 3 (of the Convention) may seem at first glance to require
states to institute a system of licensing metal detectors but, as the
Explanatory Report points out, ‘prior authorisation of the use of metal
detectors or “any other detection equipment” applies only to
“archaeological investigation”.’ 3.
Therefore in the Government’s view the current measures in place in
England and Wales meet the requirements of the Valetta Convention as regards
portable antiquities. It
is known that the Valetta Convention deals with many other aspects of
archaeology, together with grave concerns relating to the international illegal
trade in antiquities, and it is also known that the British Government agreed in
principle to ratify the Convention as long ago as 1995 before the introduction
of the Treasure Act or the Voluntary Reporting Scheme.
Unless or until there is concrete evidence to the contrary, it is
recommended that the reassurances contained in the DCMS letter of 30th
May be accepted in good faith. Trevor
Austin General
Secretary NCMD. 5th June 2001 |
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