New airline security measures to be introduced by the Department for Transport (DfT) next month will have an impact on UK museums lending works of art abroad. According to the DfT, the new rules on airline cargo are necessary because of the terrorism threat and are in response to EU-wide rules that will come into force in January 2007.
The UK regulations were due to start on 4 September, but because the DfT forgot to consult the department for culture, an extension to 6 November has been granted.
A note from Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the new regulations, which tighten up the screening of cargo, 'will remove exemptions from screening… used by museums and galleries. High-value artworks were not fully considered and the DCMS was not included in the consultation'. The DfT has since apologised, although it says it did consult major art shippers such as Momart and Constantine.
Under the new regulations, accredited museums and galleries will no longer be able to pack objects for shipment themselves, unless they become 'known consignors'. To do this, museums have to register each site at which packing takes place and have it assessed
by a DfT validator at a cost of £400 a year per site.
All packing and storing areas have to be secure. Staff with access must be trained and have background checks. Museums that find this too onerous must have objects packed by registered agents.
'Museums are security conscious, and conduct background security checks already,' said Emily Candler, the secretary of the National Museums Directors' Conference. 'But up until now, registrars have been focused on theft or damage to objects, while the new regulations are about making sure that nothing has been added to packing cases.'
David Preston, Momart's airport operations manager, said it is understandable that regulations have been tightened, but that museums were not really the target. 'The old system was not as strict, and since the DfT announced the new regime, the number of known consignors has dropped from 8,000 to 1,700. For museums that lend a lot and already have good security procedures, the new rules are not really a problem. The difficulty will be recovering the costs.'
There has been mixed reaction from museums. One regional museum told Momart that the validation fee meant it would have to start charging for loans to recoup the fee, or the costs of training staff.
But Stephen Dunn, the exhibitions registrar at the Tate and chairman of the UK Registrars' Group, said: 'It is better to do anything that stops works being subjected to X-rays, sniffer dogs, compression chambers and hand searches.'
His words were echoed by Jon Astby, the registrar at the National Maritime Museum. 'Initially, we thought we wouldn't bother, but we are lending eight pieces by air next year, so we decided to make the changes and it turned out to be quite easy,' he said.
Jane Morris
The UK regulations were due to start on 4 September, but because the DfT forgot to consult the department for culture, an extension to 6 November has been granted.
A note from Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the new regulations, which tighten up the screening of cargo, 'will remove exemptions from screening… used by museums and galleries. High-value artworks were not fully considered and the DCMS was not included in the consultation'. The DfT has since apologised, although it says it did consult major art shippers such as Momart and Constantine.
Under the new regulations, accredited museums and galleries will no longer be able to pack objects for shipment themselves, unless they become 'known consignors'. To do this, museums have to register each site at which packing takes place and have it assessed
by a DfT validator at a cost of £400 a year per site.
All packing and storing areas have to be secure. Staff with access must be trained and have background checks. Museums that find this too onerous must have objects packed by registered agents.
'Museums are security conscious, and conduct background security checks already,' said Emily Candler, the secretary of the National Museums Directors' Conference. 'But up until now, registrars have been focused on theft or damage to objects, while the new regulations are about making sure that nothing has been added to packing cases.'
David Preston, Momart's airport operations manager, said it is understandable that regulations have been tightened, but that museums were not really the target. 'The old system was not as strict, and since the DfT announced the new regime, the number of known consignors has dropped from 8,000 to 1,700. For museums that lend a lot and already have good security procedures, the new rules are not really a problem. The difficulty will be recovering the costs.'
There has been mixed reaction from museums. One regional museum told Momart that the validation fee meant it would have to start charging for loans to recoup the fee, or the costs of training staff.
But Stephen Dunn, the exhibitions registrar at the Tate and chairman of the UK Registrars' Group, said: 'It is better to do anything that stops works being subjected to X-rays, sniffer dogs, compression chambers and hand searches.'
His words were echoed by Jon Astby, the registrar at the National Maritime Museum. 'Initially, we thought we wouldn't bother, but we are lending eight pieces by air next year, so we decided to make the changes and it turned out to be quite easy,' he said.
Jane Morris
