Abstract
Law No. 40 of 2026 – the so-called “Italia in scena” reform – introduces significant changes to the Italian Cultural Heritage Code (CBC), with direct consequences for private collectorsand art market operators. The reform streamlines the rules governing both domestic circulation and international export of cultural property, raises the economic threshold triggering the authorization requirement for export, and clarifies the standard applicable for the export of artworks made by foreign artists. This article provides a concise analytical overview of the key amendments and their practical implications.
1. Background and Policy Rationale
On 14 April 2026, Law No. 40/2026 entered into force, amending the Italian Cultural Heritage Code (Legislative Decree no. 42/2004 – CBC).
The Italian cultural heritage system is regarded as one of the most restrictive in Europe. The Italian Ministry of Culture possesses largely discretionary powers, including the ability to issue a declaration of cultural interest (dichiarazione di interesse culturale) in respect of privately owned property, thereby subjecting it to a comprehensive regime of public-law constraints.
The same constraints exist with regard to the export regime: any artwork more than 70 years old and created by a non-living author requires an export certificate (attestato di libera circolazione), whose issuance is subject to administrative discretion and may be refused on grounds as broad as the object’s relevance to the national cultural heritage.
By way of comparison between the Italian legal system and, for example, the British one, under Italian law the Ministry of Culture may deny the issuance of an export certificate and designate the object as cultural property, thereby subjecting it to the Italian cultural heritage regime and preventing its permanent export from Italy, without any obligation to purchase it.By contrast, under the British legal system, an export ban is temporary and is intended to afford a prospective domestic purchaser sufficient time to raise the funds necessary to acquire the work and ensure that it remains within the United Kingdom.
2. Domestic Circulation: from prior authorization to prior notification
Prior to the reform, any relocation (even temporary) of a cultural property required prior authorization from the Ministry of Culture, upon submission of a specific application to the territorial competent Superintendency for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape (Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio).
Although rare, the Ministry of Culture retained full discretion to refuse such authorization, which significantly limited owners’ enjoyment of their property.
A partial exception existed for relocations arising from a change in the owner’s domicile (or registered seat), in which case a mere prior notification to the competent Superintendency sufficed.
After the reform, the temporary or permanent relocation of movable cultural assets by their owner is no longer subject to prior authorization but only to a prior written notification to the competent Superintendent. Within thirty days of receiving the notification, the Superintendent may still prescribe safety measures for transport of the cultural property.
3. International Circulation
The Italian framework for international circulation of cultural property has historically distinguished between three categories: (i) cultural properties subject to an outright export ban (Art. 65,1-3, CBC); (ii) objects requiring a prior export authorization from the export offices at the ABAP Superintendencies (Art. 65, 3, CBC, covering works by deceased authors executed more than 70 years ago with a market value exceeding EUR 13,500); and (iii) objects for which export is permitted upon submission of a self-certification by the owner (Art. 65, 4, CBC, artworks executed more than 70 years ago but below the EUR 13,500 threshold).
Article 5 of Law 40/2026 addresses this concern by raising the economic threshold in Article 65 CBC to EUR 50,000.
Artworks falling below this revised threshold may be exported upon presentation of a self-certification, which must be validated by the export office before departure.
4. Works by Foreign Artists
One of the most significant aspects of the reform concerns the standard applicable to artworkby foreign artists when assessing entitlement to an export authorization.
Article 4(5) of Law 40/2026 now expressly requires the administration to establish, as a preliminary step, the specific connection of the work to the history of Italian culture before it may deny the issuance of a Certificate of Free Circulation and initiate the procedure for a declaration of cultural interest.
5. Expanded Scope of CAS/CAI Certificates
A further, procedurally significant amendment concerns the Certificato di Avvenuta Spedizione (CAS) and the Certificato di Avvenuta Importazione (CAI) under Article 72 CBC.
The CAS/CAI are requested for items that are imported from Europe (CAS) or from third countries (CAI) into Italy and wish not to be subjected to Italian cultural heritage law (e.g., to avoid the risk of having them declared as cultural property).
Prior to the reform, the availability of these certificates was restricted to works by deceased authors executed more than 70 years ago (although the restriction was partially relaxed by Circular No. 33/2023, which had already extended eligibility to artworks by deceased authors executed more than 50 years ago).
Article 4(6) of Law 40/2026 removed the statutory age-based restriction entirely, making CAS and CAI certificates available for all artworks.
