Emergency Import Restrictions Imposed on Archaeological and Ethnological Material of Afghanistan, 9439-9445 [2022-03663]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection
• DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 22, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9439-9445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03663]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

19 CFR Part 12

[CBP Dec. 22-04]
RIN 1515-AE72


Emergency Import Restrictions Imposed on Archaeological and 
Ethnological Material of Afghanistan

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 imposition of emergency import 
restrictions on certain archaeological and ethnological material from 
Afghanistan. The Acting Assistant Secretary for Educational and 
Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State, determined that 
conditions warrant the imposition of emergency restrictions on 
categories of archaeological material and ethnological material of the 
cultural heritage of Afghanistan. This document contains

[[Page 9440]]

the Designated List of Archaeological and Ethnological Material of 
Afghanistan that describes the types of objects or categories of 
archaeological and ethnological material to which the import 
restrictions apply. The emergency import restrictions imposed on 
certain archaeological and ethnological material of Afghanistan will be 
in effect until April 28, 2026, unless extended. These restrictions are 
being imposed pursuant to determinations of the United States 
Department of State made under the terms of the Convention on Cultural 
Property Implementation Act.

DATES: Effective on February 18, 2022.

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, [email protected]. For operational aspects, Julie L. 
Stoeber, Chief, 1USG Branch, Trade Policy and Programs, Office of 
Trade, (202) 945-7064, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, Public Law 
97-446, 19 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. (hereinafter, ``the Cultural Property 
Implementation Act'' or ``Act''), 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 (hereinafter, ``the 
Convention'' (823 U.N.T.S. 231 (1972)). Pursuant to the Cultural 
Property Implementation Act, the United States may enter into 
international agreements with another State Party to the Convention to 
impose import restrictions on eligible archaeological and ethnological 
material under procedures and requirements prescribed by the Act. Under 
certain limited circumstances, the Cultural Property Implementation Act 
authorizes the imposition of import restrictions on an emergency basis 
(19 U.S.C. 2603).
    Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 2602(a), on April 28, 2021, Afghanistan, a 
State Party to the Convention, requested that import restrictions be 
imposed on certain archaeological and ethnological material, the 
pillage of which jeopardizes the cultural heritage of Afghanistan. The 
Cultural Property Implementation Act authorizes the President (or 
designee) to apply import restrictions on an emergency basis if the 
President determines that an emergency condition applies with respect 
to any archaeological or ethnological material of any requesting State 
Party (19 U.S.C. 2603). The emergency restrictions are effective for no 
more than five years from the date of the State Party's request and may 
be extended for three years where it is determined that the emergency 
condition continues to apply with respect to the covered material (19 
U.S.C. 2603(c)(3)). These restrictions may also be continued pursuant 
to an agreement concluded within the meaning of the Act (19 U.S.C. 
2603(c)(4)).
    On November 16, 2021, the Acting Assistant Secretary for 
Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State, 
after consultation with and recommendation by the Cultural Property 
Advisory Committee, made the determinations necessary under the Act for 
the emergency imposition of import restrictions on certain 
archaeological material and ethnological material of the cultural 
heritage of Afghanistan. The Designated List below sets forth the 
categories of material to which the import restrictions apply. Thus, 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is amending Sec.  12.104g(b) 
of title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR 12.104g(b)) 
accordingly.
    Importation of covered material from Afghanistan will be restricted 
until April 28, 2026, unless the conditions set forth in 19 U.S.C. 2606 
and 19 CFR 12.104c are met.

Designated List of Archaeological and Ethnological Material of 
Afghanistan

    The Designated List includes archaeological and ethnological 
material sourced from Afghanistan. Archaeological material ranges in 
date from the Paleolithic (50,000 B.C.) through the beginning of the 
Durrani Dynasty (A.D. 1747). Ethnological material includes 
architectural objects and wooden objects associated with Afghanistan's 
diverse history, from the 9th century A.D. through A.D. 1920. The 
Designated List set forth is representative only. Any dates and 
dimensions are approximate. The list is inclusive of yet-to-be-
discovered styles and types.

Categories of Archaeological and Ethnological Material

I. Archaeological Material
    A. Stone
    B. Ceramics, Faience, and Fired Clay
    C. Metal
    D. Plaster, Stucco, and Unfired Clay
    E. Painting
    F. Ivory and Bone
    G. Glass
    H. Leather, Birch Bark, Vellum, Parchment, and Paper
    I. Textiles
    J. Wood, Shell, and other Organic Material
    K. Human Remains
II. Ethnological Material
    A. Stone, Brick, Plaster, and Stucco
    B. Tiles
    C. Stained Glass
    D. Wood
Approximate simplified chronology of well-known periods:
    (a) Paleolithic to Chalcolithic (c. 50,000-3000 B.C.)
    (b) Bronze Age (3000-1000 B.C.)
    (c) Achaemenid Period (c. 6th century-330 B.C.)
    (d) Mauryan Empire (c. 304-232 B.C.)
    (e) Hellenistic Empire and Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (330 B.C.-c. 
A.D. 10)
    (f) Kushan Empire (c. 2nd century B.C.-3rd century A.D.)
    (g) Persian Sassanid Empire and Hepthalite Conquest (A.D. 224-
651)
    (h) Gandharan Period (c. 300 B.C.-A.D. 1200)
    (i) Ghaznavid Empire (A.D. 962-1186)
    (j) Ghurid Empire (A.D. 1148-1202)
    (k) Timurid and Mughal Empire (A.D. 1370-A.D. early 18th 
century)
    (l) Durrani Dynasty (A.D. 1747 \1\-1826)
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    \1\ Note: Import restrictions concerning archaeological material 
apply only to those objects dating to A.D. 1747 and earlier.
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    (m) Dost Mohammed and Anglo-Afghan Wars (A.D. 1826-1880)
    (n) Modern Afghanistan (A.D. 1880-Present) \2\
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    \2\ Note: Import restrictions concerning ethnological material 
apply only to those objects that are 100 years old or older.
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I. Archaeological Material

    A. Stone
    1. Architectural Elements--Primarily in alabaster, limestone, 
marble, steatite schist and other types of stone. Category includes, 
but is not limited to, bricks and blocks from walls, ceilings, and 
floors; columns; door frames; false gables; friezes; lintels; mihrabs; 
minarets; niches; pillars; plinths; qiblas; and so on. These 
architectural elements may be plain, molded, carved, or inscribed in 
various languages and scripts. Decorative elements on architectural 
elements may be in high or low relief. Architectural elements may 
include relief and inlay sculptures that were part of a building (e.g., 
mausoleums, mosques, minarets, palaces, religious structures, public 
buildings, stupas, and others) such as friezes, panels, or stone 
figures. Architectural elements may have religious imagery or have been 
part of religious structures. For example, Gandharan and Kushan Period 
styles may include images of the Buddha, scenes from the life of the 
Buddha, Bodhisattvas, and other human figures, as well as animals, 
columns, and floral, geometric, and/or vegetal motifs. Other examples 
may include architectural

[[Page 9441]]

elements with images of Hindu deities and figures, or Zoroastrian 
images. Architectural elements carved in stone from Islamic periods may 
include inscriptions in multiple languages and scripts. Stone 
architectural elements were common across many periods in Afghanistan's 
history. Approximate date: 330 B.C.-A.D. 1747.
    2. Non-Architectural Relief Sculpture--Primarily in alabaster, 
limestone, marble, steatite schist, and other types of stone. Types 
include, but are not limited to, carved bases, ceiling decoration, 
funerary headstones and monuments, fountains, monoliths niches, 
plaques, roundels, slabs, sundials, and stelae bases. Decorative 
elements may be in high- or low-relief and may include animal and/or 
human forms as well as floral, geometric, and/or vegetal motifs. 
Includes edicts and rock pillars with inscriptions in low relief. 
Inscriptions may be in multiple languages and scripts. Approximate 
date: 330 B.C.-A.D. 1747.
    3. Large Statuary--Primarily in grey schist, gypsum, and marble. 
Statuary includes human figures, which are often seated or standing. 
Heads and other figurative elements may be used in high- or low-relief 
statues. Large statuary of human figures is primarily associated with 
the Hellenistic Empire and Greco-Bactrian Kingdom through the Gandharan 
Periods. Also includes statuary of Hindu deities, figures, and images, 
often dated from the 7th century A.D. onward. Approximate date: 330 
B.C.-A.D. 1200.
    4. Small Statuary--Primarily in alabaster, calcite, chlorite, 
dolomite, jasper, limestone, marble, and steatite; primarily free 
standing; may have been shaped by carving, incision, grinding, 
polishing, or other techniques. Animal and human forms tend to be 
stylized. Includes game pieces. Small statuary is found throughout many 
archaeological periods from the Bronze Age onward, but representative 
styles are from the Bactrian and Sassanian periods. Approximate date: 
2100 B.C.-A.D. 1200.
    a. Bactrian figurative statuary is often made of more than one type 
of stone, often chlorite or steatite, with limestone. Bactrian statues 
are in anthropomorphic forms, primarily female, and are elaborately 
carved and/or incised. Forms tend to be abstract and stylized, with 
armless bodies and legs, and a small protruding head. Heads tend to be 
small and carved in white limestone. Often in a seated or squatting 
position. Zoomorphic forms are also included and are often in a 
squatting or coiled position. Sizes vary, but are typically 14 cm tall. 
Approximate date: 3rd-2nd millennium B.C.
    b. Non-figurative Bactrian statuary includes types such as columns, 
pillars, or column idols, and discs or disc idols. Column and disc 
statues have a smooth finish. Columns may have an elongated and/or 
tapered form with a wider base than at top. Column sizes vary, but 
typically range from 28-40 cm high and 10-20 cm wide. Discs may have an 
incision or groove through the center. Disc sizes vary, but typically 
range from 20-30 cm wide. Approximate date: 3rd-2nd millennium B.C.
    c. Sassanian statuary includes animal and human figures shaped by 
carving, grinding, and/or polishing. Figures tend to be stylized. May 
have been used for a variety of purposes including, small statuary 
possibly used as gaming pieces. Approximate date: A.D. 200-700.
    5. Vessels and Containers--Primarily in alabaster, chlorite, 
porphyry, rock crystal, and steatite schist. Vessel types may be 
conventional shapes such as amphora, bowls, cups, cylindrical vessels, 
flacons, jars, jugs, lamps, platters, pyxides, flasks, and trays, and 
may also include cosmetic containers, reliquaries (and their contents), 
and incense burners. Some drinking vessels (rhytons) may be in the 
shape of an animal or mythical creature carved into the ventral end. 
Surfaces may have incised geometric or vegetal decoration, incised 
script in multiple languages, and/or be polished. Some stone vessels 
and containers have no surface decoration. Includes vessel lids.
    6. Tools, Instruments, and Weights--Includes groundstone and flaked 
stone tools.
    a. Groundstone tools, instruments, and weights are mainly made from 
diorite, granite, marble, limestone, or quartz, but other types of 
stone are included. Types of groundstone tools include balls, batons, 
maces, palates, pestles, scrapers, scepters, and others. Includes 
spindle whorls and weights. Ends of batons and scepters may be carved 
or shaped and are approximately 50 cm to 2 m in length. Stone weights 
can be shaped or ground into various forms including balls, cubes, 
handbags, pyramids, rings, or teardrop shapes; may be polished; and may 
be decorated with incisions or inscriptions in multiple languages. 
Stone weights typically vary from 20 to 30 cm. Stone tools used to 
polish, shape, or sharpen other tools are included.
    b. Flaked stone tools are primarily made of chert or other 
cryptocrystalline silicates, flint, limestone, obsidian, quartzite, 
schist, and others. Flaked stone tool types include axes, bifaces, 
blades, choppers, cores, hammers, microliths, projectiles, scrapers, 
sickles, unifaces, and others. Also includes tools like hammerstones 
and anvils used to create flaked stone tools.
    7. Beads and Jewelry--Primarily in agate, amber, carnelian, 
cryptocrystalline silicates, garnet, lapis lazuli, onyx, turquoise, 
quartz, or other semi-precious materials. Beads may be carved, cut, 
drilled, ground, and/or polished. Beads include animal, conical, 
cylindrical, disc, faceted, tear drop, spherical, and other shapes. May 
be inscriptions in multiple types of languages and scripts. Jewelry 
includes amulet, amulet cases, bracelets, necklaces, rings, and other 
types.
    8. Stamps and Seals--Primarily in agate, amethyst, chalcedony, 
hematite, jasper, rock crystal, steatite, or other types of stone. 
Stamps and seals may have engravings that include animals, human 
figures, geometric designs, inscriptions in various languages and 
scripts, and/or floral/vegetal motifs. Approximate date: 4th century 
B.C.-A.D. 1500.
    9. Furniture-- Primarily in agate, steatite, turquoise, or other 
semi-precious stones. Includes furniture and furniture hardware such as 
inlay, fragments of inlay, fasteners, handles, knobs, and roundels.
    B. Ceramics, Faience, and Fired Clay
    1. Statuary--Includes small and large-scale ceramic and terracotta 
statuary. May be in animal, human, hybrid animal/human, and 
mythological forms. Imagery may be religious. Objects may be associated 
with religious activity, games, or toys. May have traces of paint or 
pigment. Forms may be stylized or naturalized statuary depending on the 
time period. Stylized forms are associated with the Neolithic and 
Sassanian periods, while naturalized forms are associated with the 
Greco-Bactrian and Gandharan period onward. Approximate date: 9000 
B.C.--A.D. 1747.
    2. Architectural Elements--Includes terracotta antefixes, niches, 
panels, tiles, and other elements used as functional or decorative 
elements in buildings and mosaics. Terracotta panels may be painted or 
have traces of paint. Terracotta tiles may be painted or unpainted. 
Mosaic designs often include animals, humans, floral, geometric, and/or 
vegetal motifs. Tiles may be carved or have impressed or molded images 
of animals, humans, floral, geometric, and/or vegetal motifs for 
decorative relief. Imagery may be religious. Includes bricks, pipes, 
and other architectural elements from archaeological contexts. 
Approximate date: 330 B.C.-A.D. 1747.
    3. Vessels--Includes utilitarian types, fine tableware, incense 
burners, cosmetic containers, funerary urns,

[[Page 9442]]

lamps, and other ceramic objects of everyday use.
    a. Neolithic--Includes earthenware vessels. Vessel types include 
bowls, cups, goblets, jars, vases, and other forms. Often painted with 
animal design; floral, geometric, and/or vegetal motifs (e.g., pipal 
leaves). Approximate date: 9000-2400 B.C.
    b. Bronze Age through pre-Islamic Periods--Includes earthenware 
vessels that may have a pink, peach, orange, or grey core. Vessel types 
include conventional shapes such as basins, beakers, bottles, bowls, 
jars, pitchers, storage vessels, vases, as well other forms such as 
cosmetic jars, lamps, stands, and table amphorae. Vessel forms may have 
pedestalled bases and/or handles. Surface treatments may include slip, 
painting, and/or burnishing/polishing. Decorative techniques include 
incised and impressed decorations, including grooving, roulette, 
stamping, and other techniques. Stamps used for decoration range from 
simple geometric patterns to rosettes to elaborate scenes combining 
animal, floral, geometric, and/or vegetal designs. Some vessels may 
have elaborate shapes created using molds. High-relief surface 
decorative techniques may include affixing molded animal heads or 
rosettes to the exterior surface of a vessel. Examples include Greco-
Bactrian vessels that range from plain to having multiple types of 
surface treatment and decorative techniques. Begram vessels may have 
intricate human/animal hybrid shapes molded into the vessel exterior. 
Some Sassanian vessel forms may have uniformly glazed ceramics in 
green, blue-green, or yellow glazes, while utilitarian forms may be 
unglazed. Includes lids of ceramic vessels. Approximate date: 3000 
B.C.-A.D. 1000.
    c. Islamic Periods--Includes earthenware vessels (often red and 
buff) and porcelain. Vessel types may form conventional shapes such as 
bowls, cups, ewers, flasks, jars, jugs, platters, trays, and other 
types such as fire blowers (aeolipipes), incense burners, footed 
vessels, and zoomorphic shapes. May be hand-built, molded, or wheel 
thrown. Surface treatments may include slip, polishing, burnishing, and 
others. Vessels may have slip and paint. Other decorative techniques 
include incisions (sgraffito), often in floral, geometric, and/or 
vegetal designs; and inscriptions in multiple languages and scripts. 
Animal and human forms may be stylized. Vessels may have colorless 
lead, monochrome, or polychrome glazing. Vessels may be colorful. 
Common colors include green, yellow, blue, tomato red, purplish black, 
turquoise, and white. Imported types include celadons and blue-and-
white porcelain from China; fritware, earthenware, and copies of 
Chinese ceramics from Iran; and glazed ceramics from Uzbekistan. 
Includes lids of ceramic vessels. Approximate date: A.D. 1000-1747.
    4. Islamic Period Tiles--Includes glazed tiles and bricks used to 
decorate civic and religious architecture. Tiles are mostly square, but 
some are polygonal. Types may be molded and glazed in monochrome or 
polychrome. Turquoise and manganese are commonly used for glazing. Some 
tiles can be molded with decoration, with low- and high-relief 
techniques. Decorative molding may be in floral, geometric, or vegetal 
motifs; may have animal imagery. May have inscriptions in multiple 
languages and scripts. Includes glazed bricks. Approximate date: A.D. 
1000-1747
    C. Metal--Includes copper, gold, silver, iron, electrum, and alloys 
of copper, tin, lead, and zinc. Metal objects may have been created 
using different techniques such as casting, chasing, gilding or 
repouss[eacute]. Approximate date: 3000 B.C.-A.D. 1750.
    1. Containers and Vessels--Vessel types may form conventional 
shapes such as basins, bowls, cauldrons, cups, dishes, ewers, flacons, 
jars, jugs, lamps, platters, stands, table ornaments, and utensils, and 
also may be cosmetic containers, incense burners, medicine droppers, 
reliquaries (and their contents), spouted vessels, and tripod stands. 
Some drinking vessels (rhytons) may be in the shape of an animal or 
mythical creature carved into the ventral end. Some styles may have 
lids and/or handles. Metal containers may be cast and turned, chased, 
engraved, gilt, and/or punched. Decorative styles include, but are not 
limited to, animals, arabesque motifs, inscriptions in different 
languages, floral motifs, geometric motifs, vegetal motifs. Some types 
of containers and vessels, like reliquaries, may be inlaid with garnet, 
lapis lazuli, pearl, turquoise, and/or other types of semi-precious 
stone as well as other types of precious metals, including gold and 
silver. Includes lids and handles of vessels.
    2. Jewelry and Personal Adornment--Types include, but are not 
limited to, amulets, amulet holders, bracelets, bracteates, belts, 
brooches, buckles, buttons, charms, crowns, hair ornaments, hairpins, 
mirrors, mirror handles, necklaces, ornaments, pectoral ornaments, 
pendants, rings, rosettes, scale weights, staffs, and others. May be 
highly decorative and include inlays of other types of ivory, bone, 
animal teeth, metals, precious stones, or semi-precious stones. 
Includes metal ornaments once attached to other types of textiles or 
leather objects.
    3. Tools and Instruments--Types include, but are not limited to, 
axes, bells, blades, hooks, keys, knives, pins, projectiles, rakes, 
sickles, spoons, staffs, trowels, weights, and tools of craftpersons 
such as carpenters, masons, and metal smiths. Approximate date: 3000 
B.C.-A.D. 1747.
    4. Weapons and Armor--Includes body armor, such as helmets, shin 
guards, shields, horse armor and horse bits. Launching weapons (spears 
and javelins); hand-to-hand combat weapons (swords, daggers); and 
sheaths. Some weapons may be highly decorative and include inlays of 
other types of metals, precious stones, or semi-precious stones in the 
sheaths and hilts. Approximate date: 330 B.C.-A.D. 1747.
    5. Coins-- Ancient coins include gold, silver, copper, and bronze 
coins; may be hand stamped with units ranging from tetradrachms to 
dinars; includes gold bun ingots and silver ingots, which may be plain 
and/or inscribed. Some of the most well-known types are described 
below:
    a. The earliest coins in Afghanistan are Greek silver coins, 
including tetradrachms and drachmae. Approximate date: 530-333 B.C.
    b. During the reign of Darius I, gold staters and silver sigloi 
were produced in Bactria and Gandhara. Approximate date: 586-550 B.C.
    c. Achaemenid coins include round punch-marked coins with one or 
two punched holes and bent bar coins (shatamana). Approximate date: 5th 
century B.C.
    d. Gandhara coins include janapadas, bent bar coins based on the 
silver sigloi weight. Approximate date: 4th century B.C.
    e. Mauryan coins include silver karshapanas with five punches, six 
arm designs, and/or sun symbols. Weights ranged from 5.5 to 7.2 gm. 
Approximate date: 322-185 B.C.
    f. Gold staters and silver tetradrachms were produced locally after 
Alexander the Great conquered the region. Approximate date: 327-323 
B.C.
    g. Greco-Bactrian coins include gold staters, silver tetradrachms, 
silver and bronze drachms, and a small number of punch-marked coins. 
The bust of the king with his name written in Greek and Prakit were on 
the obverse, and Greek deities and images of Buddha were on the 
reverse. Approximate date: 250-125 B.C.
    h. Common Roman Imperial coins found in archaeological contexts in 
Afghanistan were struck in silver and

[[Page 9443]]

bronze. Approximate date: 1st century B.C.-4th century A.D.
    i. Kushan Dynasty coins include silver tetradrachms, copper coin 
(Augustus type), bronze diadrachms and gold dinars. Imagery includes 
portrait busts of each king with his emblem (tamgha) on both sides. 
Classical Greek and Zoroastrian deities and images of the Buddha are 
depicted on the reverse. Approximate date: A.D. 19-230.
    j. Sassanian coins include silver drachms, silver half drachms, 
obols (dang), copper drahms and gold dinars, and gold coins of Shapur 
II (A.D. 309-379). Starting with Peroz I, mint indication was included 
on the coins. Sassanian coins may include imagery of Zoroastrian Fire 
Temples. Approximate date: A.D. 224-651.
    k. Hephthalite coins include silver drachms, silver dinars, and 
small copper and bronze coins. The designs were the same as Sassanian, 
but they did not put the rulers' names on the coins. Hephthalite coins 
may include imagery of Zoroastrian Fire Temples. Approximate date: 5th-
8th centuries A.D.
    l. Turk Shahis coins include silver and copper drachma with 
portraits of the rulers wearing a distinctive triple crescent crown. 
The emblems of these Buddhist Turks were also included on the coin. 
Inscriptions were in Bactrian. Approximate date: A.D. 665-850.
    m. Shahiya or Shahis of Kabul coins include silver, bronze, and 
copper drachma with inscriptions of military and chief commanders. 
Hindu imagery is included on the coin design. The two main types of 
images are the bull and horseman and the elephant and lion. Approximate 
date: A.D. 565-879.
    n. Chinese coins belonging primarily to the Tang Dynasty are found 
in archaeological contexts in Afghanistan. Approximate date: A.D. 618-
907.
    o. Ghaznavid coins include gold dinars with bilingual inscriptions, 
Islamic titles in Arabic and Sharda and images of Shiva, Nandi, and 
Samta Deva. Approximate date: A.D. 977-1186.
    p. Ghurid coins include silver and gold tangas with inscriptions 
and abstract goddess iconography. Approximate date: A.D. 879-1215.
    q. Timurid coins include silver and copper tangas and copper 
dinars, both coin types are decorated with Arabic inscriptions. 
Approximate date: A.D. 1370 -1507.
    r. Mughal coins include shahrukhi, gold mithqal, gold mohur, silver 
rupee, copper dams, and copper falus. The iconography varies, depending 
on the ruler, but popular designs include images of the Hindu deities 
Sita and Ram, portrait busts of the rulers, and the twelve zodiac 
signs. Approximate date: A.D. 1526-1857.
    6. Ceremonial Objects--Includes highly decorative axes, staffs, 
swords, and other types of implements. While the forms may be similar 
to utilitarian objects, ceremonial objects are too decorative to have 
been used as everyday tools. Approximate date: 3000 B.C.-A.D. 1747.
    7. Statuary, Ornaments, and other Relief Sculpture--Primarily in 
copper, gold, silver, bronze, or alloys of copper, tin lead, and zinc. 
Includes free-standing or supported statuary; relief plaques or 
tablets; votive ornaments; and other ornaments. Decoration may include 
humans, animals, mythological figures (e.g., griffins or horned lions), 
and/or scenes of activity. Plaques or tablets may have been cast, 
chased, and/or embossed. Plaques and tablets may have inlay of other 
types of material. Statuary includes objects fashioned as humans, 
animals, or mythological figures; miniature chariots; wheeled carts; 
and other types of objects. Decorative elements may include floral, 
geometric, or vegetal motifs; inscriptions in multiple languages or 
scripts. Statuary includes naturalized and stylized forms.
    8. Stamps and Seals--Primarily in cast bronze, and alloys of 
copper, tin, lead, and zinc; includes stamps and seals in gold or 
silver. Types include amulets, rings, small devices with engraving on 
one side, and others. Stamps and seals may have engravings that include 
animals, human figures, geometric designs, inscriptions in various 
languages and scripts, and/or floral/vegetal motifs. May have inlay of 
other types of material. Approximate date: 4th century B.C.-A.D. 1500.
    D. Plaster, Stucco, and Unfired Clay--Includes animal figures, 
columns, human figures, reliefs, medallions, ornaments, panels, 
plaques, roundels, window screens, and other architectural and non-
architectural decoration or sculpture. There may be traces of paint, 
gilding, and/or inscriptions in multiple languages and scripts. Stucco 
panels may have elaborate scenes of animals and human activity (such as 
hunting or elite activity) and/or floral, geometric, and vegetal 
patterns. Stucco panels may have been made with molds. Stucco figures 
and objects may have strong resemblance to Hellenistic styles. Painted 
clay objects are often represented as single individuals, such as a 
Buddha, Bodhisattva, or a male or female patron of a religious complex. 
Unfired clay roundels with stamped impressions used as sealing material 
are included.
    E. Painting--Includes wall painting and fragments, often having a 
white base coat on ground clay mixed with small stones and vegetal 
matter; color is often applied in thin pigments in primary colors; 
figures are often outlined in black. Subjects vary, but images of 
Buddha figures and mandalas are common.
    F. Ivory and Bone
    1. Non-Architectural Relief Panels and Plaques--Highly and 
elaborately decorated and engraved panels and plaques with low- and 
high-relief carvings. May include imagery of humans, animals, and human 
activity; floral, geometric, and/or vegetal designs. Begram ivory 
panels are a typical example. Approximate date: 1st century A.D.
    2. Statuary--Includes carved animal and human figures. Floral, 
geometric, and/or vegetal decorative elements may be part of the carved 
design. May be in low- or high-relief. Begram Ivory figurines are an 
example.
    3. Containers, Handles, and other Non-Architectural Objects--
Includes buckles, buttons, combs, game die, handles on daggers, 
mirrors, pins, and other personal objects.
    4. Furniture--Includes arms, brackets, handles, finials, 
footstools, and legs in chairs, chests, trunks, and other types of 
furniture.
    G. Glass
    1. Architectural Elements--Mosaics and stained glass with various 
designs and colors. May be part of large designs with floral, 
geometric, and/or vegetal motifs; often with religious imagery. 
Includes glass inlay used in architectural elements. Approximate date: 
1st century A.D.-A.D. 1747.
    2. Beads/Jewelry--Includes beads that may be cylindrical, 
spherical, conical, disc, and others. Decorations may include bevels, 
incisions, and/or raised decoration. Includes glass inlay used in other 
types of beads and/or jewelry. Approximate date: 1st century A.D.-A.D. 
1747.
    3. Vessels--Vessel types may form conventional shapes such as 
beakers, bowls, cups, dishes, flasks, goblets, jars, mugs, perfume 
bottles, and vases, and other shapes such as cosmetic containers, 
lamps, medicine droppers, and others. Flasks and drinking vessels may 
be shaped as animals or fish. Some vessel types may have been blown 
into molds. May have decorative elements of high-relief including 
honeycomb patterns and waves. May be monochrome or polychrome. Some 
polychrome glass vessels are elaborately colored and decorated with 
animals, humans, human activity; floral, geometric, and vegetal 
designs. Some

[[Page 9444]]

polychrome glass vessels may have been elaborately painted with scenes 
of humans, animals, and/or scenes of human activity or have traces of 
paint. Vessels created and molded using mosaic techniques are included. 
Approximate date: 1st century A.D.-A.D. 1747.
    4. Ornaments--Includes glass medallions. May have molded 
decorations including, but not limited to, animals, humans, floral, 
geometric, and vegetal motifs. Typically associated with the Ghaznavid 
and Ghurid periods. Approximate date: A.D. 1000-1200.
    H. Leather, Birch Bark, Velum, Parchment, and Paper
    1. Books and Manuscripts--Includes scrolls, sheets, or bound 
volumes. Includes secular and religious texts. Text may be written on 
birch bark, velum, parchment, or paper, and may be gathered into 
leather bindings or folios. Calligraphy is written in ink. Books and 
manuscripts are written in multiple languages and scripts, but Arabic 
and Persian are most common. Books and manuscripts may be further 
embellished or decorated with colorful floral, geometric, or vegetal 
motifs; images of animals; images of humans and human activity. 
Decoration, embellishment, illumination, and/or painting may have been 
added after the text was written. Occasionally, there are portraits or 
illustrations of single figures. May be in miniature form. Timurid 
period manuscript types are typically highly colorful with polychrome 
decoration, embellishment, illumination, and/or painting. Approximate 
date: 1st century A.D.-A.D. 1750.
    2. Items of Personal Adornment--Primarily in leather, including 
bracelets, belts, necklaces, sandals, shoes, and other types of 
jewelry. May be embroidered or embellished with other types of 
materials. Leather goods may have also been used in conjunction with 
other types of textiles.
    I. Textiles--Includes silk, linen, cotton, hemp, wool, damasee, 
samit, other woven materials used in basketry and other household 
goods; clothing, shoes, jewelry, and items of personal adornment; 
burial shrouds; tent coverings and domestic textiles; carpets; and 
others. Decorative techniques may include embroidery with various 
motifs, including, but not limited to, animals, floral, geometric, and 
vegetal motifs or textiles may be undecorated. May have patterns woven 
into the body of the textile. Gold or silver threads may be woven into 
other fabrics, for example in samit textiles. May have traces of paint. 
Approximate date: 1st century A.D.-A.D. 1747.
    J. Wood, Shell, and other Organic Material--Includes architectural 
pieces made from wood; statuary and figurines; furniture; jewelry and 
other items of personal adornment; musical instruments; vessels and 
containers; and engraved stamps and seals from archaeological contexts.
    K. Human Remains--Human remains and fragments of human remains, 
including skeletal remains, soft tissue, and ash from the human body 
that may be preserved in burial, reliquaries, and other contexts.

II. Ethnological Material

    A. Stone, brick, plaster, and stucco--Primarily in brick, plaster, 
stone (e.g., alabaster, limestone, marble, steatite schist), and 
stucco. Includes structural elements such as bricks and blocks from 
walls, ceilings, and floors; columns; door frames; false gables; 
friezes; jalis; lintels; mihrabs; minarets; niches; pillars; plinths; 
qiblas; and others. Also includes decorative elements such as carved 
bases, ceiling decoration, funerary headstones and monuments, 
fountains, monoliths, niches, plaques, roundels, slabs, and stelae 
bases. May be plain, molded, carved, or inscribed in various languages 
and scripts. Decorative elements may be in high- or low-relief. 
Architectural elements may include relief and inlay sculptures that 
were part of a building (e.g., mausoleums, mosques, minarets, palaces, 
religious structures, public buildings, royal buildings, shrines, 
stupas, and others), such as friezes, panels, or stone figures. 
Architectural elements may have religious imagery or may have been part 
of religious structures.
    B. Tiles--Includes glazed tiles and glazed bricks used to decorate 
civic and religious architecture. Tiles are mostly square, but some are 
polygonal. Types may be molded and glazed in monochrome or polychrome. 
Turquoise and manganese are commonly used for glazing. Some tiles can 
be molded with decoration, with low- and high-relief techniques. 
Decorative molding may be in floral, geometric, or vegetal motifs; may 
have animal imagery. May have inscriptions in multiple languages and 
scripts.
    C. Stained Glass--Stained glass is glass that is colored and 
arranged in various patterns, often with floral, geometric, and/or 
vegetal designs. Wooden dividers may separate the panels of glass. 
Often in the windows of religious buildings, including mosques.
    D. Wood
    1. Architectural elements--This type encompasses both structural 
and decorative elements including walls, doors, door frames, posts, 
lintels, jambs, finials, figural capitals, panels, veranda shutters, 
window fittings, window frames, balconies, minbars, mihrabs, or pieces 
of any of these objects. Architectural elements may be repurposed into 
newer and different items, such as a wood panel into a table or a door 
jamb into a bench. Well known examples are from the Nuristan region or 
date to the Timurid and Mughal period.
    2. Nuristani Figures--Includes life-sized and hand-held stylized 
wooden figures of ancestors and deities. A small number are horse and 
rider types. Many have sustained damage including small holes and 
cracks, others may be partially defaced, and others may be cut in half 
for ease of transport. Approximate date: A.D. 1400 -1920.
    3. Musical Instruments--Type includes stringed and percussion 
instruments associated with the Nuristani culture. Typically made in a 
variety of materials including animal hair, animal hides, cloth, nylon, 
and wood. Stringed instruments may have bows often crafted with 
horsehair or silk; may have ivory inlay; may have tuning pegs. 
Approximate date: A.D. 1400--1920.

References

Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul, 2008, 
edited by Frank Hiebert and Pierre Cambon, National Geographic, 
Washington DC.
Afghanistan: Une Histoire Millenaire, 2002, Musee Guimet, Paris.
After Alexander: Central Asia Before Islam, 2007, Edited by Joe 
Cribb and Georgina Herrmann, The British Academy by Oxford 
University Press, Oxford.
Ancient Art from Afghanistan: Treasures of the Kabul Museum, 1966, 
Benjamin Rowland Jr., Asia Society, New York.
Buddhist Art of Gandhara: In the Ashmolean Museum, 2018, David 
Jongeward, Ashmolean Museum and University of Oxford, Oxford.
National Museum of Herat--Areia Antiqua Through Time, 2007, Ute 
Frank, Deutsches Archaologisches Institut Berlin, Eurasien-
Abteilung.
The Monuments of Afghanistan: History, Archaeology, and 
Architecture, 2008, Warwick Ball, I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, New York.
Typology and Chronology of Ceramics of Bactria, Afghanistan 600 BCE-
500 CE, 2015, Charlotte Elizabeth Maxwell-Jones, University of 
Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Inapplicability of Notice and Delayed Effective Date

    This amendment involves a foreign affairs function of the United 
States and is, therefore, being made without notice or public procedure 
(5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1)). For the same reason, a delayed effective

[[Page 9445]]

date is not required under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Because no notice of proposed rulemaking is required, the 
provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) do 
not apply.

Executive Order 12866

    CBP has determined that this document is not a regulation or rule 
subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12866 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.

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 
his/her delegate) to approve regulations related to customs revenue 
functions.
    Chris Magnus, the Commissioner of CBP, having reviewed and approved 
this document, is delegating the authority to electronically sign this 
document to Robert F. Altneu, who is the Director 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, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Amendment to 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 for Sec.  12.104g continue to read as follows:

    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 (b) is amended by adding 
Afghanistan to the list in alphabetical order to read as follows:


Sec.  12.104g  Specific items or categories designated by agreements or 
emergency actions.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               State party                        Cultural property                     Decision No.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afghanistan.............................  Archaeological and ethnological   CBP Dec. 22-04.
                                           material from Afghanistan.
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Robert F. Altneu,
Director, Regulations & Disclosure Law Division, Regulations & Rulings, 
Office of Trade U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Timothy E. Skud,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 2022-03663 Filed 2-18-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P