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There are many practical issues concerning the UK’s art trade with EU countries post BREXIT. Most art is not subject to high tariffs, so increased duties are less likely to be a concern compared to other sectors. However, there will be less freedom of movement of art and antiquities, less access to European markets, especially through art fairs and other venues. Import of antiquities into EU member states will also be harder due to new EU import regulations.

An excellent account of the licenced and legal trade in antiquities in Egypt during the 'golden age' of collecting from 1880-1930 is now available as a free download.

A major report by the RAND Corporation, one of the most respected research organisations in the USA, shows the illicit trade in antiquities is much smaller than academics have suggested. It concludes looting is opportunistic rather than organised and more widely dispersed than previously thought.

The latest World Customs Organisation annual report on transnational crime shows heritage crime (which includes illicit antiquities trafficking) is so minor compared with other risk categories globally that it barely registers on Customs’ radar. In fact cultural property crime accounted for only 0.22% of cases and 0.2% of customs seizures reported by the Customs Enforcement Network for 2019,