All cultural property, including objects in private collections are vested under the rules of the state, and are registered on an inventory. Destruction, repair, modification or exportation of cultural property in Guatemala is subsequently prohibited without express permission. Objects not registered on the state inventory are considered illicitly owned, in which case government authorities are empowered to decide ownership.

• Importing Goods from Guatemala

Timeline:

• "Decree for the Protection and Conservation of Monuments, Archaeological, Historical, and Folkore Objects" (1947)
  • defines cultural property in Guatemala as all monuments and objects of archaeological, historical and artistic of interest to the Republic.
    • Archaeological means all sculptures and remains or vestiges of pre-Hispanic cultures
    • Historical means moveable and immoveable objects not invluded under archaeological monuments, directly associated with the political or social history of Central America
    • Artistic means monuments and objects which are the product of the "creativity of man and constitute a contribution to the art of the nation, whether plastic, pictorial, literary, architectural, etc." (5)
• 1991: Emergency action to impose restrictions on the importation of pre-Columbian archaeological artifacts from the Peten.
• 1997: the U.S. and Guatemala signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to impose import restrictions on pre-Columbian archaeological artifacts from throughout Guatemala.
• 2002: the U.S. and Guatemala extended the U.S.-Guatemala MOU for five years.

An online database of objects subject to import restrictions from Guatemala, such as vases, vessels, and bone jewelry, is run by the U.S. State Department.