Will I be subject to criminal penalties if I take it out of the country without knowing it is a cultural relic?

I didn’t know that the cultural relics I took out of the country were prohibited from being exported by the state. Subjectively, there was no intentional declaration and no evasion of customs supervision. Even if the cultural relics I transport, carry, and mail are prohibited from being exported, I cannot be punished as a crime.

The crime of smuggling cultural relics refers to the act of violating customs regulations, evading customs supervision, and illegally carrying, transporting, and mailing cultural relics prohibited from export into and out of the country.

The criminal constitution of the crime of smuggling cultural relics;

1. Subjectively, it must be intentional.

2. The subject is a general subject, which can be a unit or an individual.

3. Objectively manifested as violations of customs regulations, illegal carrying, transportation, and mailing of cultural relics prohibited by the country from leaving the country (border), and evading customs supervision.

4. The object of infringement is the country’s foreign trade management, specifically the export ban system.

Legal Basis

Paragraph 2 of Article 151 of the "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that smuggling of cultural relics, gold and silver and other precious metals prohibited by the state from import and export or prohibited by the state Anyone who imports or exports precious animals and their products shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined; if the circumstances are particularly serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment and shall also have his property confiscated; if the circumstances are relatively minor, he shall be sentenced to A prison term of not more than five years and a fine.