The government has drawn up a package of measures -- including the appointment of a special "G-man" task force -- to fulfill obligations under an international treaty that bans illicit traffic in cultural treasures, government sources said Thursday.
The package comes as the government is preparing to submit the 1970 UNESCO treaty to the current 150-day ordinary Diet session. Ratification would mark the country's first significant step toward shedding its notorious image as a safe haven for looters of cultural assets.
The sources said that the Agency for Cultural Affairs will appoint a team of experts to appraise, at customs authorities' request, foreign cultural assets that might have been stolen and illegally brought into Japan.