Trade and Industry Ministry Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour has decided to ban the import of products of an artistic and folkloric nature, as well as archaeological models to preserve Egypt's popular artistic heritage and its intellectual property rights.
The decision, issued on Saturday, banned the import of products like paintings, sculptures, products made of wood, mosaic, metals, jewels, textiles, carpets, musical instruments, models and pictures of Egyptian artifacts and photos of archaeological sites.
Mounir explained that the intellectual property rights law grants the culture minister the right to follow up on financial and literary rights related to national folklore.
The minister added that a team will be formed from the ministries of trade, culture and antiquities to create an outline that guarantees the protection of the country's intellectual property rights.
