Artisan ID card: the registry, and what a fair may charge you to sell

This is the Artisan Development Program law. Its declared purpose is to give artisans technical help to run their workshops and for promotion, marketing, distribution and sale of their products, plus financial help to better run the workshops and to organize centers where Puerto Rican crafts can be produced, exhibited, distributed and sold. A note on names: OGP’s compilation is not consistent about where the Program lives. Article 2 says it is established "in the Compañía de Fomento Industrial", while Article 4’s opening clause and Article 5 say "attached to the Administración de Fomento Económico". We reproduce both mentions as the text has them and do not resolve which governs today.

The law defines "Artisan" as any natural person residing in Puerto Rico who through their skill and ability makes a work principally by hand, called artisanry. And it defines "Artisanry" as a work made or produced fundamentally or essentially by hand, reflecting the creativity of its maker and Puerto Rico’s cultural traits. For it to be "Puerto Rican Artisanry", Article 3(c) gives eight usually recognized characteristics, as the Program specifies: that it be produced in Puerto Rico; by a Puerto Rican person or one with bona fide domicile or residence in Puerto Rico; that local raw material be used as far as possible; that it be worked by hand labor or with tools, equipment or instruments that speed or perfect the work; that the artisan’s original design be followed; that commercial patterns or molds not be used, except when they are the artisan’s own creations; that themes be inspired by aspects of Puerto Rican culture — history, fauna, flora, symbols, traditions and customs — preserving their typical characteristics even in new creations; and that universal themes, such as love, fraternity and peace, be inspired by the artist’s personal experiences.

• Being an artisan under the law’s definition: a natural person residing in Puerto Rico who makes a work principally by hand. The ID card is issued "to the artisan who requests it".Verified against the official source
• The concrete requirements and procedures for issuing the ID are stipulated by the Advisory Board. The law adds an express safeguard: those requirements and procedures shall not amount to an evaluation process.Verified against the official source
• For the zero fee at fairs under Article 13, you must be certified by the Artisan Development Program, and the invitation must be to take part in an exhibition, exposition, craft fair or festival.Verified against the official source

• The artisan photo ID card issued by the Program. The law says the Program shall keep a list of all holders of that ID with the artisan’s photo, and that the issuing system must be computerized.

1. 1

   Step 1: The card and the registry

   Article 4 sets seven consecutive rules on the artisan ID, all in the artisan’s favor. The Program **shall issue the ID card to the artisan who requests it**; the issuing service **shall be provided continuously, on every working day of the year**; the Program shall keep a list of all holders with the artisan’s photo; the Director **shall establish and keep updated a registry of bona fide artisans of Puerto Rico**, develop and adopt a regulation clearly setting the criteria for inclusion, and **publish the registry on the Compañía’s website**; the requirements and procedures are stipulated by the Board; **those requirements and procedures shall not amount to an evaluation process**; and the ID issuing system must be computerized. The law adds that the Board and the Director shall design an interagency procedure to route any artisan-related request or service among themselves, and that **each agency shall keep an up-to-date copy of the general artisan registry**.

2. 2

   Step 2: What a fair may charge you for a table

   Article 13 is the law’s most practical part and has three rungs. **First:** no Government agency, instrumentality, corporation or municipality, **and no for-profit natural or legal person receiving State funds** — whether for its own subsistence or to establish or foster exhibitions, expositions, craft fairs or festivals — shall charge any fee to an artisan certified by the Artisan Development Program as a requirement to exhibit or sell their crafts when invited to take part. **Second:** a for-profit natural or legal person that does **not** receive state funds may charge a fee, but **that fee may not exceed forty-five dollars ($45.00) for the duration of the festivity**. **Third:** a **non-profit** natural or legal person, whether or not it receives State funds, may charge a fee. The law puts the Compañía de Fomento Industrial, coordinating with the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, in charge of orienting artisans, inspecting and ensuring compliance with this article. And it sanctions: **any person violating it shall incur a misdemeanor with a fine of no more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per violation**, collected by the agency issuing the fine, which shall allocate it to the development and proliferation of Puerto Rican artisanry.

3. 3

   Step 3: Marking the piece: your obligation

   Article 10 places an obligation on the artisan and the workshop: they must engrave, print, write or affix a label on each work, product, good or craft article, **in a visible place and clearly, without impairing its essence, aesthetics, nature and quality, the phrase "Artesanía de Puerto Rico"** or such other as the Board determines, to attest and guarantee that it is a Puerto Rican craft work or product. It is the counterpart of the obligations the following articles place on the seller.

4. 4

   Step 4: Imported goods must say where they come from

   Three articles protect the buyer and the local artisan. Article 11: anyone who brings in, advertises, displays or sells in Puerto Rico crafts made outside Puerto Rico must mark on each one, **clearly and legibly at a glance, the place or origin**; violating it is a misdemeanor with a fine up to five hundred (500) dollars per violation. Article 12: anyone who displays, distributes or sells crafts **must separate and identify in their premises, establishment, center, workshop, display case or shelf the crafts and souvenirs made in Puerto Rico from imported ones**, clearly and accessibly at a glance; violating it is a misdemeanor with a five hundred (500) dollar fine per violation, plus community service. And Article 14: anyone who falsely identifies, advertises, displays, distributes, donates, gives, offers or sells — or induces another to do so — foreign crafts **as if they were Puerto Rican, knowing they are not**, incurs a misdemeanor with a fine up to five hundred (500) dollars plus community service. Article 15 says who watches: the Department of Consumer Affairs has ministerial responsibility for compliance with Articles 10 through 13, exercising the powers of its organic act.

5. 5

   Step 5: Loans, incentives and training

   Article 6 authorizes the Corporación de Crédito y Desarrollo Comercial y Agrícola de Puerto Rico to borrow up to one million (1,000,000) dollars to set up a guarantee or credit line for loans, guarantees, incentives or any other financial help to artisans — to establish, operate, expand or improve workshops, and to buy equipment and tools. The law defines what counts: "equipment" is what speeds production processes, but under no circumstance may it be something that replaces making the work by hand; a "tool" is anything the artisan uses by hand to finish their works. In the Credit Program, priority goes to technological and design innovation needs and to promoting and opening new markets, and **the Artisan Development Program Director is responsible for certifying applicant artisans to the Corporation**. Loans are subject to charging the prevailing legal market interest or a lower one according to the artisan’s means, to setting payment terms, granting extensions and determining the nature and value of any collateral; and no loan shall be granted unless there is a reasonable expectation of repayment. On the services side, Article 8 charges the Director with administering the Artisan Incentives Program to provide tools, equipment or instruments; coordinating short courses and conferences on production techniques, use of materials, quality improvement and cost reduction — courses that **shall also be offered at ICP’s regional offices or at each town’s cultural centers**; facilitating marketing and sales at exhibitions and fairs; and encouraging the formation of artisan associations and cooperatives.

6. 6

   Step 6: Who else has duties toward artisans

   Article 5 declares five entities essential besides the Program and gives them functions. To the **Institute of Puerto Rican Culture**, through its Popular Arts and Crafts Program: anthropological study and research of crafts, a Craft Research Center, minting commemorative medals of Master Artisans, designating in agreement with the Board the Artesanos Mayores of Puerto Rico and submitting the designation for the Governor’s signature, orienting the community, holding contests with purchase prizes, organizing fairs in and outside the country, and running the Museum of Puerto Rican and Caribbean Crafts. To the **Tourism Company**: advertising workshops and sales centers in its publications and tourist information centers, promoting information in hotels, paradores and restaurants, holding contests and fairs and continuing the development of the **craft routes**. To the **Department of Education**: coordinating the training of new generations of artisans and the annual award of the Children’s Artisan Medal and the Youth Artisan Medal. To the **University of Puerto Rico**: contributing to the artisan’s technical, business and professional training, with agreements that must provide scholarships or financial aid. And to the **Cooperative Development Administration**: contributing to forming artisan cooperatives. The article further suggests creating the artisan promoter position in eight agencies, including Education, DDEC, Recreation and Sports, Natural Resources, Housing, Corrections, the UPR Río Piedras campus and Cooperative Development, with a "tool bank" and an annual continuing education course.

Before the Artisan Development Program. The law places it in the Compañía de Fomento Industrial in Article 2 and in the Administración de Fomento Económico in Articles 4 and 5; we reproduce both mentions and do not resolve which governs today. The bona fide artisan registry must be published on the Compañía’s website, and each agency must keep an up-to-date copy of the general registry. For enforcement of the fair fee, the law puts the Compañía, coordinating with ICP, in charge of orienting, inspecting and ensuring compliance, and Article 15 gives DACO ministerial responsibility over Articles 10 through 13. What we do not publish: the card’s form, cost or term, the office address or phone, the published registry’s link, or how long issuance takes, because Act 166-1995 does not set them; that is why cost and processing time stay unverified.

• Paying a fee at a fair organized by a municipality or an agency: a certified artisan may not be charged any fee as a requirement to exhibit or sell.
• Paying more than $45 at a private festival without state funds: that is the cap the law sets for the duration of the festivity.
• Assuming a non-profit is also capped: the law lets it charge without setting a limit.
• Accepting an "evaluation" of your work to get the card: the law says the requirements and procedures shall not amount to an evaluation process.
• Not marking each piece with the phrase "Artesanía de Puerto Rico": it is an obligation of the artisan and the workshop.
• Not complaining when a store mixes local and imported goods on the same shelf: the law requires separating and identifying them, and the fine is $500 per violation plus community service.
• Going to another agency without knowing it must hold a copy of the registry: the law orders each agency to keep an up-to-date copy of the general artisan registry.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Desarrollo Económico y Comercio (DDEC)

  DDEC

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov

• Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC)

  DDEC

  www.desarrollo.pr.gov

• Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP)

  ICP

  www.icp.pr.gov