New Initiatives on Cuba Do Not Affect Humanitarian Sales and Exports
Despite the circulation of information to the contrary, the new Cuba initiatives announced by the President on October 10, 2003 do not, in fact, end the ability of U.S. companies to export agricultural or medical products to Cuba.
The Cuban Assets Control Regulations enforced by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) specifically permit travel to Cuba to engage in the marketing and sales negotiation of agricultural and other humanitarian products, such as medicines and medical devices. In addition, the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the agency responsible for overseeing agricultural and medical exports to Cuba, continues to process notifications submitted by companies for the export of agricultural products to Cuba (these are known as License Exception AGR notifications).
While the President's October 10, 2003 announcement called for greater enforcement of travel restrictions to ensure that permitted travel for Americans is not abused and used as cover for illegal business travel, legitimate travel to market and negotiate humanitarian products is still licensable.
|posted by Douglas N. Jacobson| Permalink 
