WT/L/994  
21 November  2016 
(16-6369) Page: 1/4 
General Council  
7 and 8 December 2016  Original:  Spanish  
 
  CUBA – ARTICLE XV:6 OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT  
ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994  
REPORT BY THE GOVERNMENT OF CUBA UNDER THE  
DECISIO N OF 14 FEBRUARY 2012 (WT/L/850)  
The following communication, dated 18 November  2016, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegat ion of Cuba.  
 
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1.1.  Pursuant to Article IX: 4 of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO), 
the Republic of Cuba hereby submits the fifth annual report on the waiver extension  granted under 
the Decision of 1 4 February  2012 (W T/L/850) . This waiver was granted to Cuba under the Decision 
of 14 October  1996 (WT/L/182)  in relation to Article XV:6 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and 
Trade 1994 (GATT 1994).  
1.2.  The prevailing situation is that the circumstances  justify ing the grantin g of the 
above -mentioned waiver , in particular the economic, trade and financial blockade measures which 
the Government of the United States of America (U .S.) is continuing to impose on Cuba, remain  
virtually unchanged . 
1.3.  More than one year after the Governm ents of Cuba and the U.S. decided to re -establish their 
diplomatic relations and initiate a process geared towards normalizing their trade and financial 
links, there have been no substantial  changes in the application of the embargo policy  against the 
country, meaning that the  embargo measures are still imposed directly against Cuba as rigorously 
as in previous years  and that their extraterritorial scope is continuing to affect  third countries.  
1.4.  In pursuance of this process, the U .S. Government has begun to take action, mainly in the 
telecommunications and trade spheres, in order to "relax" the blockade against Cuba.  
1.5.  March  2016 saw the announcement of new amendments to the regulations governing the 
sanctions applied by the U .S., including, for the first time since the blockade entered into force, 
permission for Cuban citizens and financial institutions to use the dollar to conduct certain 
transactions . This would to some extent change one of the most significant aspects of the 
blockade ; nonetheless , the measur e has not been implemented in practice, and Cuban monetary 
assets abroad remain subject to harassment and persecution.  
1.6.  The relationship with North American  banks is hampered , for all legal intents and purposes, 
by the measures still in effect , and their regulations are still restric ting relations with Cuban 
entities . The policy of financial per secution of third -country banks , constrained  in their operations 
with Cuba , has led the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the U .S. Department of the 
Treasury  to impose  fines amounting to  more than  ten billion  dollars over the past three years  
alone . Cuban financial entities are not allowed to have correspondent banks in the U.S., which 
unnecessarily increas es the cost and length of procedures, including when t he country uses a 
currency other than the dollar.  WT/L/994  
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  1.7.  Normalization of  banking relations demands that  the issue of the ban on using the U .S. dollar 
in international transactions with Cuba be resolved , as a first step towards the lifting of the 
economic, trade and financial blockade still in place against the country, along with access to 
North  American  banking sources of financing, including com mercial banks, as a tool that is 
necessary for and inherent in international trade.  
1.8.  A development of signal importance  for Cuba was the decision taken by  the U.S. Congress in 
May 2015 to remove the country from the so-called blacklist of state sponsor s of international 
terrorism , in which Cuba had unjustly been included  in 1982 . Nonetheless, the prohibitions  on 
exports an d the broad range of other financial restrictions facing any country on the state sponsors 
of terrorism list could be maintained in Cuba's case , because of other sanctions ordered by the 
U.S. Congress , underpinned by the embargo  legislation . 
1.9.  Another step f orward on the international s cene was made  in October  2015 at 
the 27th Plenary session of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which reaffirmed the finalization 
of the country's evaluation  process, meaning that Cuba's review  by the FATF and the  Financia l 
Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT)  has come to an end , putting the country on the 
regular monitoring  process . The results achieved show ed that, to date, Cuba is among  the 
countries that have scored  the best results at global level , reflecting  its context  and actual 
situation , and the objective of Cuba's full integration in the international network of countries that 
combat  money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass 
destruction  has thus been achieved . 
1.10.   The rigid and hostile blockade policy against Cuba is still  the main impediment to the 
country's economic development , by hampering the performance of all sectors of its domestic 
economy, by substantially increasing financial costs and impeding access to ext ernal financial 
flows, as well as by obstructing essential imports, mainly  food, medicines and fuel , which is a 
serious obstacle to economic development.  
1.11.   Consequently, the country's efforts to integrate into the world  trading system are being 
made under pa rticularly difficult conditions - the outcome of a policy which contradicts the 
principle of free trade.  
1.12.   The embargo laws also prohibit loans to Cuba by multilateral and regional financial 
organizations, thereby denying the country access to sources of lon g-term financing under 
favourable conditions and forcing it to resort to short -term loans with high interest rates and 
supplier financing on a much less flexible basis than credit from financial institutions and 
official  sources.  
1.13.   The blockade is a blatant violation of international law and the principles of free trade and 
navigation enshrined in numerous international legal instruments, including the rules of the 
World  Trade Organization (WTO) . It runs counter to the purposes and principles of the United  Nations 
Charter, and it constitutes an infringement of a sovereign State's right to peace, development and 
security . 
1.14.   The main laws that allow the blockade to continue are the following:  
 The Trading With the Enemy Act (TWEA) : originally enacted as a wartime m easure in 
1917 to restrict trade with nations that were considered hostile, it was on this law that 
the first regulations of the 1962 blockade against Cuba were based . In September  2015, 
arguing foreign policy interests, President Obama renewed this Act, w hich constitutes 
the cornerstone of the laws and regulations governing the blockade, for one more  year. 
 The Foreign Assistance Act, enacted by the U.S. Congress in September  1961, 
authorizing the U.S. President to establish and maintain "a total embargo on  trade 
between the  United  States and Cuba" . It also prohibits the granting of any aid to the 
Government  of Cuba.  
 The Export Administration Act (EAA), adopted in 1979, which empowers  the President to 
control, in general, exports and re -exports of goods and technology, in particular those 
that are considered detrimental to the national security of the U.S. WT/L/994  
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   The Cuban Democracy Act (CDA), better known as the "Torricelli Act", signed by 
President Bush Senior in October  1992, reinforcing the economic measures aga inst Cuba 
and providing a legal basis for the extraterritoriality of the blockade . Among other 
restrictions it prohibits subsidiaries of Northern American  companies in third countries 
from doing business with Cuba or Cuban nationals, and prohibits the entr y into 
North  American  territory for a period of 180 days of ships from third countries that have 
touched port in Cuba.  
 The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act, commonly known as the 
"Helms -Burton Act", approved by President Clinton in March 1996. Its essential aim is to 
impede and discourage foreign investment and to internationalize the blockade against 
Cuba. It codifies the provisions of the blockade, limiting the President's prerogatives to 
suspend the policy and broadening its extrate rritorial scope . It denies entry into the U.S. 
of directors of foreign companies (and their family members) that invest in "confiscated" 
property in Cuba and provides for the possibility of filing legal action against them in the 
U.S. courts.  
 The Export Ad ministration Regulations (EAR), which regulate the exceptions to the 
Export Administration Act or those that are authorized under licences issued by the 
Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce . They come under the 
Trading With the Ene my Act and the Export Administration Act . 
1.15.   This body of l egislation  applied over more than 50 years ha s caused enormous  damage to 
Cuba,  assessed at some 125 .873 billion dollars (at current prices) and amounting to  no less 
than 753.688 billion dollars at gol d value  at the end of 2015 , taking into account the depreciation 
of the dollar in the world market.  
1.16.   Moreover, the economic, commercial and financial siege that has been kept in place 
unchanged by all of the U .S. administrations since 1961 imposes extraterr itorial restrictions on 
Cuba which also affect other WTO Members.  
1.17.   The effects of the economic, trade and financial blockade are compounded by the adverse 
impact on  the Cuban economy of the continuing  global economic and financial crisis . The host of 
difficulties mentioned above  prevent the  signing of a special exchange agreement with 
WTO Members.  
1.18.   In spite of all the problems it is facing, the Cuban economy has nonetheless continued to 
recover, growing at an average annual rate of 2.8 % during the period 2010 -2015. This period saw 
the key macroeconomic indicators develop favourably, and the implementation of various 
measures led to considerable progress in the monetary, financial and fiscal areas as well as in the 
social sphere.  
1.19.   Over the past five years, w orthy of special mention in the goods production sector for their 
contribution to economic expansion are the non -sugar industry and mining, especially increases in 
the production of domestic crude oil, natural gas and nickel . 
1.20.   The services sector was the drivin g force of the Cuban economy, basically underpinned by 
the growth of tourism, telecommunications, and construction.  
1.21.   Tourism continued to grow, with a total of 3.5  million  visitors at end -2015, an all -time high 
representing a 17.4 % increase over arrivals in  2014. Earnings from touris m activities have 
increased as a result.  
1.22.   Progress continued in implementing the telecommunications modernization programme, 
particularly in the domestic telephony area, where development has reached a level  unparalleled in 
the co untry's history, with a rate of digitalization of 99.7 % at the end of 2015 . Cuba has also 
witnessed rapid growth in mobile communications and cellular telephony in particular.  WT/L/994  
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  1.23.   Economic measures were also taken to promote work in the non -State sphere, which  
involved more than half a  million  people at the end of 2015 . This figure is expected to  continue to 
rise as existing relations  become more flexible  over time and activities included in the new forms 
of non -State management  expand . 
1.24.   Likewise, non -agricultur al or services cooperatives continued to grow as a new form of 
economic management ; most of them operate in the areas of  trade, catering, transport and 
construction, which are expected to help raise the quality of services in the country.  
1.25.   Unemployment drop ped to 2.4 % in 2015, its lowest rate over the past five years . 
The average wage rose by 53.3 % over the figure recorded in 2010.  
1.26.   In the social sphere, Cuba continued implement ing its planned  health programmes, which 
involve application of the most advanced technologies for diagnosis and treatment . In 2015, t he 
infant mortality rate was 4.3 per  thousand  live births, the lowest in the country's history, which, 
taken together with a life expectancy of 78 years, is an indication of the quality of life of the 
Cuban population . 
1.27.   The State budget addressed the country's most urgent needs within the limits of the income 
generated by the economy , posting a deficit of 5.7% of GDP  at end -2015, and was executed in 
keeping with the Plan for the Economy . Work also continued  with a view to improving and 
modernizing the tax system, so as to  ensure sufficient levels of revenue collection to support 
greater  social investment and promote increased  self-employment as a result of  the restructur ing 
of public -sector employment.  
1.28.   In the monetary sphere, work is still under way  to improve the instruments for controlling 
currency issue and guaranteeing financial balance in the population sector, whose participation in 
the economy is predicted to increase in the future . Gradual expansion w as maintained in credit 
policy, providing greater access to financing for both natural persons and the various forms of 
non-State management . 
1.29.   It must be stressed that the changes introduced to date have not had any adverse effects 
on other WTO  Members, whi ch have not had any need to hold consultations in that connection . 
Cuba has shown that it has complied with its commitment to make use of the waiver without 
affecting the objectives of the GATT  1994 or harming or impairing the rights of the rest of 
the Membership . 
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