WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/803 
18 November 2010 
 
 (10-6168) 
General Council 
14 and 15 December 2010 Original:   Spanish 
 
  
CUBA - ARTICLE XV:6 OF THE GENERAL AGREEMENT 
ON TARIFFS AND TRADE 1994 
 
Report by the Government of Cuba under the
 
Decision of 15 December 2006∗ 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 14 November 2010, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Cuba. 
 
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   Pursuant to the provisions of Article IX:4 of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade 
Organization (WTO), the Republic of Cuba subm its herewith the fourth annual report on the 
extension of the waiver approved on 20 December 2001 and renewed on 15 December 2006.  This 
waiver was granted to Cuba under the Decision of 14 October 1996
1 in relation to Article XV:6 of the 
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994). 
 
 Cuba reiterates that the circumstances that justified the waiver in 2006 have basically 
remained unchanged.  Tightened en forcement of the legislation regu lating the US economic, trade and 
financial embargo on Cuba, coupled with the effects of the global economic crisis, which led to a 
decline in world market price of nickel (Cuba's le ading export), a drop in tourism receipts (despite 
increased visitor arrivals), and limitations on acce ss to external financing, makes it impossible for 
Cuba to enter into a special exchange agreement with WTO Members. 
 In 2009, the Government of the United States of America maintained its economic sanctions 
against Cuba.  In September of that year it also  extended until 14 September 2011 the sanctions 
against Cuba under the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, on the grounds that their continued 
application is in the national interest of  the United States.  This legislation, inter alia , prohibits 
US firms from doing business with Cuba.  Furthe rmore, the United States is continuing to apply 
sanctions against Cuba under other embargo legisla tion such as the Torricelli and Helms-Burton Acts. 
 This economic war with its marked extra-te rritorial scope underpinned by the Torricelli and 
Helms-Burton Acts continues to affect third-country individuals, institutions and firms that establish 
or wish to establish economic, financial, commer cial or scientific/technical relations with Cuba, 
hampering the country's relations with foreign countri es and giving rise to innumerable obstacles in 
terms of access to external financing and capital in flows into the country.  This is compounded by 
restrictions on medical and food supplies and bans on imports from the US of industrial products that 
Cuba needs for its development under normal conditions and the wellbeing of its population. 
                                                      
∗ WT/L/678. 
1 WT/L/182. WT/L/803 
Page 2  
 
   A conservative preliminary estimate of the direct economic damage suffered by Cuba as a 
result of this ongoing policy of aggression amount s to more than US$100.154 billion, a figure that 
would reach US$239.533 billion if calculations we re based on the inflatio n of US retail prices. 
 Considering that the value of the dollar, measured  in terms of gold prices on the international 
financial market, has decreased by  more than 30 times from 1961
2 to the close of 20093, the overall 
toll on the Cuban economy would be in the order of US$751.363 billion dollars.4 
 The main embargo measures being kept in place include the following: 
• Impossibility of using the dollar in external  commercial and financial transactions, 
thereby causing heavy losses to the c ountry owing to the appreciations and 
depreciations against the US dollar of the currencies used by Cuba. 
• Obstacles to the signing of export contracts with third countries. 
• Cuban sales of food and medicines authorized  by the US Government are contingent 
upon US approval, control and political decision-making mechanisms, contrary to the rules governing inte rnational trade. 
• Sanctions against shipping lines and freight companies which transport cargo to and 
from Cuba without a licence issued by the United States Department of the Treasury. 
• Prohibition on the branches of US companies located in third coun tries from trading 
with Cuba. 
• Impossibility of gaining access to sources of long-term financing under favourable 
conditions, so that the country is forced to resort to short-term loans at high rates of 
interest. 
• Obstacles to the flow of resources to finance development, in the form of sanctions 
against potential foreign partners interested in investing in Cuba. 
• Targeting of Cuban commercial operations conducted through other companies and 
of Cuban financial transactions, involving th ird countries and inte rnational entities in 
the endeavour. 
 Despite these adverse circumstances, the Cuba n economy showed moderate growth of 1.4 per 
cent in 2009 and continued to record significant achievements in the social sphere.  With such 
performance, the country posted an average annual grow th rate of 5.5 per cent and 5.4 per cent in per 
capita terms between 2000 and 2009. 
 Over the past year, the services sector has been the main driver for the country's economic 
growth, with a 75.3 per cent share of GDP, chiefly sustained by the expansion of tourism and some 
professional services, the most significant incr eases being recorded in the health sector. 
                                                     
 
2 In 1961, the price of gold was fixed at US$35.00 per Troy ounce. 
3 By year's end 2009, the price of gold had exceeded the US$1,000 mark. 
4 This figure was obtained by taking the total repercussions of the embargo since 1961 and determining 
the annual totals in dollars each year.  Gold prices on the world market at the close of each year were taken from the statistical series published on the USA GOLD website (http://www.usagold.com
).  The number of times the 
dollar had lost value against gold was determined by dividing the price of gold at the close of 2009 by each 
year's prices, which showed that the dollar had depreciated 31.1 times between 1971 and 2009.  WT/L/803 
 Page 3 
 
 
   The country's internal and external problem s put considerable pressure on the approved 
State budget, as additional resources were required  mainly to help the economy recover from the 
impact of three powerful hurricanes that devastated the country in the last quarter of 2008, causing 
losses estimated at some US$10 billion. 
 The monetary policy implemented in 2009 was directed at countering the economic and 
financial imbalances due to the decline in fore ign exchange earnings resulting from the complex 
international economic circumstances that arose in the course of the year.  The domestic monetary 
situation thus remained stable, with a consol idation of the conditions and the mechanisms 
implemented in previous years. 
 Progress was recorded during the year, mainly under programmes relating to public health 
and education aimed at raising the population's sta ndard of living.  The following were the most 
significant social indicators for the year: 
• The infant mortality rate reached 4.8 per cent of live births, a rate similar to the figure 
recorded in 2008 (4.7), i.e. the lowest levels in the country's history. 
• Life expectancy at birth remained unchanged at 78 years. 
• The economically active population rose by 2.5 per cent. 
• Preventable diseases that used  to be the cause of infant mortality, such as neonatal 
tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, mumps, German measles and measles, have been 
eradicated over the past 45 years.  Respir atory infections and diarrhoeal diseases, 
which are a major cause of death in unde rdeveloped countries, have now been 
reduced to minimum levels in Cuba. 
• Cuba currently has one physician for every 150 inhabitants, one nurse for every 104 
and one dental surgeon for every 971 inhabitants. 
• Cuba continued to provide valuable support for other countries through " Operación 
Milagro " (Operation Miracle), which has enabled more than one million patients to 
undergo eye surgery under the Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra 
América  (ALBA) or Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America. 
• Research in the use of nuclear medicine for the treatment of cancer and 
cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases was pursued, with a positive impact on 
human capital development in this sphere. 
• A total of 74,845 students graduated from hi gher education institutions:  30.5 per cent 
in educational sciences, 23.2 per cent in medi cal sciences and 7.2 per cent in technical 
subjects. 
• 7,260 medical students from 45 countries and some 84 indigenous groups graduated 
in the period 2005-2009.  More than 2,000 of them are now pursuing post-graduate 
studies with a view to becoming specialists in the Cuban national health system. 
 All of this has been achieved de spite the fact that the embargo is  still in force.  The intricate 
web of laws and legal provisions regulating this po licy has not been dismantled and therefore remains 
Cuba's main development constraint. WT/L/803 
Page 4  
 
   The embargo violates international law.  It runs counter to the purposes and principles of the 
United Nations Charter.  It constitutes an infringeme nt of the right to peace, development and security 
of a sovereign State.  In its essence and its aims, it is an act of unilateral aggression and a permanent 
threat against a country's stability.  It is therefore also in flagrant violation of the core purposes and 
rules of this Organization. 
 The particular circumstances that gave rise to  extension of the waiver granted to Cuba in 
December 2001 clearly continue to exist, and appl ication of the provisions of Article XV:6 would 
therefore involve serious legal and practical difficulties for Cuba. 
 Cuba repeats once again that none of the me asures adopted during this period has had any 
adverse effects on other WTO Members or is at va riance with the principles and objectives of the 
GATT 1994.  It also reiterates its commitment to  make use of the waiver without affecting the 
objectives of the General Agreement or harming or impairing the rights of other Members. 
__________