WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/781 
7 December 2009 
 (09-6296) 
General Council 
17 and 18 December 2009 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 20061 
   The following communication, dated 24 November 2009, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Cuba. 
 
_______________ 
 
  Pursuant to the provisions of Article IX:4 of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade 
Organization (WTO), the Republic of Cuba tran smits herewith the third annual report on the 
extension granted on 14 December 2006 of the waiv er approved on 20 December 2001.  This waiver 
was granted to Cuba under the Decision of 14 October 1996
2, in relation to Article XV:6 of the 
General Agreements on Tariffs  and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994). 
  The reason for the request for a waiver is th e continued existence of the conditions that 
justified its extension in 2006 which are linked to  the persistence of the economic, commercial and 
financial blockade imposed by the Government of  the United States against Cuba and its inherent 
restrictions;  to various climatic phenomena which seriously affected the country's economy;  and to 
the impact of the international economic and financia l crisis, all of which make it impossible for Cuba 
to sign a special exchange agreement with the Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). 
 
 As we have already mentioned be fore, the blockade measures seek to: 
  - Deprive our country of its goods and services export earnings
.  Damage to its foreign 
trade has forced Cuba to geographically relocate its trade, incurring additional expenditure as a result of the increased pr ices of the products purchased from remote 
markets, higher freight and transport insu rance costs, excessive immobilization of 
inventory and reserve resources, and more onerous financing conditions. 
  - Increase the costs of Cuban imports
, either because Cuba has to purchase products at 
a higher price through intermediaries, or  because it has to purchase them from 
geographically remote markets. 
  - Prevent or obstruct the country's  access to external sources of funding
.  In the 
financial area, over this past year the bl ockade has had the effect of gradually 
reducing the possibility of using the country's correspondent banks, making 
                                                      
1 WT/L/678. 
2 WT/L/182. WT/L/781 
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  transactions more complex and impedi ng the normal operation of banking and 
financial institutions, owing to the in creasing pressure by the United States 
Government on the banking and financial ins titutions of other countries to break off 
their relations with Cuba - not to men tion the already well-known limitations on the 
use of the US dollar as a means of payment. 
 
 Another side effect of the blockade has been the increased cost of financing as a 
result of the need to set up  the structures required to get around the restrictions as 
well as the high country-risk pinned on Cuba n operations, given that the main risk 
assessment agencies at the global level are dominated by United States capital. 
 
 The extraterritorial scope of the blockade measures encroaches on the sovereignty of third 
States and harms the legitimate interests of entities and individuals under their jurisdiction.  These 
measures prohibit:  
 - Subsidiaries of United States companies established in third-country markets from 
trading or carrying out any form of transaction with Cuban entities; 
  - third-country companies from exporting to the United States any product of 
Cuban origin or product containing Cuban inputs; 
 
 - third-country companies from selling to Cuba goods or services using technology that 
contains more than 10 per cent of United States components even where their owners 
are third-country nationals; 
  - ships carrying goods to or from Cuba from entering United States ports, irrespective 
of the country of registration; 
  - third-country banks from handling US dollar accounts for Cuban legal or natural 
persons or from carrying out financial transactions in that currency with 
Cuban entities or persons. 
 
 A conservative estimate of the blockade's direct  economic damage to the Cuban people up to 
2008 gives us a figure of US$96 billion which, in current dollar terms, represents some US$236,221,000,000.   Although the government of the United States is persisting in its enormous effort to slow 
down and impede Cuban ec onomic growth, the economy nevertheless grew by 4.1 per cent in 2008 as 
compared to 2007, with an average annual growth  rate of 6 per cent between 2000 and 2008, or 
5.9 per cent in per capita terms.  Economic expans ion was driven by almost all of the activities 
making up the GDP, in particular services, which acc ounted for 74 per cent of output, confirming the 
recovery process that began in 1994.  Faced with  unfavourable conditions at home, the State budget 
continues to back the country's social policy while at the same time contributing to economic growth. 
 
 In the second half of 2008, the country was hit by three powerful hurricanes within a short 
period of time.  The cost to the economy was enorm ous - some 10 billion dollars - and its impact was 
inevitably felt on the economic front with a decline in the growth of economic activity and an increase 
in the fiscal deficit due to  the extra costs incurred. 
 
 Like the rest of the world, Cuba suffered the impact of the economic and financial crisis that 
has been devastating the global economy since the sec ond half of 2007.  In July 2008 the price of oil 
reached a record of $147 a barrel, while the basic fo odstuffs that Cuba has had to import in greater 
quantities owing to the losses suffered as a result of  the hurricanes, cost 53 per cent more on average  WT/L/781 
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  than in 2007.  This meant that it had to spe nd some $907 million more than the previous year, 
840 million of which were due to price increases.  In  the last few months of the year, the prices of 
both oil and foodstuffs fell, but not enough to offset  the sharp increase that had taken place during 
most of the year.  At the same time, the price of nickel, Cuba's main export, declined by 41 per cent 
compared to the average for 2007 as a result of  a fall in demand caused by the global crisis. 
 
 Consequently, the Cuban Government carefu lly monitors developments in the global 
economy, particularly as regards trends in world prices for fuels and food stuffs, in addition to 
ensuring that foreign exchange expenditure is adjust ed to the quantities that the country can afford to 
import, given the hardening of the conditions of external financing and the increase in outstanding 
debt payment claims caused by the credit squeeze pr evailing in international economic relations as a 
result of the crisis.   The monetary policy implemented by the Centra l Bank of Cuba was characterized by stability 
and was geared to using financial instruments to re gulate the money supply.  This situation served to 
strengthen public confidence in national monetary sy mbols and in the institutions of the national 
banking and financial system, notwithstanding the di fficult internal and extern al conditions faced by 
the country.   Progress continued to be recorded throughout the year, mainly in programmes relating to 
public health and education, which are designed to ra ise the standard of living of the population.  The 
following were the most significant social indicators for the year: 
 
• The infant mortality rate reached its lowest level in the country's history:  
4.7 per thousand live births. 
• Life expectancy at birth remained unchanged at 78 years. 
• The unemployment rate fell to a record low for the country of 1.6 per cent, which is 
technically equivalent to full employment, making it one of the lowest rates in the 
world. 
• Some 71,475 students graduated from higher e ducation institutions:  32.9 per cent in 
educational sciences, 34.2 per cent in medical sciences and 6.7 per cent in technical subjects. 
• Graduation diplomas were awarded to 2,493 young people from 120 nations, and 
4,666 new foreign scholarship holders were admitted from 119 countries, making a 
total of 31,459 studying in Cuba. 
 The number of high value-added products and services in the science and technology sector 
increased by 15 per cent during 2008, contributing to import substitution and economic efficiency.  
Biotechnology and pharmaceutical exports grew by more  than 20 per cent with the declining peso 
exchange rate.   The health and education cooperation programme s which Cuba implements in other countries 
of the world were not adversely affected;  on th e contrary, they continued to develop without 
difficulty.  Cuba's international medical coopera tion programme was extended to other countries and 
is now established in 72 nations.   In addition, training for foreign professional workers continued.  From 1961 to July 2008 
more than 29,000 foreign professionals had receive d training, and 2008 saw the completion of the WT/L/781 
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  third intensive course in Spanish for 641 Chinese st udents, 441 of whom went on to enter university 
courses in Spanish, medicine, nursing, tour ism, humanities education and psychology. 
  Despite the efforts made by the Cuban Gove rnment, it is clear that the blockade policy 
continues to be the main obstacle to the country's development. 
 
 The blockade violates international law a nd the principles of free trade and navigation 
enshrined in numerous international legal instrume nts, including the rules of the WTO.  It runs 
counter to the purposes and principles of the United Na tions Charter.  It constitutes an infringement of 
a sovereign State's right to peace, development and se curity and is a flagrant, massive and systematic 
violation of the rights of an entire people. 
  Given the persistence of these special circumst ances, the application of the provisions of 
Article XV:6 would entail serious legal and practical difficulties for Cuba - the same as those which 
gave rise to the extension of the waiver granted to Cuba in December 2001 and extended in 
December 2006. 
  Cuba hereby attests that none of the measur es adopted during this period has had adverse 
repercussions on other WTO Members or is at va riance with the principles and objectives of the 
GATT 1994.  Cuba confirms its willingness to co mply with the principles laid down in the 
General Agreement. 
 
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