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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1737 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1737

To facilitate the sale of United States agricultural products to Cuba, 
as authorized by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act 
                                of 2000.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 26, 2009

    Mr. Moran of Kansas (for himself, Mr. Delahunt, Ms. Edwards of 
    Maryland, Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Berry, Mr. Davis of Tennessee, Mr. 
 Boustany, Mr. Paul, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Ross, Mr. Flake, Mr. Thompson of 
Mississippi, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Snyder, Mr. Brown of South Carolina, Mr. 
 Boozman, Mr. Neugebauer, and Mr. Walz) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 
      to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, and 
Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To facilitate the sale of United States agricultural products to Cuba, 
as authorized by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act 
                                of 2000.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Agricultural Export Facilitation Act 
of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The export sector of United States agriculture makes an 
        important positive contribution to this country's trade 
        balance.
            (2) According to the United States Department of 
        Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, the total value of 
        United States exports of agricultural products shipped to Cuba 
        since 2000 when such sales were first authorized by Congress is 
        approximately $2,511,600,000, excluding transportation, port 
        fees, and insurance costs beyond the port of exportation. 
        During the 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 
        calendar years Cuba purchased from United States exporters 
        approximately $4,600,000; $139,800,000; $247,600,000; 
        $383,900,000; $346,000,000; $320,800,000; $431,200,000; and 
        $691,103,000 in food and agricultural products, respectively. 
        Cuba is therefore an important source of revenue for United 
        States agriculture and its affiliated industries, such as 
        manufacturers and distributors of value-added food products.
            (3) To be competitive in sales to Cuban purchasers, United 
        States exporters of agricultural products and their 
        representatives, including representatives of United States air 
        or sea carriers, ports, and shippers, must have ready and 
        reliable physical access to Cuba. Such access is currently 
        uncertain because, under existing regulations, United States 
        exporters and their representatives must apply for and receive 
        special Department of the Treasury licenses to travel to Cuba 
        to engage in sales-related activities. The issuance of such 
        licenses is subject to both administrative delays and periodic 
        denials. A blanket statutory authorization for sales and 
        transport-related travel to Cuba by United States exporters 
        will remove the current bureaucratic impediment to agricultural 
        product sales endorsed by Congress when it passed the Trade 
        Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.
            (4) On many occasions visas to enter the United States have 
        been delayed and often denied to prospective Cuban purchasers 
        of products authorized under the Trade Sanctions Reform and 
        Export Enhancement Act of 2000. The result has been that family 
        farmers and other small producers and distributors of 
        agricultural products who lack the resources to fund sales 
        delegations to Cuba have been denied access to potential 
        purchasers in that country. A simple solution is to issue visas 
        to Cuban nationals who demonstrate an itinerary of meetings 
        with prospective United States exporters of products authorized 
        under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 
        2000. In addition, visas should be issued to Cuban 
        phytosanitary inspectors who require entry into the United 
        States to conduct on-premise inspections of production and 
        processing facilities and the products of potential United 
        States exporters.
            (5) The Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act 
        of 2000 requires ``payment of cash in advance'' for United 
        States agricultural exports to Cuba. Some Federal agencies 
        responsible for the implementation of the Trade Sanctions 
        Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 have expressed the 
        view that ``cash in advance'' requires that payment be received 
        by a United States exporter in advance of shipment of goods to 
        Cuba. Indeed, in late 2004 payments due United States exporters 
        from purchasers in Cuba were frozen in United States banks 
        while the terms of those payments were reviewed unnecessarily. 
        This action by the Department of the Treasury has created a 
        climate of commercial uncertainty that has inhibited 
        agricultural sales to Cuba under the Trade Sanctions Reform and 
        Export Enhancement Act of 2000.
            (6) There is nothing in either the Trade Sanctions Reform 
        and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 itself or its legislative 
        history to support the view that Congress intended payment to 
        be made in advance of the shipment of goods from the United 
        States to Cuba. It was and is the intent of Congress that a 
        seller of a product authorized under the Trade Sanctions Reform 
        and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 receive payment only before 
        a Cuban purchaser takes physical possession of that product.
            (7) At present it is the policy of the United States 
        Government to prohibit direct payment between Cuban and United 
        States financial institutions. As a result, Cuban purchasers of 
        products authorized under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 
        Enhancement Act of 2000 must route their payments through third 
        country banks that charge a fee for this service. Allowing 
        direct payments between Cuban and United States financial 
        institutions will permit the United States exporters to receive 
        payment directly to their financial institutions within hours 
        instead of days and will eliminate an unnecessary transactional 
        fee, thereby allowing Cuban purchasers to purchase more United 
        States origin agricultural products.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to restate the intent of 
Congress with respect to the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 
Enhancement Act of 2000, to remove impediments to present and future 
sales of United States agricultural products to Cuba under such Act, 
and to otherwise facilitate such sales.

SEC. 3. TRAVEL TO CUBA IN CONNECTION WITH AUTHORIZED SALES ACTIVITIES 
              UNDER THE TRADE SANCTIONS REFORM AND EXPORT ENHANCEMENT 
              ACT OF 2000.

    Section 910 of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement 
Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7209) is amended by striking subsection (a) and 
inserting the following:
    ``(a) Authorization of Travel Relating to Commercial Sale of 
Agricultural Commodities, Medicine, and Medical Devices.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        promulgate regulations under which, at a minimum, the travel-
        related transactions described in paragraph (2) may be 
        authorized by specific license or general license for travel 
        to, from, or within Cuba in connection with--
                    ``(A) commercial export sales and transportation of 
                agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices 
                pursuant to this Act; and
                    ``(B) sales and marketing activities of 
                agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices 
                pursuant to this Act.
            ``(2) Authorized travel-related transactions.--The travel-
        related transactions referred to in paragraph (1) are the 
        following:
                    ``(A) All transportation-related transactions 
                ordinarily incident to travel to and from Cuba.
                    ``(B) All transactions ordinarily incident to 
                travel anywhere within Cuba.
                    ``(C) The importation of Cuba-origin information 
                and information materials.
                    ``(D) Remittances to nationals of Cuba who are 
                members of the remitter's immediate family.
                    ``(E) All transactions incident to the processing 
                and payment of checks, drafts, travelers' checks, and 
                similar instruments negotiated in Cuba by any person 
                authorized pursuant to this Act to engage in financial 
                transactions in Cuba.
            ``(3) Sales and marketing activities defined.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In paragraph (1), the term 
                `sales and marketing activities'--
                            ``(i) means any activity that is undertaken 
                        by a United States person in order to explore 
                        the market in Cuba for the sale of agricultural 
                        commodities, medicine, and medical devices 
                        pursuant to this Act; and
                            ``(ii) includes exhibiting, negotiating, 
                        marketing, surveying the market, and delivering 
                        and servicing agricultural commodities, 
                        medicine, and medical devices pursuant to this 
                        Act.
                    ``(B) United states person defined.--In 
                subparagraph (A), the term `United States person'--
                            ``(i) means the Federal Government, any 
                        State or local government, or any private 
                        person or entity of the United States; and
                            ``(ii) includes a full-time employee, 
                        executive, sales agent or consultant of a 
                        producer, manufacturer, distributor, shipper, 
                        United States air or seaport, or a carrier of 
                        agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical 
                        devices authorized for sale pursuant to this 
                        Act, as well as an exhibitor, representative, 
                        or member of a national or State trade 
                        organization that promotes the interests of a 
                        producer, manufacturer, or distributor of such 
                        products.''.

SEC. 4. ISSUANCE OF VISAS TO CONDUCT ACTIVITIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE 
              TRADE SANCTIONS REFORM AND EXPORT ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 
              2000.

    (a) Issuance of Visas.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
in the case of a Cuban national whose itinerary documents an intent to 
conduct activities, including phytosanitary inspections, related to 
purchasing United States agricultural goods under the provisions of the 
Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, a consular 
officer (as defined in section 101(a)(9) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(9))) may issue a nonimmigrant visa 
under section 101(a)(15)(B) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(B)) to 
the national, if the national is not inadmissible to the United States 
under section 212 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1182).
    (b) Periodic Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 45 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act and every 3 months thereafter the 
        Secretary of State shall submit to the Committees on Finance, 
        Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and Foreign Relations of 
        the Senate and the Committees on Agriculture, Ways and Means, 
        and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on 
        the issuance of visas described in subsection (a).
            (2) Content of reports.--Each report shall contain a full 
        description of each application received from a Cuban national 
        to travel to the United States to engage in purchasing 
        activities pursuant to the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 
        Enhancement Act of 2000 and shall describe the disposition of 
        each such application.

SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF PAYMENT TERMS UNDER THE TRADE SANCTIONS REFORM 
              AND EXPORT ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2000.

    Section 908(b)(4) of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 
Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7207(b)(4)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) the term `payment of cash in advance' means, 
                notwithstanding any other provision of law, the payment 
                by the purchaser of an agricultural commodity or 
                product and the receipt of such payment by the seller 
                prior to--
                            ``(i) the transfer of title of such 
                        commodity or product to the purchaser; and
                            ``(ii) the release of control of such 
                        commodity or product to the purchaser.''.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF DIRECT TRANSFERS BETWEEN CUBAN AND UNITED 
              STATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE TRADE SANCTIONS 
              REFORM AND EXPORT ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2000.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President may not 
restrict direct transfers from a Cuban financial institution to a 
United States financial institution executed in payment for a product 
authorized for sale under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 
Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.).
                                 <all>
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