1 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba

September 17, 2009 

The Honorable Charles B. Rangel 

Chairman 

Committee on Ways and Means 

House of Representatives 

The Honorable Jeff Flake 

House of Representatives 

The Honorable Barbara Lee 

House of Representatives 

Subject: U.S. Embargo on Cuba: Recent Regulatory Changes and Potential 

Presidential or Congressional Actions

Since the early 1960s, the United States has maintained an embargo on Cuba through 

various laws, regulations, and presidential proclamations regarding trade, travel, and 

financial transactions. A stated purpose of the embargo—the most comprehensive set of 

U.S. economic sanctions on any country—is to deny hard currency to the Cuban 

government. The embargo, which the President has broad authority to modify, is 

implemented primarily by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) through regulation 

of financial transactions with Cuba and by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) 

through regulation of the export of commodities, software, and technology to Cuba.1

Modifications to the embargo by legislation and presidential policy directives in the 

1990s and early 2000s alternately eased and tightened restrictions on travel, remittances,2

gifts, and exports to Cuba. In September 2009, responding to legislation passed in March 

and presidential policy directives issued in April, Treasury and Commerce published 

regulatory changes that further ease some embargo restrictions. 

 

1

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), acting through U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Coast Guard, also has a primary role in enforcing 

the embargo. For example, CBP enforces the Air Commerce Regulations (19 CFR Part 122.151 et seq.), 

which govern aircraft travel to Cuba, restricting it to certain points of arrival and departure under specified 

circumstances and conditions. The Coast Guard enforces the Unauthorized Entry Into Cuban Territorial 

Waters Regulations (UEC Regulations) (33 CFR Part 107), which restricts vessels traveling to Cuba. These 

Coast Guard regulations were issued under authority of Presidential Proclamation 6867 (Mar. 1, 1996) and 

Presidential Proclamation 7757 (Feb. 26, 2004). However, this report does not focus on enforcement of the 

embargo from the perspective of DHS or its component agencies. 

2

A remittance is a payment of money sent to a person in another place. Generally recognized forms of 

remittances include international transfers of funds sent by immigrants or migrant workers from the 

country where they live and work to individuals (typically family members) in the immigrants’ or migrant 

workers’ country of origin. 

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548 
2 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba

This correspondence describes (1) the September 2009 changes to the embargo, (2) 

options available to the President to further modify the embargo, (3) actions that the 

President can or must take in the event of certain changes in the Cuban government, and 

(4) possible congressional actions to end the embargo. 

To develop this information and to identify laws and regulations establishing the 

embargo, we reviewed congressional reports and authoritative reports and studies by 

academic and policy research institutes addressing the legal framework establishing the 

embargo. We analyzed these laws and regulations to identify measures that the President 

and Congress could undertake to modify or end the embargo. We also interviewed 

attorneys and policy staff at the Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, State, 

and the Treasury and asked them to review and verify our analysis regarding the laws 

and regulations governing the embargo. Each agency provided technical comments, 

which we incorporated as appropriate. We did not review agency performance or 

provide recommendations to the agencies. We conducted our work from January to 

September 2009 and in accordance with all sections of GAO’s Quality Assurance 

Framework that are relevant to our objectives. The framework requires that we plan and 

perform the engagement to obtain sufficient and appropriate evidence to meet our stated 

objectives and to discuss any limitations in our work. We believe that the information 

and data we obtained, and the analysis we conducted, provide a reasonable basis for any 

findings and conclusions in this product. (See encl. I for further details of our scope and 

methodology.)

Results in Brief 

The amended regulations that Treasury and Commerce published in September 2009 

further ease restrictions on travel, remittances, gifts, and exports to Cuba in response to 

recent legislation and presidential policy directives. The Omnibus Appropriations Act of 

2009, enacted in March, mandates the easing of restrictions on travel and exports to 

Cuba; the presidential directives issued in April call for the easing or removal of 

restrictions on family travel, cash remittances, and gift parcels and to authorize 

expanded telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba. Examples 

of the September 2009 regulatory changes include the authorization of family travel 

under a general license rather than a specific license;3

 removal of limitations on the 

amount and frequency of family remittances; expansion of the types of items that can be 

included in gift parcels and the scope of individuals eligible to receive them; and 

authorization of licensed of U.S. telecommunications service providers to enter into 

agreements with Cuban telecommunications providers. 

The President has discretion to further ease regulatory restrictions such as those on 

travel, remittances, gift parcels, and trade with Cuba. For instance, the President can 

authorize travel under a general license for non-family travelers—such as freelance 

journalists, professional researchers, and full-time students—who currently must obtain 

 

3

A general license constitutes blanket authorization for transactions set forth in the relevant regulations; if 

certain stated conditions are met, no further permission from the U.S. government is required. A specific 

license is any license or authorization issued for a specific transaction; the U.S. government considers the 

issuance of specific licenses on a case-by-case basis. 
a specific license; further increase the amount of cash remittances that travelers may 

carry to Cuba; and further expand the list of items eligible for gift parcels. 

The President is authorized to suspend or end the embargo in the event of certain 

political changes in Cuba. Under the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity 

(LIBERTAD) Act of 1996, on determining that a transition Cuban government is in 

power, the President may take steps to suspend the embargo, including its implementing 

regulations restricting financial transactions related to travel, trade, and remittances. He 

may also suspend enforcement of several legislative measures related to the embargo. 

LIBERTAD also requires that on determining that a democratically elected Cuban 

government is in power, the President must take steps to end the embargo, including the 

implementing regulations, and that once he has made such a determination, certain listed 

embargo-related legislative measures are automatically repealed. 

Absent a presidential determination of a democratically elected Cuban government, the 

President could end the embargo only if Congress were to amend or repeal LIBERTAD 

and various other embargo-related statutes, including provisions in the Foreign 

Assistance Act of 1961, the Food Security Act of 1985, the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, 

the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1999, and the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 

Enhancement Act of 2000 (TSRA). Such provisions include, for example, section 

908(b)(1) and 910(b) of TSRA that require payment of cash in advance or third country 

financing for agricultural exports to Cuba and prohibit Treasury from authorizing travel 

to Cuba for tourist activities by persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction. 

Background

Key Measures Establishing the Embargo

The following laws, administrative regulations, and presidential proclamation are among 

the key measures establishing the embargo on Cuba and the President’s broad authority 

to modify the embargo (see encl. II for more details of the embargo’s legal and regulatory 

authorities). 

• Trading With the Enemy Act of 1917 (TWEA), section 5(b). TWEA granted the 

President broad authority to impose embargoes on foreign countries during times of 

war and was amended in 1933 to also grant this authority during times of a 

presidentially declared national emergency. The International Emergency Economic 

Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) amended section 5(b) of TWEA, again limiting the 

President’s authority to times of war but allowing the President’s continued exercise 

of his national emergency authority with respect to the ongoing Cuba embargo. 

• Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. This act contains provisions barring any assistance 

to Cuba and authorizing the President to establish and maintain an economic 

embargo on Cuba. Section 620(a) prohibits any U.S. foreign assistance to the 

“present” government of Cuba and authorizes the President to establish and maintain 

a total embargo on all trade between the United States and Cuba as a means of 

carrying out the assistance prohibition. 

3 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
• Proclamation 3447. Issued by President Kennedy in 1962, Proclamation 3447 

declared a total economic embargo on Cuba, authorizing and directing Treasury to 

carry out the President’s prohibition on importation of Cuban goods and of goods 

imported through Cuba. The proclamation also directed Commerce to continue an 

existing prohibition on exports to Cuba that had been imposed under the Export 

Control Act of 1949, and it authorized Commerce to “continue, make, modify or 

revoke exceptions” to the export prohibition. The proclamation was declared under 

authority of section 620(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. 

• Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR). The CACR, which Treasury issued in 

1963 under the President’s broad authority in section 5(b) of TWEA and the Foreign 

Assistance Act, prohibit persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction from engaging in 

transactions involving property in which Cuba or a Cuban national has an interest, 

including transactions related to travel, trade, and remittances, without authorization, 

that is, a government license from Treasury. Administered by Treasury’s Office of 

Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the CACR provide the Secretary of the Treasury with 

the ability to modify the restrictions “by means of regulations, rulings, instructions, 

licenses, or otherwise.” The CACR established 12 categories of activities with respect 

to which Treasury authorizes travel-related transactions, including travel for family 

visits, journalistic activities, and professional research in Cuba but excluding travel 

for tourism. The CACR also provide for licensing of trade with Cuba4

 and for 

authorized remittances to Cuban nationals. 

• Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The EAR are issued by Commerce under 

authority of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (EAA) and the International 

Emergency Economic Powers Act.5 Applications for licenses for export to Cuba of 

items subject to the EAR fall mostly under a general policy of denial,6 although some 

items, such as certain medical items, are exempt from this policy. (See discussion of 

the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act below.) All exports to 

Cuba under Commerce jurisdiction require a specific license,7 unless the export 

qualifies for one of 12 license exceptions published in the EAR. One such license 

 

4

Consistent with the embargo, OFAC permits exports from the United States to Cuba and exports of 100 

percent U.S.-origin items from third countries to Cuba if they are licensed by Commerce’s Bureau of 

Industry and Security (BIS), which requires a license for the export or re-export of almost all U.S. goods to 

Cuba. 

5

The authorization for the EAA was allowed to lapse in 2001. The president has used his emergency powers 

under IEEPA to continue the regulations created under the EAA. 

6

Under a policy of denial, agencies review export licensing applications with “a presumption of denial.” To 

obtain a license for export, applicants must provide sufficient justification and evidence to overcome this 

presumption. 

7

Treasury and Commerce issue licenses for transactions involving property in which Cuba or a national of 

Cuba has an interest. Treasury issues general and specific licenses. Commerce issues specific licenses for 

export but does not issue general licenses; instead, Commerce uses license exceptions. A license 

exception is an authorization that allows the export or re-export without a license, under stated 

conditions, of items subject to the EAR that would otherwise require a specific license. 

4 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
exception allows agricultural exports to Cuba, including food for people and animals 

as well as items such as livestock, beverages, wood and wood products, and tobacco.8

• Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 (CDA). The CDA was intended to support democracy 

in Cuba by modifying aspects of the restrictions on trade between the United States 

and Cuba and encouraging other countries to limit their trade with Cuba as well as 

their extension of credit and assistance to Cuba. Among its other provisions, the law 

restricts prohibitions that may be placed on humanitarian exports to Cuba and 

authorizes telecommunications facilities to provide efficient and adequate 

telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba. The CDA permits, 

with certain exceptions, U.S. exports of medicine and medical supplies to Cuba. 

However, such exports must be authorized through specific licenses, and the U.S. 

government must be able to verify through onsite inspection and other appropriate 

means that the items are used for their intended purposes and for the benefit and use 

of the Cuban people. The CDA restricts trade with Cuba by U.S. foreign subsidiaries 

and prohibits any vessel unlicensed by Treasury from (1) loading or unloading freight 

in a U.S. port within 180 days after leaving a Cuban port where it engaged in trade of 

goods or services or (2) entering a U.S. port while carrying goods or passengers to or 

from Cuba or goods in which Cuba or a Cuban national has an interest. In addition, 

the CDA requires the President to establish strict limits on remittances to Cuba for 

purposes of emigration by Cubans to the United States. The CDA also provides that 

various restrictions under the law—including those regarding U.S. foreign 

subsidiaries, vessels, and remittances—can be waived by the President if he 

determines, and reports to Congress, that the Cuban government has undertaken a 

series of major reforms. 

• Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996. Commonly 

known as the Helms-Burton Act, LIBERTAD defined and codified the embargo as it 

was in effect on March 1, 1996, including the CACR restrictions and various embargorelated statutes. LIBERTAD authorizes the President to suspend the embargo only if 

he determines that a transition Cuban government is in power. Furthermore, 

LIBERTAD requires the President to terminate the embargo if he determines that a 

democratically elected Cuban government is in power. In addition, the law prohibits 

U.S. persons, permanent resident aliens, and agencies from indirectly financing any 

transactions involving property of U.S. nationals confiscated by the Cuban 

government; permits U.S. nationals to sue in U.S. courts persons trafficking in such 

confiscated property (this authority has been suspended by the President since 

enactment); and provides for denying entry into the United States to aliens 

determined by the Scretary of State to be involved in such trafficking. 

 

8

After the enactment of Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, Commerce 

implemented a license exception for exporting certain agricultural goods to Cuba. 

5 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
• Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (TSRA). TSRA 

requires the President to end any unilateral agricultural and medical sanctions. In 

addition, TSRA requires Commerce to authorize the export of agricultural 

commodities (including food) to Cuba.9 TSRA prohibits U.S. government assistance 

for financing exports to Cuba and prohibits U.S. private financing or payment of 

agricultural commercial sales to Cuba, except where payment is made with cash in 

advance or financing is from third-country financial institutions. TSRA also prohibits 

the licensing of travel to Cuba for tourist activities by persons subject to U.S. 

jurisdiction. 

Prior Administrations’ Changes to the Embargo

Using the President’s authority to modify the embargo on Cuba, administrations in the 

late 1990s and early 2000s made a number of changes to the embargo’s restrictions on 

U.S. travel, remittances, gifts, and exports to Cuba. Examples of these changes to the 

embargo include the following: 

• In 1996, the Clinton administration suspended all direct flights between the United 

States and Cuba after the Cuban military shot down two U.S. civilian aircraft in the 

Florida Straits.10 Treasury implemented travel procedures allowing authorized carrier 

service providers to arrange indirect flights, provided that U.S. responsibility for such 

flights ended in a country other than the United States or Cuba. 

• In 1998, implementing Clinton administration policy, Treasury issued revised 

procedures allowing U.S.-licensed carrier service providers to arrange direct flights 

from the United States to Cuba, using either U.S. or non-U.S. aircraft and flight crews. 

Treasury also restored direct humanitarian flights between the United States and 

Cuba and imposed additional monitoring procedures on fully hosted flights. 

• In 1998, the Clinton administration changed family remittance procedures, citing 

humanitarian reasons, to allow persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction to send family 

remittances of up to $300 per quarter to relatives in Cuba pursuant to a general 

license. 

• In 1999, implementing Clinton administration policy, Treasury amended the CACR to 

expand remittances to support Cuban families and organizations independent of the 

Cuban government and to expand “people-to-people” contact through two-way 

exchanges among academics, athletes, scientists, and others. 

 

9

Commerce implemented this requirement through a license exception in the EAR. According to Treasury 

and Commerce, TSRA did not amend or supersede the export licensing requirements for medicine and 

medical supplies in the CDA. Therefore, medicines and medical devices are not eligible for export or reexport to Cuba under TSRA procedures and require licenses authorized under the CDA. See 66 Federal 

Register 36678, July 12, 2001. 

10The two U.S. private airplanes, operated by a U.S. nongovernmental organization called Brothers to the 

Rescue, were shot down in the Florida Straits. U.S. officials asserted that the incident occurred over 

international waters. Four of the private planes’ crew members were killed in the attack. 

6 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
• In 2003, implementing Bush administration policy, Treasury modified some 

restrictions on travel and remittances by expanding the definition of close relatives 

who may be visited; announcing that licenses would no longer be granted for peopleto-people educational exchanges; and authorizing certain remittances from blocked 

inherited accounts.11

• In 2003, the Bush administration directed the Department of Homeland Security to 

strengthen enforcement of the embargo by increasing inspections of travelers and 

shipments to and from Cuba and to target illegal travel via third countries or on 

private vessels. 

• In 2004, implementing Bush administration policy, Treasury tightened restrictions on 

travel by reducing the permitted frequency of family visits from once every 12 months 

to once every 3 years; narrowing the category of relatives eligible for such visits, from 

“close relative” to “immediate family”;12 lowering the allowed daily expenditure per 

family traveler from $167 to $50 per day; requiring a specific, rather than a general, 

license for each family traveler; eliminating the license for additional family visits in 

cases of humanitarian need; and increasing restrictions on educational and religious 

travel. 

• In 2004, Treasury and Commerce tightened restrictions on sending cash remittances 

and gift parcels to Cuba by restricting remittance recipients to include only 

immediate family; expanding the ban on remittances or gifts to senior Cuban 

government and Communist Party officials; drastically reducing the value of family 

remittances that travelers could carry to Cuba, from $3,000 to $300; and restricting 

the recipients and contents of gift parcels. 

• In 2005, responding to a 2004 request by U.S. financial institutions, Treasury amended 

the CACR to clarify TSRA’s requirement of payment of cash in advance as meaning 

that payment for agricultural exports to Cuba must be made prior to shipment. 

Figure 1 illustrates major events related to the embargo from its inception though 2008, 

including key administrative changes. 

 

11“Close relative” is defined as any individual related to the traveler by blood, marriage, or adoption who is 

no more than three generations removed from the traveler or from a common ancestor of the traveler (e.g., 

the traveler’s mother’s first cousin or the traveler’s husband’s great-grandson). Treasury’s definition of the 

term was the broadest definition to that date. 

12“Immediate family” is defined as a spouse, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, or sibling of the traveler 

or the traveler’s spouse, as well as any spouse, widow, or widower of any of the foregoing. 

7 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Figure 1: Major Events in the Development of the U.S. Economic Embargo on 

Cuba, 1960-2008 

Recent Regulatory Changes Have Eased Embargo Restrictions on Travel, 

Remittances, Gifts, and Exports 

In September 2009, Treasury and Commerce issued amended regulations for the Cuba 

embargo, implementing the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, enacted in March, and 

policy directives that the President announced in April.13 Several sections of the 2009 

Omnibus Appropriations Act mandate the easing of restrictions on travel and exports to 

 

13Treasury and Commerce issued final rules implementing the relevant provisions of the 2009 legislation 

and the presidential directives on September 3, 2009, and published the final rules on September 8, 2009. 

See 74 Federal Register 46000, September 8, 2009; and 74 Federal Register, 45985, September 8, 2009. 

8 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Cuba.14 The presidential policy directives were intended to ease or remove restrictions 

on family travel, cash remittances, and gift parcels and to authorize expande

telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba. (See app. II for more 

details.) 

d 

 

Family travel 

Responding to section 621 of the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act15 and to the 

presidential directive to remove all restrictions on family travel to Cuba, Treasury made 

the following changes, among others, in the CACR: 

• Authorized family travel under a general license. 

• Redefined family travel as including visits to close relatives—that is, related by blood, 

family, or marriage and no more than three generations removed from the traveler—

who are nationals of Cuba. 

• Removed limitations on the frequency and duration of visits to close relatives. 

• Increased family travelers’ allowed daily expenditures to the amount allowed for all 

other licensed travelers in Cuba.16

• Authorized any individual who shares, as a family, a common dwelling with an 

authorized traveler to accompany such traveler. 

In addition, implementing the presidential directive regarding family travel to Cuba, 

Commerce made the following change in the EAR: 

• Removed a 44-pound limit on personal baggage that travelers may carry to Cuba. 

14Section 620 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 amends TSRA to require Treasury to issue 

regulations authorizing by general license certain travel-related transactions for travel to, from, or within 

Cuba for the marketing and sale of agricultural and medical products; since 2004, the CACR had required a 

specific license for such transactions. Section 621 of the act prohibits funds made available under the act 

from being used to administer, implement, or enforce certain CACR provisions implemented in 2004 that, 

among other things, required a specific license for travel to Cuba by persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction to 

visit “immediate family” members who are nationals of Cuba. In addition, section 622 of the act prohibits 

funds made available under the act from being used to administer, implement, or enforce Treasury’s 2005 

amendment of the CACR, in which Treasury clarified the TSRA requirement of payment of cash in advance 

for agricultural exports to Cuba as meaning that such payments must be made prior to shipment. 

15Treasury’s regulatory changes issued on September 3, 2009, supersede changes that Treasury made in 

March 2009 to implement section 621 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. 

16The limit on authorized expenditures for family travelers in Cuba was changed from $50 per day to the 

Department of State’s maximum per diem for licensed travelers in Havana, which was $179 per day as of 

June 1, 2009. 

9 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Remittances 

Implementing presidential directives to remove restrictions on remittances to family 

members in Cuba, Treasury made the following changes, among others, in the CACR: 

• Authorized remittances to close relatives, provided no remittances are authorized to 

prohibited Cuban government officials or Cuban Communist Party officials. 

• Removed limitations on the amount and frequency of remittances. 

• Authorized family travelers to Cuba to carry up to $3,000 in remittances. 

• Authorized banks and other depository institutions to forward remittances under a 

general license. 

• Increased emigration-related remittances17 to Cuban citizens for travel to the United 

States to a total of $2,000. 

Gift parcels 

Implementing presidential directives to expand the scope of humanitarian donations 

eligible for export to Cuba through license exceptions, Commerce made the following 

changes, among others, in the EAR: 

• Restored to the list of items eligible for inclusion in gift parcel donations: clothing, 

personal hygiene items, seeds, veterinary medicines and supplies, fishing equipment 

and supplies, soap-making equipment, and items normally exchanged as gifts by 

individuals in “usual and reasonable” quantities. 

• Allowed any individual to donate gift parcels. 

• Expanded the scope of eligible gift parcel recipients to include (1) individuals other 

than Cuban government or Communist Party officials already prohibited from 

receiving gift parcels and (2) charitable, educational, or religious organizations not 

administered or controlled by the Cuban government. 

• Increased gift parcels’ value limit for nonfood items to $800 (food sent in a gift parcel 

continues to have no value limit). 

 

17Emigration-related remittances are remittances sent to Cuban nationals to enable the payees to emigrate 

from Cuba to the United States. Coverage of these remittances includes any preliminary expenses 

associated with such emigration, purchase of airline tickets, and payment of exit or third-country visa fees 

or other travel-related fees. 

10 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Telecommunications 

Implementing presidential directives to authorize greater telecommunications links with 

Cuba, Treasury made the following changes in the CACR: 

• Authorized licensed persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction to activate and pay U.S. and 

third-country service providers for telecommunications, satellite radio, and satellite 

television services provided to individuals in Cuba, so long as these services are not 

provided to certain Cuban government or Communist Party officials. 

• Authorized licensed U.S. telecommunications service providers to enter into, and 

operate under, roaming service agreements with Cuba’s telecommunications service 

providers. 

• Authorized licensed U.S. satellite radio and satellite television service providers to 

engage in transactions necessary to provide services to customers in Cuba. 

• Authorized telecommunications network providers to enter into agreements to 

establish fiber-optic cable and satellite telecommunications facilities linking the 

United States and Cuba. 

• Authorized, with certain conditions, travel-related transactions needed to implement 

licensed telecommunications transactions or to facilitate participation in 

telecommunications-related professional meetings. 

Also implementing the presidential directives regarding telecommunications links with 

Cuba, Commerce made the following change in the EAR: 

• Created a license exception authorizing, consistent with national security concerns, 

the export or re-export of donated personal communications devices such as mobile 

phone systems, computers and software, and satellite receivers. 

Travel-related transactions incident to TSRA sales 

Implementing section 620 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009, which amended 

section 910(a) of TSRA, Treasury made the following change in the CACR regarding 

travel-related transactions incident to agricultural and medical sales under TSRA. 

• Authorized, under a general license, with certain conditions, travel-related 

transactions directly incident to the commercial marketing, sales negotiation, 

accompanied delivery, or servicing in Cuba of agricultural commodities, medicine, or 

medical devices that appear consistent with Commerce’s export or reexport licensing 

policy. 

President Has Discretion to Further Ease Embargo Restrictions

The President has discretion to further ease CACR and EAR restrictions implementing 

the embargo. For example, the President can further ease restrictions on travel, 

remittances, and gift parcels beyond the changes recently implemented and can ease 

11 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
embargo restrictions on agricultural exports and vessels engaging in trade by taking the 

following actions: 

Travel

• Authorize travel to Cuba under a general license for travelers currently permitted to 

travel only under a specific license. Such travelers include, for example, freelance 

journalists; professional researchers undertaking research or professionals attending 

professional meetings and not qualifying for a general license; and enrolled students 

and full-time employees of academic institutions participating in educational 

activities. 

• Authorize a further increase in allowed daily expenditures for travelers visiting family 

in Cuba. 

Remittances

• Authorize a further increase in family remittances beyond the $3,000 that travelers 

may now carry to Cuba. 

• Authorize a further increase in emigration-related remittances to Cuban citizens for 

travel to the United States, to the extent that any such increases reflect, in 

compliance with section 1706(c) of the CDA, “reasonable costs” associated with 

travel by Cubans to the United States.

Gift parcels

• Further expand the list of items eligible for inclusion in gift parcels sent to Cuba. 

• Further increase the value of gift parcels. 

Vessels engaging in trade

• Authorize, under a general license, entry into a U.S. port by vessels that have entered 

a Cuban port within the previous 180 days to load or unload approved freight.18

 

18This change would be consistent with section 1706(b) of the CDA, which prohibits a vessel trading with 

Cuba from entering a U.S. port to load or unload freight for 180 days after leaving a Cuban port except 

under a Treasury license (without specifying whether the license should be general or specific). 

12 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
President Can Suspend, or Must End, the Embargo if Cuba Makes Certain 

Political Reforms 

Although the President is able to further ease the CACR and EAR embargo restrictions, 

under LIBERTAD he cannot suspend or completely eliminate the CACR and EAR 

restrictions without determining that a transition government or a democratically elected 

government is in power in Cuba. Section 204(a) of LIBERTAD authorizes the President 

to suspend the embargo, including the CACR and EAR restrictions as well as certain 

embargo-related statutory provisions, if he determines that a transition government is in 

place in Cuba. In addition, section 204(c) of the act requires the President to end the 

embargo and provides generally for automatic termination of embargo-related statutory 

provisions if the President determines that a democratically elected Cuban government 

is in power.19

• Determination of a transition government. Section 204(a) of LIBERTAD provides 

that if the President determines that a transition Cuban government is in power, he is 

authorized to take steps to suspend the economic embargo, including suspending 

enforcement of the CACR restrictions. In taking steps to suspend the embargo, he 

also may suspend enforcement of the following provisions: 

• Sections 620(a) and (f) of the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibit U.S. 

assistance to the “present” Cuban government and also to Cuba as a Communist 

country. 

• Sections 1704, 1705(d), and 1706 of the CDA, which authorize sanctions against 

countries providing assistance to Cuba; require verification by onsite inspection 

and other appropriate means that exports of medicines and medical supplies to 

Cuba are used for the purposes intended and only for the benefit of the Cuban 

people; restrict the licensing of trade between U.S. foreign subsidiaries and Cuba; 

restrict entry into U.S. ports of vessels trading with Cuba; and restrict remittances 

for financing travel by Cuban nationals to the United States. 

• Section 902(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985, which disallows any U.S. sugar 

import quota to any country that cannot verify that it does not import Cuban sugar 

for re-export to the United States. 

Under section 204(a) of LIBERTAD, the President is not required to suspend the 

embargo, the CACR restrictions, or the specified statutes; he also is not required to 

adhere to a specified time frame if he chooses to make any such suspensions. In this 

regard, it appears that the President has considerable discretion under section 204(a) 

 

19The CDA also contains provisions, similar in certain respects to those in LIBERTAD, concerning 

presidential determinations and assistance regarding Cuba. However, these CDA provisions may have been 

superseded by the more explicit provisions of sections 202, 203, and 204 of LIBERTAD, which authorize 

U.S. assistance to Cuba and specify the reforms that Cuba must undertake to have in place a transition or 

democratically elected government before the embargo can be lifted and Cuba can receive such assistance. 

According to Commerce, none of these measures would result in the complete elimination of EAR 

restrictions on Cuba, since EAR restrictions apply in some manner to all countries in the world. 

13 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
to suspend the embargo in a phased, incremental manner as he so determines, if he 

makes the requisite findings. 

• Determination of a democratically elected government. Section 204(c) of LIBERTAD 

provides that if the President determines that a democratically elected Cuban 

government is in power, he “shall take steps to terminate the economic embargo,” 

including the CACR restrictions. Once he makes such a determination, the previously 

mentioned provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act, the CDA, and the Food Security 

Act of 1985 are automatically repealed or amended.20 Although a presidential 

determination under section 204(c) requires the President to begin ending the 

embargo, section 204(c) leaves to his discretion the specific actions to be taken 

(other than the automatic repeal of certain statutory provisions) and the timing of the 

embargo’s termination. 

It should be noted that none of the provisions of TSRA, which was enacted after 

LIBERTAD, are among the specified statutes that the President is authorized to suspend 

or that are automatically repealed upon a presidential determination of a transition 

Cuban government or a democratically elected Cuban government. Therefore, TSRA and 

other statutory provisions not specifically mentioned in sections 204(a) and (c) of 

LIBERTAD would presumably not be affected by any such presidential determinations. 

Absent Presidential Determination, Congressional Actions Are Required to End 

the Embargo

Absent a presidential determination of a democratically elected Cuban government, as 

provided under section 204(c) of LIBERTAD, the President could end the embargo only 

if Congress were to amend or repeal LIBERTAD and other embargo-related statutes, 

including the following key provisions in the Foreign Assistance Act, the Food Security 

Act of 1985, the CDA, the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1999, and TSRA. 

Foreign Assistance Act 

• Section 620(a)(1), which prohibits the furnishing of U.S. assistance to the “present 

government” of Cuba, and authorizes the President to establish a total embargo on 

trade with Cuba as a means of carrying out the assistance prohibition. 

• Section 620(a)(2), which denies Cuba’s right to a quota for importing sugar into the 

U.S. or any other benefit under U.S. law until the President determines that Cuba has 

taken appropriate steps under international law standards to return confiscated 

property to U.S. persons or provide equitable compensation. 

 

20Section 620(f) of the Foreign Assistance Act is not repealed but amended, by removing Cuba from the list 

of Communist countries prohibited from receiving U.S. assistance. 

14 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
• Section 620(f), which specifically lists Cuba as a Communist country prohibited from 

receiving U.S. assistance.21

Food Security Act of 1985 

• Section 902(c), which prohibits any sugar import quota to a country that cannot 

verify that it does not import Cuban sugar for re-export to the United States. 

Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 

• Sections 1705(c) and (d), which require that exports of medicines or medical 

supplies, instruments, or equipment to Cuba meet the following conditions: 

(1) they must be made under a specific license; 

(2) they must not be restricted except to the extent permitted under Section 5(m) of 

the Export Administration Act or Section 203(b)(2) of the International 

Emergencies Economic Powers Act (IEEPA);22

(3) there must be no reasonable likelihood that they will be used for torture or other 

human rights abuses or be re-exported; 

(4) they cannot be used in the production of any biotechnological product; and 

(5) the U.S. government must be able to verify, by onsite inspection and other 

appropriate means, their use for intended purposes and for the benefit of the 

Cuban people (except humanitarian donations of medicines to nongovernmental 

organizations in Cuba). 

• Section 1705(e), which authorizes telecommunications facilities of a quantity and 

quality as may be necessary to provide “efficient and adequate” telecommunications 

services between the United States and Cuba and clarifies that CDA does not 

authorize any U.S. person to invest, either directly or indirectly, in the domestic 

telecommunications network in Cuba. 

• Section 1706(a), which prohibits the issuance of licenses for certain transactions 

involving foreign produced goods being sent to Cuba from abroad by foreign 

companies that are U.S. owned or controlled (except donations of food, exports of 

medicines and medical supplies, instruments, or equipment, and the exportation of 

 

21Other examples of restrictions on foreign assistance to Cuba in the Foreign Assistance Act can be found 

in sections 620(e), 620(t), and 620A. According to State, other authorities in the Foreign Assistance Act that 

could permit some forms of assistance to Cuba include sections 104(c)(4), 481(a)(4), and 491(b). 

22The Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended, controls dual-use exports that may be used for either 

civilian or military purposes and is administered by Commerce. The act authorizes export controls to be 

used only after full consideration of the impact on the economy and only to the extent necessary to, among 

other things, restrict the export of goods and technology where necessary to further U.S. foreign policy. 

Although the Export Administration Act was allowed to expire on August 21, 2001, its provisions and the 

EAR issued under the act have been maintained in force under the IEEPA by Executive Order 13222 of 

August 17, 2001. 

15 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
telecommunications equipment necessary for efficient and adequate 

telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba under sections 

1705 and 1707). 

• Sections 1706(b),23 which prohibits a vessel trading with Cuba from entering a U.S. 

port to load or unload freight for 180 days after leaving a Cuban port and prohibits a 

vessel carrying goods or passengers to or from Cuba from entering a U.S. port, unless 

either such vessel is authorized by a specific license. 

• Section 1706(c), which requires the President to establish strict limits on emigration 

remittances to ensure that they reflect the “reasonable costs” associated with travel 

by Cubans to the United States. 

Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1999 

• Section 211, which prohibits U.S. courts from considering or enforcing trademark 

claims of Cuban nationals or their successors in interest regarding property 

confiscated by the Cuban government. 

Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000

• Section 906, which allows the export of agricultural commodities to Cuba as a state 

sponsor of terrorism, but only where such exports are authorized under 1-year 

licenses for contracts entered into during the 1-year period of the contract and 

shipped within the 12-month period beginning on the date the contract is signed. 

• Section 908(b)(1), which requires “payment of cash in advance”24 or third-country 

financing for exports to Cuba of agricultural commodities. 

• Section 910(b), which prohibits persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction from traveling to 

Cuba for tourist activities. 

 

23According to Treasury, the amendment or repeal of this section could remove any ambiguity regarding 

the restrictions intended by Congress related to vessel transactions. Treasury believes, however, that 

because section 1706(b) explicitly grants Treasury licensing authority, as a technical legal matter, these 

transactions could be authorized without congressional action. 

24TSRA does not define “payment of cash in advance,” and both the Bush and Obama administrations have 

interpreted the phrase to mean that payment of sales of agricultural commodities to Cuba must be received 

by the seller or the seller’s agent prior to shipment of the goods from the port at which they are loaded. 

During the Bush administration, Treasury amended the CACR in 2005 to clarify the meaning of the term in 

response to a 2004 request by U.S. financial institutions for Treasury guidance on the meaning of “payment 

of cash in advance” under TSRA. (See 70 Federal Register 9225, February 25, 2005.) Congress attempted to 

prevent further implementation of Treasury’s 2005 regulatory clarification by enacting section 622 of the 

2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which prohibited any funds made available under the act from being 

“used to administer, implement, or enforce” the 2005 regulatory clarification. However, in March 2009, 

Treasury took the position that section 622 referred only to the regulatory clarification and did not amend 

TSRA’s statutory language requiring cash in advance. On March 16, 2009, H.R. 1531 was introduced in the 

111th Cong. 1st Sess., to clarify the meaning of “payment of cash in advance” under TSRA by defining that 

phrase to mean “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.” 

16 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
17 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba

Enclosure II provides a detailed listing of the key legal and regulatory authorities for the 

U.S. embargo on Cuba. Enclosure III lists selected GAO and Congressional Research 

Service products related to the U.S. embargo on Cuba. 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 

We provided a draft of this correspondence to the Departments of Commerce, Homeland 

Security, State, and the Treasury, which provided legal and technical corrections. We 

incorporated these corrections as appropriate. 

- - - - - - - - - - 

As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce its contents earlier, we plan 

no further distribution of this correspondence until 30 days after the date of this 

correspondence. At that time, we will send copies of this correspondence to the 

Secretaries of Commerce, Homeland Security, State, and the Treasury and interested 

congressional committees. This correspondence will be available at no charge on the 

GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov. 

If you or your staff have any questions about this correspondence, please contact me at 

(202) 512-3149 or gootnickd@gao.gov. Contact points for our offices of Congressional 

Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this correspondence. GAO 

staff who made significant contributions to this correspondence are listed in enclosure 

IV. 

David Gootnick 

Director, International Affairs and Trade 
18 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba

Enclosure I: Scope and Methodology 

To help identify laws and regulations establishing the embargo, we reviewed 

congressional reports as well as studies by academic and policy research institutes 

addressing the legal framework of the embargo. Based on this review, as well as our past 

work and independent research, we compiled a list of key laws, proclamations, and 

regulations that form the legal basis of the embargo. We presented this list to the 

Departments of Commerce, Homeland Security, State, and the Treasury for verification 

and for discussion with the agencies’ attorneys and policy staff regarding the agencies’ 

respective roles in implementing the embargo. We also conducted a legal analysis of the 

key statutes and regulations to identify further actions that the President may take to 

ease the embargo and actions that Congress may take to terminate the embargo absent 

certain statutorily required presidential determinations. We asked each agency to 

identify any gaps in our discussion of the embargo and to raise any concerns about our 

analysis of potential presidential and congressional actions. The agencies provided legal 

and technical corrections to a draft version of this document, which we incorporated in 

the document as appropriate. 

In conducting our work, we recognized that the U.S. embargo on Cuba encompasses 

legal and regulatory restraints on a wide range of U.S.-Cuba relations, including trade, 

diplomacy, foreign assistance, and immigration. We also recognized that the Cuban 

Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 defines the term “economic 

embargo of Cuba” as referring to all restrictions on trade or transactions with Cuba; 

travel to or from Cuba; and transactions in property in which Cuba or Cuban nationals 

have an interest, that were in effect as of March 1, 1996, and imposed under various 

statutes. Based on these considerations and discussions with congressional staff, our 

correspondence focuses on specific statutes, regulations, and executive actions imposing 

comprehensive restrictions on trade, travel, and financial transactions between persons 

subject to U.S. jurisdiction and Cuba or Cuban nationals. We did not review agency 

performance or provide recommendations to the agencies. 

We conducted our work from January to September 2009 and in accordance with all 

sections of GAO’s Quality Assurance Framework that are relevant to our objectives. The 

framework requires that we plan and perform the engagement to obtain sufficient and 

appropriate evidence to meet our stated objectives and to discuss any limitations in our 

work. We believe that the information and data we obtained, and the analysis we 

conducted, provide a reasonable basis for any findings and conclusions in this product. 
Enclosure II: Key Legal and Regulatory Authorities for U.S. Embargo on Cuba 

Legal and 

regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Trading With 

the Enemy Act 

of 1917 

(TWEA), 

section 5(b) 

Conferred broad authority on the President to impose comprehensive 

embargoes on foreign countries during states of war (as originally enacted) or 

presidentially declared national emergency (as subsequently amended); allows 

the President great discretion in making changes to embargo restrictions. 

Section 5(b) of TWEA was further amended in 1977 by the International 

Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to again limit the President’s 

authority to impose embargo only in times of war, but allowed continuation of 

President’s national emergency authority as exercised with respect to the 

current embargo of Cuba (i.e., “grandfathered” in). (50 USC App. 5(b)) 

Foreign 

Assistance Act 

of 1961 (FAA), 

as amended, 

section 620(a) 

Prohibited furnishing any U.S. foreign assistance to the “present government” 

of Cuba and authorized the President to establish a total embargo on trade 

with Cuba as a means of carrying out assistance prohibition. (22 USC 

2370(a)(1)) 

Except as deemed necessary by the President in the interests of the United 

States, prohibited assistance to “any government” of Cuba and denied Cuba’s 

right to quota for importing sugar into the United States or any other benefit 

under U.S. law until the President determines Cuba has taken appropriate 

steps under international law standards to return confiscated property to U.S. 

persons or provide equitable compensation. (22 USC 2370(a)(2)) 

Presidential 

Proclamation 

3447, issued 

pursuant to 

section 620(a) 

of FAA 

Proclaimed an embargo on trade between the United States and Cuba by 

• prohibiting the import of Cuban goods and goods imported through Cuba 

into the United States and directing the Treasury Secretary to implement 

the prohibition; and 

• directing the Secretary of Commerce, under the Export Control Act, to 

continue carrying out the prohibition on U.S. exports to Cuba, and continue 

making, modifying, or revoking exceptions to the prohibition. 

Food Security 

Act of 1985, 

section 902(c) 

Required the President to not allocate any sugar import quota to a country 

unless it verifies to the President that it does not import Cuban sugar for reexport to the United States. (7 USC 1446 note) 

Cuban 

Democracy Act 

of 1992 (CDA) 

Allowed sanctions to be imposed against countries that provide assistance to 

Cuba. (Section 1704(b), 22 USC 6003(b)) 

Allowed exports of medicines or medical supplies, instruments, or equipment 

under specific licenses to Cuba, and requires the ability for U.S. verification, 

19 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Legal and 

regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

through on-site inspection and other means, that such items are used for 

purposes intended and for the benefit and use of the Cuban people. (Section 

1705(c) and (d); 22 USC 6004(c) and (d)) 

Prohibited restrictions on exports to Cuba of donations of food to 

nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or individuals and lifted on-site 

verification requirements for licenses authorizing the export of donated 

medicines to NGOs for humanitarian purposes. (Section 1705(b) and (d); 22 

USC 6004(b) and (d)) 

Authorized telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba, 

and telecommunications facilities as necessary to provide efficient and 

adequate telecommunications services between United States and Cuba (but 

as of 1996, clarified that this was not an authorization for U.S. persons to 

invest in the Cuban domestic telecommunications network); allowed the 

licensing of payments to Cuban government for such services. (Section 

1705(e); 22 USC 6004(e), as amended by section 102(g) of Public Law 104-114 

(03/12/96) and implemented by 15 CFR 746.2(b)(2)) 

Prohibited the issuance of licenses for certain transactions involving foreign 

produced goods being sent to Cuba from abroad by foreign companies that are 

U.S. owned or controlled (except for donations of food, exports of medicines 

and medical supplies, and the exportation of telecommunications equipment 

necessary for efficient and adequate telecommunications services between the 

United States and Cuba under sections 1705 and 1707). (Section 1706(a); 22 

USC 6005(a), and implemented by 31 CFR 515.559) 

Prohibited, unless licensed by Treasury, any vessels trading with Cuba from 

loading or unloading freight at U.S. ports for 180 days after leaving a Cuban 

port. (Section 1706(b)(1); 22 USC 6005(b)(1)) 

Prohibited, unless licensed by Treasury, any vessels from entering U.S. ports if 

carrying goods or passengers to or from Cuba or if carrying goods in which 

Cuba otherwise has an interest. (Section 1706(b)(2); 22 USC 6005(b)(2)) 

Prohibited use of ship stores general license to export commodities to vessels 

carrying goods or passengers to and from Cuba, or carrying goods in which 

Cuba or a Cuban national has an interest. (Section 1706(b)(3); 22 USC 

6005(b)(3)) 

Required the President to establish strict limits on remittances to Cuba for 

purposes of financing travel by Cuban nationals to the United States. (Section 

1706(c); 22 USC 6005(c)) 

20 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Legal and 

regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Allowed food, medicine, and medical supplies to be available for Cuba for 

humanitarian purposes under FAA and the Agricultural Trade Development 

and Assistance Act of 1954, if the President determines and certifies to certain 

congressional committees that the government in power in Cuba (1) has made 

public commitment to free elections for a new government within 6 months 

and is proceeding to implementation; (2) has made public commitment to 

respect, and is respecting, internationally recognized human rights and basic 

democratic freedoms; and (3) is not providing weapons or funds to any group 

in another country seeking violent overthrow of that country’s government. 

(Section 1707; 22 USC 6006) 

Provided that the President may waive requirements in Section 1706 (22 USC 

6005) concerning prohibitions on exports by U.S. foreign subsidiaries, entry of 

vessels, and amounts of emigration-related remittances, if he determines and 

reports to Congress that Cuban government (1) has held internationally 

observed free and fair elections, (2) permitted ample time for opposition 

parties to organize and campaign, and permitted all candidates full access to 

media, (3) is showing respect for Cuban citizens’ basic civil liberties and 

human rights, (4) is moving toward establishing free market economic system, 

and (5) has committed to constitutional change that ensures regular free and 

fair elections. (Section 1708(a); 22 USC 6007(a)) 

Provided that where the President makes a determination under Section 

1708(a), the President shall, with respect to a freely and fairly elected Cuban 

government, (1) encourage admission or re-entry of such government to 

international organizations and international financial institutions; (2) provide 

emergency relief to Cuba during its transition to a viable economic system; 

and (3) “take steps to end the United States trade embargo of Cuba.” (Section 

1708(b); 22 USC 6007(b)) 

Required the Treasury Secretary to exercise TWEA authorities in enforcing 

the CDA, and authorizes the Secretary to impose civil penalties on TWEA 

violators. (Section 1710; 22 USC 6009) 

The Cuban 

Liberty and 

Democratic 

Solidarity 

(LIBERTAD) 

Act of 1996 or 

Helms-Burton 

Act) 

Defined and codified the embargo as including all restrictions on trade and 

transactions with Cuba imposed by the Cuban Assets Control Regulations 

(CACR), section 620(a) of the FAA, section 5(b) of TWEA, CDA, and section 

902(c) of the Food Security Act. (Section 4(7) and 102(h); 22 USC 6023(7) and 

6032(h)) 

Increased civil penalties under the TWEA for violations of licenses, orders, 

rules, or regulations implementing the embargo. (Section 102(d); 22 USC 

6032(d)) 

21 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Legal and 

regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Clarified that the CDA’s authorization for telecommunication facilities was not 

an authorization for U.S. persons to invest in the domestic 

telecommunications network within Cuba. (Section 102(g), amending section 

1705(e) of the CDA (22USC 6004(e)(5)) 

Allowed U.S. nationals whose property was confiscated by the Cuban 

government a right of action to seek compensation in federal court from those 

who “traffic” in such property. (Title III, sections 301-306; 22 USC 6081-6085) 

The President may suspend the right to bring such suits for a successive 6 

month periods if he determines such suspensions to be in the U.S. national 

interest and will expedite Cuba’s transition to democracy (the President has 

exercised this suspension since LIBERTAD’s enactment). (Section 306; 22 

USC 6085) 

Authorized the Secretary of State to deny any visas to, and the Attorney 

General to exclude from the United States, any alien the Secretary determines 

has confiscated or “trafficked” in property owned by a U.S. national. (Section 

401; 22 USC 6091) 

Codified the embargo, directing that it should remain in effect, subject to 

Section 204, which authorized the President to take steps to suspend the 

embargo after making a determination that a transition government is in 

power in Cuba. Also requires the President to take steps to terminate the 

embargo after determining that there is a democratically elected Cuban 

government. (Section 102(h); 22 USC 6032(h)) 

Prohibited U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and agencies from financing any 

transaction in Cuba involving confiscated property of a U.S. national. This 

prohibition (1) may be suspended by the President upon determination that a 

Cuban transition government is in power or (2) terminates when the embargo 

is terminated as provided in Section 204. (Section 103; 22 USC 6033) 

Authorized the President to take steps to suspend the embargo only after 

making determinations to appropriate congressional committees that a 

transition government (which does not include either Fidel or Raul Castro) is 

in power; such steps include suspending enforcement of sections 620(a) and 

(f) of the FAA and sections 1704, 1705(d), and 1706 of the CDA, as well as the 

CACR restrictions; Congress retained right to overturn the President’s 

suspension by passing a joint-resolution. (Section 204(a), (b), (e); 22 USC 

6064(a), (b), (e). See also Section 205(a)(7); 22 USC 6065(a)(7)) 

Required the President to take steps to terminate the embargo after making 

determinations to appropriate congressional committees that a democratically 

elected Cuban government is in power; steps to terminate the embargo 

22 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Legal and 

regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

include: terminating CACR restrictions; upon such determination, section 

620(a) of the FAA; sections 1704, 1705(d), and 1706 of the CDA; and section 

902(c) of Food Security Act of 1985 are automatically repealed; and section 

620(f) of the FAA is automatically amended to remove Cuba from list of 

communist countries prohibited from receiving U.S. assistance. (Section 

204(c) and (d), 22 USC 6064(c) and (d)) 

Omnibus 

Appropriations 

Act, 1999, 

Section 211 

Prohibited U.S. courts from considering or enforcing trademark claims of 

Cuban national, or their successors in interest, regarding property confiscated 

by the Cuban government. 

CACR provides general license authorizing transactions related to registration 

and renewal of patents, trademarks, and copyrights in which the Cuban 

government or a Cuban national has interest. The scope of general license is 

limited, and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) retains 

authority to issue specific license should facts and circumstances and current 

U.S. policy militate in favor of authorizing a transaction that does not qualify 

for general license. (31 CFR 515.527(a),(b)) 

The Trade 

Sanctions 

Reform and 

Export 

Enhancement 

Act of 2000 

(TSRA) 

Prohibited the President, by its terms, from imposing new unilateral 

agricultural and medical sanctions against Cuba unless approved by a 

congressional joint resolution, and required termination of existing unilateral 

agricultural or medical sanctions (but leaving the CDA medical export 

requirements in place) unless continued by a congressional joint resolution, as 

requested by President. (Sections 903, 905; 22 USC 7202,7204) 

Authorized, by its terms, exports of agricultural commodities, medicine, and 

medical devices to Cuba and to other countries designated as state sponsors 

of terrorism, pursuant to one-year license and other licensing requirements. 

(Section 906(a)(1), 22 USC 7205(a)(1), as implemented by 31 CFR 515.533 and 

15 CFR 740.12, 740.18 and 746.2(b)(1),(4)) 

Note: According to Treasury and Commerce, due to phrasing of TSRA, it 

does not affect medical exports to Cuba under the CDA since it did not 

amend or supersede the CDA’s export licensing requirements. Therefore, 

medical exports are not eligible for export or re-export to Cuba under 

TSRA procedures and require licenses authorized under the CDA. See 66 

Federal Register 36678, July 12, 2001. 

Prohibited U.S. government assistance for financing exports to Cuba. 

(Sections 908(a)(1), 22 USC 7207(a)(1)) 

Prohibited U.S. private commercial payments or financing for sale of 

agricultural commodities or products to Cuba, except where payment is cash23 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Legal and 

regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

in-advance (before shipment leaves U.S. port) or financing is from 3rd country 

financing institutions (where financing may be confirmed or advised by U.S. 

financing institution). (Section 908(b)(1), 22 USC 7207(b)(1); 31 CFR 

515.533(a)(2)). Regulation implementing cash-in-advance requirement remains 

unchanged, notwithstanding section 622 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 

2009, which was intended to prohibit enforcement of regulatory requirement. 

According to Treasury, section 622, while prohibiting Treasury enforcement of 

regulation during fiscal year 2009, did not change TSRA’s statutory language 

requiring cash-in-advance. 

Required the Treasury Secretary to authorize travel by specific license to, 

from, and within Cuba for commercial export sale of agricultural 

commodities. (Section 910(a), 22 USC 7209(a), as implemented by 31 CFR 

515.533(e)). Section 620 of the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act amended 

TSRA by requiring the Treasury Secretary to promulgate regulations 

authorizing such travel and travel-related transactions by general license.

Prohibited licensing of travel to, from, and within Cuba for tourist activities, 

defined as any activity not expressly authorized in the 12 travel categories 

specified in section 515.560(a) of CACR. (Section 910(b), 22 USC 7209(b)) 

Cuban Assets 

Control 

Regulations, 31 

CFR Part 515, 

regarding all 

transactions, 

including 

travel, trade, 

and financial 

transactions, 

related to Cuba 

(issued under 

authority of 

TWEA) 

TRAVEL

Family travel

Section 621 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009, prohibits funds made 

available under the act from being used to administer, implement, or enforce 

certain CACR provisions implemented in 2004 that, among other things, 

required a specific license for travel to Cuba by persons subject to U.S. 

jurisdiction to visit “immediate family” members who are nationals of Cuba. 

On April 13, 2009, the President issued a policy directive to remove all 

restrictions on family travel to Cuba. On September 3, 2009, OFAC issued a 

final rule amending the CACR provisions to implement section 621 and the 

President’s directive. 

Under these regulatory changes, travel to Cuba is authorized under a general 

license for persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction to visit a “close relative” 

(defined as any individual related to the traveler by blood, marriage or 

adoption, who is no more than three generations removed from a common 

ancestor with the traveler) who is (1) a Cuban national or (2) a U.S. 

government employee assigned to the U.S. Interest Section in Havana. (31 

CFR 515.61(a)(1),(2)) 

24 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Legal and 

regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Under the general license for a licensed family traveler or any individual 

accompanying a licensed traveler all transportation-related expenses incident 

to travel to and from (not within) Cuba are authorized; and the authorized 

expenditures within Cuba are the same as for a non-family traveler, which is 

the State Department per diem rate for Havana (currently $179 as of June 1, 

2009. (31 CFR 515.560(c )(1),(2) and 515.56(a)(1),(2)) 

Travel is authorized by specific license on a case by case basis for a person 

subject to U.S. jurisdiction who shares a common dwelling with the licensed 

traveler to visit a “close relative” who is neither a Cuban national nor a U.S. 

government employee assigned to the U.S. interest section in Havana. All 

transportation-related expenses to and from Cuba are authorized, and 

expenditures in Cuba are the same as for a non-family traveler, which is the 

Department of State per diem rate for Havana. (31 CFR 515.561(b))

Official government business

Travel authorized under general license for officials of the U.S. Government, 

foreign governments, and certain intergovernmental organizations traveling 

to, from, and within Cuba on official business; travel-related expenditures at 

State Department per diem rate. (31 CFR §§ 515.560(a)(2) and (c) and 515.562)

Journalistic activities

Travel authorized under general license for persons regularly employed as 

journalists by a news reporting organization or by persons regularly employed 

as supporting broadcast or technical personnel; travel-related expenditures at 

State Department per diem rate. 

Travel under specific license allowed for freelance journalists; travel-related 

expenditures at State Department per diem rate. (31 CFR §§ 515.560(a)(3) and 

(c) and 515.563) 

Professional research and meetings

Travel authorized under general license for full-time professionals conducting 

noncommercial, academic research in their professional areas that have 

substantial likelihood of public dissemination; full-time professionals 

attending professional meetings or conferences organized by international 

professional organizations that regularly sponsor such events in other 

countries; or employees of telecommunications service providers subject to 

U.S. jurisdiction, attending professional meetings for commercial 

telecommunications transactions. 

25 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Legal and 

regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Travel under specific license allowed for professional researchers undertaking 

research or for professionals attending professional meetings and not 

qualifying for the general license. (31 CFR §§ 515.560(a)(4) and 515.564) 

Educational activities

Travel under specific institutional license issued for up to a one-year period 

allowed for enrolled students and full-time employees of academic institutions 

to participate in educational activities, including structured educational 

programs (not less than 10 weeks in duration), noncommercial research 

regarding Cuba, participating in a formal course of study in Cuba for credit 

towards a degree at the licensed institution, or teaching. (31 CFR §§ 

515.560(a)(5) and 515.565) 

Religious activities

Travel under specific license allowed for members of U.S. religious 

organizations undertaking religious activities. For congregational 

organizations, the number of travelers or frequency of trips is not limited; noncongregational organizations are limited to 25 individuals per trip and one trip 

per calendar quarter. (31 CFR §§ 515.560(a)(6) and 515.566; OFAC 

Comprehensive Guidelines for License Applications to Engage in TravelRelated Transactions Involving Cuba, p. 40, as amended March 31, 2005.) 

Public performances, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions

Travel under specific license allowed for amateur and semi-professional 

athletes selected by U.S. sports federations to participate in competitions 

under the auspices of international sports federations, where the competition 

is open for attendance and, where relevant, participation by the Cuban public; 

for participation in public performances, athletic, and other competitions and 

exhibitions, which must be open for attendance and, in relevant situations, 

participation by the Cuban public and any profits must be donated to 

independent Cuban NGOs or U.S.-based charities. (31 CFR §§ 515.560(a)(7) & 

515.567) 

Support for the Cuban people

Travel under specific license allowed for activities of recognized human rights 

organizations; activities of independent organizations designed to promote the 

transition to democracy; and activities of individuals and NGOs that promote 

independent activity intended to strengthen civil society in Cuba. (31 CFR §§ 

515.560(a)(8) and 515.574) 

26 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
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regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Humanitarian projects

Travel under specific license allowed to engage in humanitarian projects in or 

related to Cuba (and not otherwise covered by the CACR), such as medical 

and health-related projects, environmental projects, projects involving 

nonformal educational training, community-based grassroots projects, 

projects suitable for development of small-scale enterprise, projects related to 

agriculture and rural development, and projects to meet basic human needs. 

(31 CFR §§ 515.560(a)(9) & 515.575) 

Activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes

Travel under specific license allowed for activities of private foundations and 

research or educational institutes with established interest in international 

relations to collect information related to Cuba for noncommercial purposes. 

(31 CFR §§ 515.560(a)(10) & 515.576) 

Exportation, importation, or transmission of information or 

informational materials

Informational materials includes items such as publications, films, posters, 

photograph records, photographs, microfilm, microfiche, tapes, computer 

discs, CD ROMs, artworks, and newswire feeds. (31 CFR 515.332) 

Travel transactions related to the exportation, importation, or transmission of 

information or informational materials are allowed under specific license. 

Payments owed to Cuba resulting from telecommunications services also 

require authorization by specific license. (31 CFR §§ 515.560(a)(11) & 

515.545), implementing sec. 5(b)(4) of TWEA, 50 USC App. 5(b)(4)) 

Certain export transactions licensed under existing Department of 

Commerce regulations with respect to Cuba or engaged in by U.S.-

owned or controlled foreign firms

Travel allowed under specific license for persons involved in activities related 

to marketing, sales, negotiation accompanied by delivery, or servicing of 

exports to Cuba authorized by Commerce, or such activities allowed by U.S.-

owned or controlled foreign firms. (31 CFR §§ 515.560(a)(12), 515.533 & 

515.559) 

27 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
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authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Section 620 of the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which amended section 

910(a) of TSRA, required OFAC to authorize by general license travel to, from, 

and within Cuba for the marketing and sale of U.S. agricultural and medical 

goods. To implement section 620, Treasury amended the CACR at 31 CFR 

515.533(e). 

Based on these changes, travel-related transactions directly incident to the 

commercial marketing, sales negotiation, accompanied delivery, or servicing 

in Cuba of agricultural commodities, medicine, or medical devices that appear 

consistent with the export or re-export licensing policy of Commerce are 

authorized by general license under certain conditions. (31 CFR 515.533(e); 

see also 31 CFR 515.560(c).) 

Travel-related transactions incident to the provision of 

telecommunications services

Treasury amended various provisions of the CACR to implement the 

President’s April 3, 2009, directives related to increasing the flow of 

information to the Cuban people by authorizing certain telecommunications 

services, contracts, related payments, and travel-related transactions. 

All transactions by a telecommunications service provider subject to U.S. 

jurisdiction are authorized by general license. Such transactions include 

payments incident to (1) the provision of telecommunications between the 

United States and Cuba; (2) the provision of satellite television services to 

Cuba; and (3) entry into, and performance under, roaming service agreements 

with telecommunications service providers in Cuba. (31 CFR 515.543(b)) 

All persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are authorized by general license to 

enter into, and make payments under, contracts (including contracts for 

cellular telephone services) with non-Cuban telecommunications service 

providers or particular individuals in Cuba, provided such individual owning 

and using a phone subject to the service contract is not a Cuban government 

or Communist Party official. (31 CFR 515.543(c)) 

Transactions incident to the establishment of facilities to provide 

telecommunications services linking the United States and Cuba, including 

fiber-optic cable and satellite telecommunications service are authorized by 

general license. (31 CFR 515.542(d)(1)) 

Transactions incident to the establishment of facilities to provide 

telecommunications services linking third countries to Cuba may be 

authorized by specific license, provided such facilities are necessary to 

provide efficient and effective telecommunications services between the 

United States and Cuba. (31 CFR 515.542(d)(2)) 

28 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Legal and 

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authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Travel-related transactions directly incident to participation in professional 

meetings for the commercial marketing of sales negotiations for, or 

performance under contracts for the provision of telecommunications 

services or the establishment of facilities to provide such services, is 

authorized under general license. (31 CFR 515.564(a)(3)) 

Travel-related transactions directly incident to the commercial marketing, 

sales negotiation, accompanied delivery, or servicing in Cuba of 

telecommunications-related items authorized for commercial export or reimport to Cuba by Commerce, are authorized by general license under certain 

conditions. (31 CFR 515.533(f)) 

See also Commerce’s recently revised licensing policy regarding 

telecommunications, implemented to carry out the President’s April 13, 2009 

directive to increase the flow of information between the United States and 

Cuba through satellite radio and television services to customers in Cuba. (15 

CFR 746.2(b)(2) 

Tourism

Prohibited by law, under section 910(b) of TSRA, and defined as any activity 

not expressly authorized in the travel categories specified in section 

515.560(a) of CACR. (31 CFR 515.201 contains a general prohibition which 

implements the ban on engaging in tourist-related travel activities.) 

Cuban Assets 

Control 

Regulations (31 

CFR 515 et 

seq.) 

REMITTANCES 

The President’s memorandum of April 3, 2009 directed the Secretary of the 

Treasury to take necessary steps to remove restrictions on remittance in a 

number of ways to implement the President’s directive. The Secretary 

amended various provisions of the CACR affecting the amount and frequency 

of household remittances, emigration-related remittances, and remittance 

forwarders. 

Family and household remittances

Persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are authorized under a general license to 

make remittances without limitations on amount or frequency to Cuban 

nationals who are “close relatives,” if such remittances are not made (1) from 

blocked accounts, (2) to prohibited Cuban government or Communist Party 

officials, or (3) for immigration-related purposes. (31 CFR 515.570(d) 

The total of all family household remittances that a licensed traveler is 

authorized to carry to Cuba may not exceed $3000. (31 CFR 515.560(a)(4)(i)) 

29 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
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regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Emigration-related remittances

Two one-time emigration-related remittances of up to $2,000 in total are 

authorized. 

• $1,000 to cover preliminary expenses for emigrating from Cuba to the 

United States before receiving an approved visa 

• $1,000 to cover expenses for emigrating from Cuba to the United States 

after receiving a valid visa, including for the purchase of airline tickets and 

payment of exit or third-country visa fees or other travel-related fees. 

These remittances may be sent only after the payee has received a valid 

visa or other approved U.S. immigration documents. (31 CFR 515.570(b)) 

Remittances from blocked accounts

Unlimited remittances from inherited blocked accounts in banking institutions 

in the United States are authorized if the account holder is a “close relative” of 

the deceased individual from whom the account was inherited (decedent). (31 

CFR 515.570(c)(1)(i)) 

Emigration-related remittances may be made from inherited blocked accounts 

in banking institutions in the United States to a Cuban national if that person 

is an account holder and is not a prohibited Cuban government or Communist 

Party official. Such remittances must be consistent with the criteria governing 

the two one-time emigration-related remittances in 31 CFR 515.570(b), noted 

above. (31 CFR 515.570(c)(1)(ii)) 

Remittances of up to $300 in any consecutive 3-month period may be made 

from any blocked account to a Cuban national in a third country in whose 

name, or for whose beneficial interest, the account is held (31 CFR 

515.570(c)(2)). Such remittances exceeding the $300 limit may be authorized 

by specific license on a case-by-case basis (31 CFR 515.570(d)(2)). 

Remittances for humanitarian purposes

Remittances by persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction to persons in Cuba may be 

authorized by specific license for nonimmigrant travel to the United States 

where humanitarian need is demonstrated. (31 CFR 515.570(d)(3)) 

Remittances by other U.S. persons

U.S. nongovernmental organizations and individuals without family 

connections in Cuba may send remittances under specific license to 

independent nongovernmental entities in Cuba (i.e., pro-democracy groups, 

civil society groups, and religious organizations) and to members of such 

entities. (31 CFR 515.570(d)(1)) 

30 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
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Sanctions or restrictions 

Remittances carried by Cuban nationals from the United States

The amount of funds received as remittance that a Cuban national departing 

the United States may carry to Cuba may not exceed $3,000. (31 CFR 

515.560(d)(2)) 

Remittance forwarders

Banks and other depository institutions are authorized under general license 

to collect and forward remittances. Such licensed remittance forwarders are 

required to collect from users of their services information showing 

compliance with relevant provisions of the CACR. (31 CFR 515.572(a)(3)) 

Baggage

No Limitation: The President’s memorandum of April 13, 2009, directed the 

Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce to remove the 44-pound limitation 

on accompanied baggage per traveler to Cuba, as referred to in 31 CFR 

515.560(f). Commerce revised 15 CFR 740.14(g) to implement President’s 

directive. 

TRADE 

Import activities

Generally prohibited

Prohibits importation into the United States of (1) goods of Cuban origin, (2) 

goods located in or transferred through Cuba, or (3) goods made or derived in 

whole or in part of any article which is the growth, produce, or manufacture of 

Cuba, except as specifically authorized otherwise by the Secretary of the 

Treasury “by...regulations, rulings, instructions, licenses, or otherwise.” (31 

CFR 515.204)

Authorized travelers prohibited from importing into the United States any 

merchandise purchased or otherwise acquired in Cuba—including cigars and 

alcohol—whether as accompanied baggage or otherwise. An “across the 

board ban,” whether items acquired in Cuba or third countries, given as gift, or 

offered for sale over Internet or through catalogue mail purchase. (31 CFR 

515.204, 515.560(c)(3); OFAC Comprehensive Guidelines for License 

Applications to Engage in Travel-Related Transactions Involving Cuba, p.8 

(Rev.09/30/04); and OFAC “Cuban Cigar Update” (09/30/04)) 

31 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
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authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Exceptions (importation into the United States allowed) 

Information and informational materials—publications, films, posters, 

phonograph records, photographs, tapes, compact discs, and certain art 

works. (31 CFR 515.206 and 515.332, implementing section 525 of Free Trade 

in Ideas Act (50 USC App. 5(b)(4)), which amended TWEA to restrict 

President’s authority to regulate import and export of certain informational 

materials.) 

Goods/commodities, under specific license, including: 

• goods claimed by importer as a bona fide gift 

• goods brought from Cuba by a person entering U.S., as a bona fide gift, if 

goods are of small value and there is no reason to believe there is or has 

been since July 8, 1963, any direct or indirect benefit to Cuba or Cuban 

national from the importation (31 CFR 515.544(b)) 

• Cuban-origin commodities for bona fide research in sample quantities only 

(31 CFR 515.547) 

Export 

Administration 

Regulations 

(EAR), 15 CFR 

746.1, 746.2, 

and Part 740 

Export Activities

General prohibition 

Prohibition on export from the United States to Cuba of goods, technology, or 

services. Certain items allowed to be exported to Cuba without a license 

(under License Exceptions of the EAR) where certain terms and conditions 

are met; and certain items allowed to be exported under specific licenses. 

Most items requiring license are subject to general policy of denial. (15 CFR 

746.1(a)(1), 746.2(a)(1),(2); See also 31 CFR 515.201, which contains a general 

prohibition that also prohibits such exports) 

The following categories of items may be exported to Cuba without a license: 

Gift parcels 

The President’s memorandum of April 13, 2009, directed the Secretary of 

Commerce to make certain changes to the EAR regarding gift parcels and 

humanitarian donations. To implement the President’s directive, Commerce 

revised 15 CFR 740.12(a). 

32 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
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authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Based on these changes, gift parcels are allowed to be sent to Cuba by U.S. 

individuals where the following criteria are met: 

• Eligible items include food (including vitamins); medicine; medical supplies 

and devices (including hospital supplies and equipment and equipment for 

the handicapped); receive-only equipment for commercial/civil AM/FM and 

short wave publicly available frequency bands and batteries for such 

equipment; clothing; personal hygiene items; seeds; veterinary medicines 

and medical supplies; fishing equipment and supplies; soap-making 

equipment; and nonsensitive items normally sent as gifts between 

individuals, including certain consumer communications devices, 

computers, and software listed in 15 CFR 740.19(b). 

• Limit of one gift parcel a month per donor per eligible donee. 

• The value of non-food items in the parcel is limited to $800. 

• Eligible donors include any individual. 

• Eligible donees (recipients) include (1) individuals other than prohibited 

Cuban government or Communist Party officials or (2) charitable, 

educational or religious organizations not administered or controlled by 

Cuban government. 

• A donor may send one gift parcel per month to any eligible donee, although 

there is no frequency limit on gift parcels of food. 

• Parties seeking authorization to exceed the gift parcel frequency limit for 

compelling humanitarian concerns must submit appropriate license 

applications with complete justification.(15 CFR 740.12(a) 

Humanitarian donations by recognized U.S. charities to meet basic human 

needs; charities must have established record of involvement in donation 

programs and experience in maintaining verifiable system of distribution. 

Eligible items include health-related items, food, clothes, household goods, 

shelter, educational items, and basic support equipment and supplies to 

operate and administer the donor program. 

Ineligible items include medicines and medical devices if there is a reasonable 

likelihood they will be use for torture or other human rights abuses or that 

they will be re-exported, or used in the production of bio-technological 

products. (15 CFR 740.12(b)) 

33 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
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authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Baggage 

No limitation. The President’s April 13, 2009 memorandum directed the 

Treasury and Commerce Secretaries to remove the 44-pound limitation on 

accompanied baggage to Cuba. Commerce revised the EAR at 15 CFR 

740.14(g) to implement the directive. (See also 31 CFR 515.560(f)). 

Consumer communication devices 

The President’s April 13, 2009 memorandum directed the Commerce Secretary 

to authorize, through a license exception and consistent with national security 

concerns, the export and re-export of donated personal telecommunications 

devices such as mobile phone systems, computers and software, and satellite 

receivers. To implement the directive, Commerce created a new license 

exception in 15 CFR 740.19 that authorizes the export and re-export to Cuba 

of donated consumers communications devices that are widely available for 

retail purchase and commonly used to exchange information and facilitate 

interpersonal communications. 

Under this license exception, consumer communications devices may be 

exported to Cuba where the following criteria are met: 

• eligible items include certain computers, disk drives, input/output control 

units, monitors, printers, modems, network access controllers and 

communications channel controllers, keyboard and similar devices, mobile 

phones (including cellular and satellite phones, memory devices, digital 

cameras and memory cards, television and radio receivers, batteries and 

chargers; 

• exports or reexports must be to Cuba; 

• items exported or reexported must be donated; 

• eligible recipients must be (1) individual in Cuba other than prohibited 

Cuban government or Communist Party officials, or (2) independent NGOs 

in Cuba; 

• donations may not be made to organizations administered or controlled by 

the Cuban government; 

• U.S.-owned or -controlled entities in a third country are not authorized by 

the license exception to engage in reexports of commodities for which no 

license would be issued by Treasury under 31 CFR 515.559; and 

• there is no limit on the value or frequency of the exports. (15 CFR 740.19) 

34 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Legal and 

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authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Items in transit from Canada to the United States 

15 CFR 740.9(b)(1)(iv), 746.2(a)(1)(ix)) 

Certain aircraft on temporary sojourn to Cuba are authorized to depart 

the United States. (15 CFR 740.15(a), 746.2(a)(1)(x)) 

Agricultural commodities (as defined in 15 CFR 772.1) and certain reexports of U.S.-origin agricultural commodities, classified as EAR 99. Export 

or re-export must be made under written contract, within 12 months of 

contract signing or 12 months of notification that no objections raised where 

no contract required (donations and commercial samples), and prior 

notification made to Commerce and its Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). 

This regulation implements section 906(a) of TSRA requiring such exports to 

be made within 12 months of the signing of the contract. (15 CFR 740.18, 

746.2(a)(1)(xii)) 

Other items that may be exported to Cuba without a license include 

• temporary exports and re-exports by news media (15 CFR 

740.9(a)(2)(viii)); 

• operation technology and software (15 CFR 740.13(a)); 

• sales technology (15 CFR 740.13(b)); 

• software updates for legally exported software (15 CFR 740.13(c)); 

• parts for one-on-one replacement in certain legally exported commodities 

(15 CFR 740.10(a)); 

• certain exports to governments and international organizations (15 CFR 

740.11); and 

• permissive re-exports of spare parts in foreign-made equipment (15 CFR 

740.16(h)). 

The following items must be exported by specific license and are not subject 

to policy of general denial: 

35 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Legal and 

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authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Medicines and medical devices (as defined in 15 CFR 772) 

Applications to export such items will generally be approved, except where 

(1) restricted under certain provisions of EAA or IEEPA, (2) reasonable 

likelihood that the item will be used for torture or other human rights abuses, 

(3) the item will be re-exported, (4) item could be used in production of 

biotechnological product, or (5) the U.S. government is unable to verify by 

onsite inspection or otherwise that the item will be used for purposes 

intended and to benefit the Cuban people (excluding humanitarian medical 

donations to NGO’s in Cuba). This regulation implements section 1705(c) of 

CDA. (15 CFR 746.2(b)(1)) 

Nonstrategic foreign-made products exported from third countries 

Products containing an insubstantial proportion of U.S.-origin material, parts, 

or components will generally be considered favorably on a case-by-case basis 

if (1) local law or policy favors trade with Cuba, (2) the U.S.-origin content 

does not exceed 20 percent of the product's value, and (3) the exporter is not 

a U.S. owned or controlled entity in a third country. (15 CFR746.2(b)(3))

Support for the Cuban people 

Including certain commodities and software to human rights organizations, or 

to individuals and NGOs promoting activities to strengthen Cuban civil 

society. Items must not give rise to U.S. national security or counter-terrorism 

concerns. Eligible items include fax machines, copiers, computers, software 

document scanning equipment, printers, typewriters, and other office 

communications equipment. (15 CFR 746.2(b)(4)(i)) 

Aircraft or vessel on temporary sojourn 

Such vessels traveling to Cuba for delivery of humanitarian goods or services, 

or consistent with U.S. foreign policy interests. (15 CFR 746.2(b)(5); see also 

15 CFR 740.15.) 

Licensing Policy Regarding Telecommunications

To implement the President’s April 13, 2009, policy directive to increase the 

flow of information between the United States and Cuba through satellite 

radio and television services to customers in Cuba, Commerce amended the 

EAR at 15 CFR 746.2(b) to revise the scope of its licensing policy regarding 

telecommunications. 

36 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
Legal and 

regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

Based on this revision, Commerce’s licensing policy now provides that the 

export of telecommunications commodities may be authorized on a case-bycase basis provided the commodities are part of an FCC-approved project and 

necessary to provide efficient and adequate telecommunications between the 

United States and Cuba, including links established through third countries, 

and including the provision of satellite radio and satellite television services to 

Cuba. (15 CFR 746.2(b)(2). See also 31 CFR 515.533(f), 515.542(d)(1) and (2), 

515.543(b) and (c), and 515.546(a)(3).) 

Activities of U.S. foreign subsidiaries

Exceptions exist to statutory prohibition in section 1706(a) of CDA 

against licensing of certain transactions involving foreign produced goods 

being sent to Cuba from abroad by foreign companies that are U.S. owned or 

controlled (U.S. foreign subsidiaries). These exceptions permit trade with 

Cuba by allowing specific licenses for exports from a third country by such 

subsidiaries of (1) medicines or medical supplies or (2) certain 

telecommunications equipment. Donated food to individuals or 

nongovernmental organizations is exempt under section 1705(b). 

• For medicines and medical supplies, exports cannot be restricted except (1) 

to the extent permitted under section 5(m) of Export Administration Act of 

1979 or section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA if they are subject to these provisions; 

(2) where there is a reasonable likelihood that the item will be used for 

torture or other human rights abuses; (3) where there is a reasonable 

likelihood that the item to be exported will be re-exported; (4) where there 

is a reasonable likelihood that the item could be used in production of 

biotechnological products; and (5) where it is determined that the U.S. 

government is unable to verify, by on-site inspection or other means, that 

item will be used for the purpose for which it is intended and only for use 

and benefit of the Cuban people, except medicines and medical supplies 

donated for humanitarian purposes to NGOs in Cuba. 

• For telecommunications equipment, exports must be necessary for efficient 

and adequate telecommunications service between the United States and 

Cuba. 

Note: The license exception in 15 CFR 740.19 authorizing exports or reexports of certain consumer communications devices does not 

authorize U.S. foreign subsidiaries to engage in re-exports of 

foreign-produced commodities to Cuba for which no license 

would be issued by Treasury under 31 CFR 515.559. 

37 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
38 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba

Legal and 

regulatory 

authority 

Sanctions or restrictions 

• For donated food, the transaction must not qualify as a humanitarian 

donation under license exceptions in 15 CFR 740.12 or 740.18. (31 CFR 

515.559(a); 15 CFR 746.2(b)(3)(iii)(D))
Enclosure III: Selected GAO and CRS Reports Related to the U.S. Embargo on 

Cuba 

Selected GAO Reports 

Product title Product 

number 

Publication 

date 

Broadcasting to Cuba: Observations Regarding TV 

Marti's Strategy and Operations 

GAO-09-758T June 17, 2009 

Broadcasting to Cuba: Actions Are Needed to Improve 

Strategy and Operations 

GAO-09-127 Jan. 22, 2009 

Foreign Assistance: Continued Efforts Needed to 

Strengthen USAID's Oversight of U.S. Democracy 

Assistance for Cuba 

GAO-09-165 Nov. 24, 2008 

Broadcasting to Cuba: Weaknesses in Contracting 

Practices Reduced Visibility into Selected Award 

Decisions 

GAO-08-764 July 11, 2008 

Economic Sanctions: Agencies Face Competing 

Priorities in Enforcing the U.S. Embargo on Cuba 

GAO-08-80 Nov. 30, 2007 

Foreign Assistance: U.S. Democracy Assistance for Cuba 

Needs Better Management and Oversight 

GAO-07-147 Nov. 15, 2006 

Cuban Embargo: Selected Issues Relating to Travel, 

Exports, and Telecommunications 

NSIAD-99-10 Dec. 1, 1998 

Selected CRS Products

Product title (author) Product 

number 

Publication 

date 

Cuba: Issues for the 111th Congress (Mark P. Sullivan) R40193 June 24, 2009 

Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances (Mark 

P. Sullivan) 

RL31139 Mar. 31, 2009 

Cuban Migration to the United States: Policy and Trends

(Ruth Ellen Wasem) 

R40566 June 2, 2009 

39 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba
40 GAO-09-951R U.S.Embargo on Cuba

Enclosure IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 

GAO Contact

David Gootnick at (202) 512-3149 or gootnickd@gao.gov

Staff Acknowledgments

The following staff made significant contributions to this report: Ernie Jackson, 

Senior Attorney; Mark Speight, Assistant General Counsel; Emil Friberg and Michael 

Rohrback, Assistant Directors; Avrum Ashery and Etana Finkler, Visual 

Communications Analysts; Reid Lowe, Communications Analyst; Brian Egger, 

Analyst; and Eugene Beye, Analyst-in-Charge. 

(320648) 
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