I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1026 

To facilitate the sale of United States agricultural products to Cuba, as 

authorized by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement 

Act of 2000. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2007 

Mr. MORAN of Kansas (for himself, Mrs. EMERSON, Ms. HERSETH, and Mr. 

ROSS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, 

Financial Services, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To facilitate the sale of United States agricultural products 

to Cuba, as authorized by the Trade Sanctions Reform 

and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agricultural Export 

5 Facilitation Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) The export sector of United States agri5 culture makes an important positive contribution to 

6 this country’s trade balance. 

7 (2) According to the United States Department 

8 of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, the 

9 total value of United States exports of agricultural 

10 products shipped to Cuba since 2000 when such 

11 sales were first authorized by Congress is approxi12 mately $1,426,300,000, excluding transportation, 

13 port fees, and insurance costs beyond the port of ex14 portation. In December 2001, Cuba purchased ap15 proximately $4,600,000 in food and agricultural 

16 products. In 2002, Cuba purchased approximately 

17 $139,800,000 in food and agricultural products. In 

18 2003, Cuba purchased approximately $247,600,000 

19 in food and agricultural products. In 2004, Cuba 

20 purchased approximately $383,900,000 in food and 

21 agricultural products. In 2005, Cuba purchased ap22 proximately $346,000,000 in food and agricultural 

23 products. Cuba is therefore an important source of 

24 revenue for United States agriculture and its affili25 ated industries, such as manufacturers and distribu26 tors of value-added food products. 


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1 (3) To be competitive in sales to Cuban pur2 chasers, United States exporters of agricultural 

3 products and their representatives, including rep4 resentatives of United States air or sea carriers, 

5 ports, and shippers, must have ready and reliable 

6 physical access to Cuba. Such access is currently un7 certain because, under existing regulations, United 

8 States exporters and their representatives must 

9 apply for and receive special Department of the 

10 Treasury licenses to travel to Cuba to engage in 

11 sales-related activities. The issuance of such licenses 

12 is subject to both administrative delays and periodic 

13 denials. A blanket statutory authorization for sales 

14 and transport-related travel to Cuba by United 

15 States exporters will remove the current bureau16 cratic impediment to agricultural product sales en17 dorsed by Congress when it passed the Trade Sanc18 tions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. 

19 (4) On many occasions visas to enter the 

20 United States have been delayed and often denied to 

21 prospective Cuban purchasers of products authorized 

22 under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export En23 hancement Act of 2000. The result has been that 

24 family farmers and other small producers and dis25 tributors of agricultural products who lack the reVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:32 Feb 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1026.IH H1026

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1 sources to fund sales delegations to Cuba have been 

2 denied access to potential purchasers in that coun3 try. A simple solution is to issue visas to Cuban na4 tionals who demonstrate an itinerary of meetings 

5 with prospective United States exporters of products 

6 authorized under the Trade Sanctions Reform and 

7 Export Enhancement Act of 2000. In addition, visas 

8 should be issued to Cuban phytosanitary inspectors 

9 who require entry into the United States to conduct 

10 on-premise inspections of production and processing 

11 facilities and the products of potential United States 

12 exporters. 

13 (5) The Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 

14 Enhancement Act of 2000 requires ‘‘payment of 

15 cash in advance’’ for United States agricultural ex16 ports to Cuba. Some Federal agencies responsible 

17 for the implementation of the Trade Sanctions Re18 form and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 have ex19 pressed the view that ‘‘cash in advance’’ requires 

20 that payment be received by a United States ex21 porter in advance of shipment of goods to Cuba. In22 deed, in late 2004 payments due United States ex23 porters from purchasers in Cuba were frozen in 

24 United States banks while the terms of those pay25 ments were reviewed unnecessarily. This action by 


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1 the Department of the Treasury has created a cli2 mate of commercial uncertainty that has inhibited 

3 agricultural sales to Cuba under the Trade Sanc4 tions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. 

5 (6) There is nothing in either the Trade Sanc6 tions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 

7 itself or its legislative history to support the view 

8 that Congress intended payment to be made in ad9 vance of the shipment of goods from the United 

10 States to Cuba. It was and is the intent of Congress 

11 that a seller of a product authorized under the 

12 Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement 

13 Act of 2000 receive payment only before a Cuban 

14 purchaser takes physical possession of that product. 

15 (7) At present it is the policy of the United 

16 States Government to prohibit direct payment be17 tween Cuban and United States financial institu18 tions. As a result, Cuban purchasers of products au19 thorized under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Ex20 port Enhancement Act of 2000 must route their 

21 payments through third country banks that charge 

22 a fee for this service. Allowing direct payments be23 tween Cuban and United States financial institu24 tions will permit the United States exporters to re25 ceive payment directly to their financial institutions 


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1 within hours instead of days and will eliminate an 

2 unnecessary transactional fee, thereby allowing 

3 Cuban purchasers to purchase more United States 

4 origin agricultural products. 

5 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to restate 

6 the intent of Congress with respect to the Trade Sanctions 

7 Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, to remove 

8 impediments to present and future sales of United States 

9 agricultural products to Cuba under such Act, and to oth10 erwise facilitate such sales. 

11 SEC. 3. TRAVEL TO CUBA IN CONNECTION WITH AUTHOR12 IZED SALES ACTIVITIES UNDER THE TRADE 

13 SANCTIONS REFORM AND EXPORT ENHANCE14 MENT ACT OF 2000. 

15 Section 910 of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Ex16 port Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7209) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(c) GENERAL LICENSE AUTHORITY FOR TRAVEL19 RELATED EXPENDITURES IN CUBA BY PERSONS ENGAG20 ING IN SALES AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES AND TRANS21 PORTATION ACTIVITIES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

23 Treasury shall authorize under a general license the 

24 travel-related transactions listed in subsection (c) of 

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1 tions, for travel to, from, or within Cuba in connec2 tion with— 

3 ‘‘(A) sales and marketing activities of 

4 products pursuant to this Act, including the or5 ganization and participation in product exhibi6 tions; and 

7 ‘‘(B) transportation by sea or air of prod8 ucts pursuant to this Act. 

9 ‘‘(2) SALES AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES DE10 FINED.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In paragraph (1), the 

12 term ‘sales and marketing activities’ means any 

13 activity with respect to travel to, from, or with14 in Cuba that is undertaken by a United States 

15 person in order to explore the market in that 

16 country for the sale of products pursuant to 

17 this Act or to engage in sales activities with re18 spect to such products. 

19 ‘‘(B) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In subpara20 graph (A)— 

21 ‘‘(i) the term ‘sales activities’ includes 

22 exhibiting, negotiating, marketing, sur23 veying the market, and delivering and serv24 icing products pursuant to this Act; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘United States person’ 

2 includes a full-time employee, executive, 

3 sales agent or consultant of a producer, 

4 manufacturer, distributor, shipper, United 

5 States air or seaport, or a carrier of prod6 ucts authorized for sale pursuant to this 

7 Act, as well as an exhibitor, representative, 

8 or member of a national or State trade or9 ganization that promotes the interests of a 

10 producer, manufacturer, or distributor of 

11 such products. 

12 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the 

13 Treasury shall promulgate such rules and regula14 tions as are necessary to carry out the provisions of 

15 this subsection.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. ISSUANCE OF VISAS TO CONDUCT ACTIVITIES IN 

17 ACCORDANCE WITH THE TRADE SANCTIONS 

18 REFORM AND EXPORT ENHANCEMENT ACT 

19 OF 2000. 

20 (a) ISSUANCE OF VISAS.—Notwithstanding any other 

21 provision of law, in the case of a Cuban national whose 

22 itinerary documents an intent to conduct activities, includ23 ing phytosanitary inspections, related to purchasing 

24 United States agricultural goods under the provisions of 

25 the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement 


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1 Act of 2000, a consular officer (as defined in section 

2 101(a)(9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

3 U.S.C. 1101(a)(9))) may issue a nonimmigrant visa under 

4 section 101(a)(15)(B) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

5 1101(a)(15)(B)) to the national, if the national is not in6 admissible to the United States under section 212 of such 

7 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182). 

8 (b) PERIODIC REPORTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act and every 3 

11 months thereafter the Secretary of State shall sub12 mit to the Committees on Finance, Agriculture, Nu13 trition, and Forestry, and Foreign Relations of the 

14 Senate and the Committees on Agriculture, Ways 

15 and Means, and Foreign Affairs of the House of 

16 Representatives a report on the issuance of visas de17 scribed in subsection (a). 

18 (2) CONTENT OF REPORTS.—Each report shall 

19 contain a full description of each application received 

20 from a Cuban national to travel to the United States 

21 to engage in purchasing activities pursuant to the 

22 Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement 

23 Act of 2000 and shall describe the disposition of 

24 each such application. 


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1 SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF PAYMENT TERMS UNDER THE 

2 TRADE SANCTIONS REFORM AND EXPORT EN3 HANCEMENT ACT OF 2000. 

4 Section 908(b)(4) of the Trade Sanctions Reform and 

5 Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7207(b)(4)) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

8 the end; 

9 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 

10 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(D) the term ‘payment of cash in ad13 vance’ means, notwithstanding any other provi14 sion of law, the payment by the purchaser of an 

15 agricultural commodity or product and the re16 ceipt of such payment by the seller prior to— 

17 ‘‘(i) the transfer of title of such com18 modity or product to the purchaser; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the release of control of such 

20 commodity or product to the purchaser.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF DIRECT TRANSFERS BETWEEN 

2 CUBAN AND UNITED STATES FINANCIAL IN3 STITUTIONS UNDER THE TRADE SANCTIONS 

4 REFORM AND EXPORT ENHANCEMENT ACT 

5 OF 2000. 

6 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

7 President may not restrict direct transfers from a Cuban 

8 financial institution to a United States financial institu9 tion executed in payment for a product authorized for sale 

10 under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhance11 ment Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.). 

Æ 


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