(3) To be competitive in sales to Cuban pur-
chasers, United States exporters of agricultural 
products and their representatives, including rep-
resentatives of United States air or sea carriers, 
ports, and shippers, must have ready and reliable 
physical access to Cuba. Such access is currently un-
certain because, under existing regulations, United 
States exporters and their representatives must 
apply for and receive special Department of the 
Treasury licenses to travel to Cuba to engage in 
sales-related activities. The issuance of such licenses 
is subject to both administrative delays and periodic 
denials. A blanket statutory authorization for sales 
and transport-related travel to Cuba by United 
States exporters will remove the current bureau-
cratic impediment to agricultural product sales en-
dorsed by Congress when it passed the Trade Sanc-
tions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. 
(4) On many occasions visas to enter the 
United States have been delayed and often denied to 
prospective Cuban purchasers of products authorized 
under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export En-
hancement Act of 2000. The result has been that 
family farmers and other small producers and dis-
tributors of agricultural products who lack the re-
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sources to fund sales delegations to Cuba have been 
denied access to potential purchasers in that coun-
try. A simple solution is to issue visas to Cuban na-
tionals who demonstrate an itinerary of meetings 
with prospective United States exporters of products 
authorized under the Trade Sanctions Reform and 
Export Enhancement Act of 2000. In addition, visas 
should be issued to Cuban phytosanitary inspectors 
who require entry into the United States to conduct 
on-premise inspections of production and processing 
facilities and the products of potential United States 
exporters. 
(5) The Trade Sanctions Reform and Export 
Enhancement Act of 2000 requires ‘‘payment of 
cash in advance’’ for United States agricultural ex-
ports to Cuba. Some Federal agencies responsible 
for the implementation of the Trade Sanctions Re-
form and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 have ex-
pressed the view that ‘‘cash in advance’’ requires 
that payment be received by a United States ex-
porter in advance of shipment of goods to Cuba. In-
deed, in late 2004 payments due United States ex-
porters from purchasers in Cuba were frozen in 
United States banks while the terms of those pay-
ments were reviewed unnecessarily. This action by 
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the Department of the Treasury has created a cli-
mate of commercial uncertainty that has inhibited 
agricultural sales to Cuba under the Trade Sanc-
tions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. 
(6) There is nothing in either the Trade Sanc-
tions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 
itself or its legislative history to support the view 
that Congress intended payment to be made in ad-
vance of the shipment of goods from the United 
States to Cuba. It was and is the intent of Congress 
that a seller of a product authorized under the 
Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement 
Act of 2000 receive payment only before a Cuban 
purchaser takes physical possession of that product. 
(7) At present it is the policy of the United 
States Government to prohibit direct payment be-
tween Cuban and United States financial institu-
tions. As a result, Cuban purchasers of products au-
thorized under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Ex-
port Enhancement Act of 2000 must route their 
payments through third country banks that charge 
a fee for this service. Allowing direct payments be-
tween Cuban and United States financial institu-
tions will permit the United States exporters to re-
ceive payment directly to their financial institutions 
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