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Gift Parcels
Q: What changes were made to the items eligible for export to Cuba in gift parcels?
A: In addition to the items previously eligible, gift parcels may now include civilian clothing, personal hygiene items, seeds, veterinary medicines and supplies, fishing equipment and supplies, soap-making equipment, and other non-sensitive items of a type normally sent as gifts between individuals, including certain consumer communications devices.
Q: Who may send gift parcels to Cuba?
A: Any individual is an eligible donor.
Q: What changes were made to eligible recipients?
A: Gift parcels may now be sent to any individual, other than certain Cuban Government or Cuban Communist Party officials, or to a charitable, educational, or religious organization in Cuba that is not administered or controlled by the Cuban Government or the Cuban Communist Party. For example, hospitals or schools administered or controlled by the Cuban Government are not eligible recipients under this License Exception.
Q: Are there limits on the frequency and value of gift parcels sent to Cuba?
A: Yes. Donors may send one gift parcel per month per eligible recipient. The combined total domestic retail value of eligible items may not exceed $800 per gift parcel. However, the frequency and value limits do not apply to food donated in gift parcels. Items contained in gift parcels must also be in quantities normally given as gifts between individuals. Note the frequency limit on donations is now per recipient rather than per household.
Baggage
Q: What changes were made to the authorization for baggage taken to Cuba?
A: License Exception Baggage (BAG) no longer limits the weight of personal baggage taken to Cuba to 44 pounds. However, all other restrictions on the use of License Exception BAG still apply as identified in Section 740.14 of the Export Administration Regulations.
Consumer Communication Devices
Q: What items may be exported under License Exception Consumer Communication Devices (CCD)?
A: License Exception CCD authorizes the export or reexport to Cuba of specific commodities and software that are widely available for retail purchase and that are commonly used to exchange information and facilitate interpersonal communications. A list of the eligible items is located in Section 740.19(b) of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Note there are some restrictions on reexports of foreign produced commodities by U.S.-owned or -controlled entities in third countries.
Q: Who may use License Exception CCD?
A: There are no specific restrictions on who may use License Exception CCD. Please also note that all items exported or reexported under this License Exception must be donated.
Q: Who are eligible recipients of the items?
A: Eligible recipients are individuals in Cuba, other than certain Cuban Government and Communist Party officials, and independent non-governmental organizations in Cuba. Organizations administered or controlled by the Cuban Government or the Cuban Communist Party, including schools and hospitals, are not eligible recipients.
Q: Are there limits on the frequency and value?
A: No. There are no frequency or dollar value limits. However, all of the items must be donated.
Telecommunications
Q: What changes were made regarding telecommunications exports or reexports to Cuba?
A: Applications to export or reexport items necessary to provide efficient and adequate telecommunications links between the United States and Cuba will still be considered on a case-by-case basis. The same policy now explicitly applies when those links are established through a third country. Further, telecommunications links now explicitly include links established through the provision of satellite radio and satellite television services to Cuba. Items that are covered by the case-by-case licensing policy for telecommunications exports or reexports now explicitly include technology and software as well as commodities.
Other Regulatory Requirements
Q: What other authorization is required to export or reexport items to Cuba?
A: Authorization may be required from the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) for associated transactions, including payment and travel-related transactions. Other U.S. Government requirements may also apply depending upon the specific export or reexport transactions.