On Thursday, February 26, 2015, US Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) published a public notice on its website regarding the procedures for importations from Cuba recently authorized by the U.S. Government.  This notice establishes the processes (and requirements) by which both commercial goods and goods for personal use are to be imported into the United States.  It is the latest component of the US Government’s recent relaxation of the comprehensive US embargo of Cuba. As…

On Friday, February 13, 2015, the US State Department published on its website the “Section 515.582 List,” which describes the Cuban goods and services eligible for importation into the United States.  This announcement is the latest component of the US Government’s recent relaxation of the comprehensive US embargo of Cuba, which we described in our recent blog post.  The State Department also published a Fact Sheet with FAQs about the Section 515.582 List. Under Section…

Today, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued final rules amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (“CACR”) and the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”), respectively, to implement key policy changes to the US embargo of Cuba (the “Amendments”). The policy changes were originally announced by President Obama on December 17, 2014 (we reported on the President’s December 17th announcement in a…

Today, President Obama announced that the US Government plans to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba and to relax certain aspects of the US embargo of Cuba.  More detailed information was made available through the issuance of a White House fact sheet, the “White House FACT SHEET: Charting a New Course on Cuba.” Importantly, none of the announced changes to the embargo are self-executing.  As the White House fact sheet makes clear, the changes will only…