Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced it is amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 515 (the “CACR”), which will be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, January 16, 2015, at which time the changes will take effect. 

You can review the changes that will be published tomorrow here.

This is important, as it means the changes announced by OFAC tomorrow will be effective as of tomorrow, January 16, 2015, but, the Congressional response to those changes is still unknown.

OFAC is implementing policy changes announced by the President on December 17, 2014, which include “facilitating authorized travel to Cuba by U.S. persons, certain authorized commerce, and the flow of information to, from and within Cuba”.

 OFAC also published a number of Frequently Asked Questions​ pertaining to this regulatory amendment.

Stay tuned, tomorrow, we will go through the changes and what is now legal. 

Reprinted with permission from Clif Burns of the Export Law Blog.

A spokesman for the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) told Export Law Blog this morning that discussions between OFAC and the North Pole over Santa Claus’s Christmas Eve itinerary had once again broken down and were not expected to be resumed before Santa’s scheduled departure on December 24 at 10 pm EST.

The dispute arose from a dilemma that the U.S. sanctions against Cuba posed for Santa’s planned delivery of toys to children in Cuba. If Santa delivers toys for U.S. children first, there will be toys destined for Cuba in the sleigh in violation of 31 C.F.R. § 515.207(b). That rule prohibits Santa’s sleigh from entering the United States with “goods in which Cuba or a Cuban national has an interest.” On the other hand, if Santa delivers the toys to Cuban children first, then 31 C.F.R. § 515.207(a) prohibits the sleigh from entering the United States and “unloading freight for a period of 180 days from the date the vessel departed from a port or place in Cuba.”

A press release from the North Pole announced that the OFAC rules left Santa no choice but to bypass the children of the United States this Christmas. A spokesman from OFAC warned that if Santa attempted to overfly the United States, his sleigh would be forced to land and his cargo seized. He continued:

We know that the outcome is harsh, but we cannot allow the […]

In a Miami Herald article published today, Congressional opposition to President Obama’s announcement that the U.S. will lay out “a new course in our relations with Cuba” was discussed.
My blog post yesterday highlights the key changes President Obama announced that effect travel, trade and commerce. Today, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen issued a statement in regards to the proposed changes:

“The liberalization policies aimed at easing trade and remittances to Cuba … is quite possible that this unilateral action by the President without Congressional consultation is in violation of the following U.S. laws: Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 [Helms-Burton Act], Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, and the Trading with the Enemy Act. The White House attempts to normalize relationships with Cuba without the approval of Congress may be in direct violation of Helms-Burton that specifically states that all political prisoners must be released and free and fair elections must be held before establishing a diplomatic relationship.”

Each of the three acts mentioned may be found here:

• Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 [Helms-Burton Act]
• Cuban Democracy Act of 1992
• Trading with the Enemy Act

What remains unclear is how the President will receive funding for the proposed course of action with Cuba, as Congress must approve the budget.

According to the Herald article, Senator Marco Rubio stated he would use his role as the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Western Hemisphere subcommittee to block the reforms, calling them a “a […]