US Strengthens Controls on Travel and Remittances to Cuba

HAVANA TIMES — A new 2012 directive from the Office of Foreign Assets Control was issued last week by the US Treasury Department to strengthen controls on travel and remittances to Cuba, reports the Café Fuerte website.

The new provisions regulate the operations of agencies and charter companies that trade with the island, and establish more stringent provisions over the handling of passengers’ documents and luggage and the sale of airline tickets, reads the note.

These changes are taking place one month before Cuba’s General Customs Office will begin requiring additional duties on the import of commercial products, which will be “a mortal blow to speculators and ‘mules’,” said Pedro Gonzalez Munne, the president Miami-Cuba Promotions agency.

More than 200 service-providers based in the US perform operations relating to the island today, according to Café Fuerte.