How to export goods from the United States to Cuba's private sector
Selling to a Cuban MIPYME under 31 CFR §515.533 and BIS License Exception SCP (15 CFR §740.21(b)(1)) — classification, the March 2026 bank condition, the EEI, and how the MIPYME pays the U.S. exporter.
Who this is for: U.S. exporters, distributors and manufacturers' U.S. subsidiaries
Two parts of this route are QvaPay's legal reading, submitted to OFAC (Case CU-2025-1426925-1) and not yet confirmed: (1) that a foreign-made item sold from a U.S. distributor’s U.S. inventory is an export “from the United States” under §515.533, and (2) that a Cuban enterprise's payment from a balance held at a U.S. payment platform is “ordinarily incident” to that export. Do not rely on this page as authorization; have your own counsel confirm it.
Exporting to Cuba's private sector is one of the clearest lanes left after September 30, 2026: §515.533 authorizes exports Commerce has licensed or excepted, and License Exception SCP covers EAR99 and anti-terrorism-only items for private-sector economic activity. The Cuban buyer pays the U.S. exporter — through QvaPay, from its enterprise account — and that payment is ordinarily incident to the export (§515.421). Two conditions bite: no payment may be deposited into a Cuban-owned bank (BIS suspension of 4 March 2026), and food and agricultural sales need payment in advance or third-country financing (§515.533(a)(4)).
Is it allowed? The legal authority
- Who sends
- A U.S. exporter of EAR99 or anti-terrorism-only items for the Cuban private sector's own economic activity — the goods must not primarily generate revenue for, or contribute to the operation of, the state (15 CFR §740.21(b)).
- Who receives
- A screened Cuban MIPYME or private business using the items for private-sector activity — no prohibited officials or listed parties.
31 CFR §515.533 (exports) · BIS License Exception SCP 15 CFR §740.21(b)(1), subject to the 4 March 2026 suspension condition (no deposit of foreign funds into a Cuban-owned bank) · §515.421 (the payment is a transaction ordinarily incident to the authorized export). Agricultural commodities carry TSRA's payment limit (22 U.S.C. §7207(b), implemented at §515.533(a)(4)): cash in advance — paid before title and control transfer — or financing by a third-country bank, which a U.S. bank may confirm or advise but not provide.
Payment terms: for non-agricultural exports §515.533(a) does not restrict them — cash in advance, open-account terms from the exporter, or financing by a U.S. or third-country bank under §515.584(f) are all permitted (OFAC FAQ 766). The rail processes the payment on whichever term the exporter and buyer agree; it does not itself extend credit to the buyer. Origin: QvaPay's policy is U.S. first — U.S.-made goods, then allied brands sold from a U.S. distributor's existing U.S. inventory. It does not pay for a foreign factory's sale routed through Florida for a named Cuban order. The exporter must be a real merchant selling from its own stock, not a relay for a purchase the enterprise pre-funded (§515.201(c)).
Step by step
- 1Classify each product: EAR99, or an ECCN controlled only for anti-terrorism reasons; anything else needs a BIS licence (15 CFR §746.2).
- 2Pick the authorization: SCP §740.21(b)(1) for private-sector inputs, AGR §740.18 for food (EAR99 agricultural commodity, written contract, BIS notification before the first shipment, shipment only after SNAP-R/STELA confirms no objection — 11-business-day review, confirmation on the 12th — and within 12 months of the contract), CCD §740.19 for consumer communication devices, or a licence.
- 3Screen the buyer and its owners against the SDN list, the Cuba Restricted List, the BIS lists and the 50 Percent Rule; collect the buyer's independence evidence and its MINCEX import authorization.
- 4Invoice the MIPYME in its own name, Incoterm FOB/FCA at the U.S. port. The Cuban buyer (or its non-blocked forwarder) nominates and pays the carrier and all Cuban port charges; you do not contract carriage to Cuba, do not pay or invoice terminal fees, and do not deal with Terminal de Contenedores de Mariel S.A. (blocked 23 July 2026) or any GEMAR entity. Your export-control responsibility — classification, end user, records — continues after departure.
- 5The MIPYME pays through QvaPay; QvaPay releases the payment to your U.S. account against the invoice, the authorization, the ITN and the transport document — for food, before title and control transfer.
- 6File the EEI in AES (every export to Cuba, regardless of value) and ship; keep records five years (15 CFR §762.6).
See how QvaPay does itP2P leg originates in Cuba
- QvaPay pays no foreign funds into a Cuban bank — the payment runs from QvaPay's U.S. bank to the exporter, which is how the SCP §740.21(b)(1) condition is met.
- No state importer, state distributor or state customer in the chain; the no-benefit-to-the-state test is documented against the customer list.
- The exporter is paid from a U.S. bank account, in days, against documents — not through a Cuban bank's rationed allocation.
The CUP/MLC side of a peer trade is settled between the two peers outside QvaPay — in cash or through the peer's own Cuban bank account. QvaPay does not hold, move, see or certify that leg; it records only the QUSD side. Peers trade their own funds, declare their activity, are limited in volume against it and are reviewed when they exceed it; a peer located in the United States may not trade on the market. Crypto funding is accepted only in USDC from screened wallet addresses; inflows from unhosted wallets receive source-of-funds review, and the same $3,000 recordkeeping applies.
Screened: KYC/KYB on the MIPYME and owners; SDN, Cuba Restricted List, E.O. 14404 and 50 Percent Rule screens; every funding peer screened; export-control attestation (SCP or BIS license) on the wire.
Funding that reload from abroad — a financier's capital rather than the MIPYME's own revenue — is the structure QvaPay has put to OFAC. It is not drawn here and not asserted as authorized.
Describes the example rail's design; not a determination that any transfer is authorized. The P2P leg, explained →
- ✓Commercial invoice to the MIPYME (classification, authorization, Incoterm).
- ✓Buyer's independence evidence and MINCEX authorization (or non-sanctioned importer contract).
- ✓EEI / ITN, bill of lading, AGR notification or BIS licence where applicable.
- ✓Exporter's compliance certificate for QvaPay's release (classification, authorization, end user, screening).
- ✕Sell to end users in the Government, the Party, the Restricted List or the officials in §740.21(d)(4), or for uses that primarily generate revenue for the state.
- ✕Accept a payment deposited into a Cuban-owned bank (SCP condition suspended since 4 March 2026).
- ✕Export medicines, medical devices or agricultural commodities under SCP — they need AGR or a licence.
- ✕Have a U.S.-owned company in a third country sell non-U.S. goods to Cuba directly (§515.533(a)(2)).
- ✕Try to route around these rules — split payments, use a conduit, pay through an unidentified third party. Such attempts are refused and may be reported as the Bank Secrecy Act requires (31 CFR §1022.320).
Energía Clara buys panels — solarcomposite illustration
Energía Clara buys 120 panels, eight inverters and mounting hardware from Meridian Solar Supply in Doral. $38,500, all EAR99.
The export authority is BIS License Exception SCP at 15 CFR §740.21(b)(1) — items for the Cuban private sector's own economic activity — with §515.533 authorising the payment and §515.584(f) available for bank financing of a non-agricultural export. The condition is that the goods must not primarily generate revenue for the state or contribute to its operation. Lisbet's install list is in the file: a private bakery, a private cold store holding dialysis supplies, fourteen households on one block. No state building, no state enterprise.
Then the part that decides whether this export happens at all. Since 4 March 2026 BIS has suspended (b)(1) for any export involving the deposit of foreign funds into a Cuban-owned bank. Energía Clara's balance was funded in-country, not from abroad: Arisleidy Chacón and four other peers sold dollars into the account at the market rate, taking pesos locally. Meridian is paid from QvaPay's U.S. account. No foreign funds entered a Cuban bank at any point — precisely the condition the suspension carves out.
No Cuban bank, at any point, which is the operative fact for this flow. No foreign funds were deposited into a Cuban-owned bank, so the 4 March 2026 suspension of §740.21(b)(1) does not bite. No regime payment processor. No state entity among the end consumers.
- KYC/KYB on the MIPYME
- Both beneficial owners identified and screened
- §515.340 independent-status documentation
- SDN, Cuba Restricted List and OFAC 50 Percent Rule screening
- Item classification recorded as EAR99
- No-benefit-to-the-state test documented against the install list
- Funding-source record: the enterprise balance was built from on-platform peer sales, not a wire from abroad — what the peers did with their pesos is outside QvaPay
- Commercial invoice and bill of lading
- All five funding peers verified account holders, screened, with volume limits
Composite illustration based on real QvaPay transaction patterns. Names, amounts and identifying details have been changed. Not a determination that any transaction is authorized.
Reinier measures what he sells — fuelcomposite illustration
Reinier bought his first tanker load on credit in 2023. Three years later he needs to measure what he sells: two 2,500-litre storage tanks, a diesel transfer pump set, flow meters and filtration. $21,000 from a Houston exporter, all EAR99.
Same authority as the panels — §740.21(b)(1), with §515.533 for the payment — and the same condition on benefit to the state. His customer list is in the file and it is entirely private: two bakeries that run generators through the blackouts, a private ambulance service working the road between Camagüey and Florida, and six farmers with irrigation pumps. He does not sell to state enterprises, and the file says so in his own signed words.
Fuel distribution sits close enough to a sanctioned sector that this file carries an extra screen. Executive Order 14404 targets persons operating in named Cuban regime sectors, including energy. Combustible del Centro was checked against it, against the Cuba Restricted List, and under the OFAC 50 Percent Rule for hidden state ownership. It is what it appears to be: a licensed private business with one owner and four employees.
His balance was funded by Camagüey peers buying pesos, not by a wire from abroad. No foreign funds reached a Cuban bank.
No Cuban bank. No regime payment processor. No state enterprise among the customers, and no state-owned fuel distributor anywhere in the chain. The balance was funded in-country by private peers, so no foreign funds were deposited into a Cuban-owned bank.
- KYC/KYB on the MIPYME
- Sole beneficial owner identified and screened
- §515.340 independent-status documentation
- SDN and Cuba Restricted List screening
- E.O. 14404 screen — persons designated for operating in a named sector (energy) — run and documented
- OFAC 50 Percent Rule check for hidden state ownership
- Item classification recorded as EAR99
- No-benefit-to-the-state test documented against the customer list
- Funding-source record (on-platform peer sales, no wire from abroad)
- Commercial invoice and bill of lading
Composite illustration based on real QvaPay transaction patterns. Names, amounts and identifying details have been changed. Not a determination that any transaction is authorized.
La Sazón buys flour — food, under TSRAcomposite illustration
La Sazón bakes about 1,800 rolls a day in Santiago. It buys 18 tonnes of wheat flour and 4 tonnes of vegetable shortening from a New Orleans exporter: $27,400.
Food moves in one direction in this program, and the direction is the whole point. U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba are authorized under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, and §515.533 restricts payment for agricultural commodities to cash in advance or third-country bank financing. This one is cash in advance, paid in full from QvaPay's U.S. account before the container was loaded, and the file records the term against the invoice.
The reverse trade is not available and no narrative on this site describes it. Cuban agricultural products — rum and tobacco among them — fall in Harmonized Tariff Schedule sections excluded from import under §515.582; coffee is the lone agricultural carve-out.
Yaimara and Elier are each identified as beneficial owners at 50 percent, screened, and documented as independent under §515.340. Their balance was funded by peers in Santiago selling dollars for pesos, so no foreign funds entered a Cuban bank — which keeps the export condition intact.
The rolls go to the barrio at the price the barrio can pay.
No Cuban bank and no regime payment processor. No state food importer or state distributor in the path. And no import from Cuba — the excluded Harmonized Tariff Schedule sections make that trade unavailable, and QvaPay does not process it.
- KYC/KYB on the MIPYME
- Both beneficial owners identified and screened at 50 percent each
- §515.340 independent-status documentation
- SDN and Cuba Restricted List screening
- TSRA eligibility and the §515.533 cash-in-advance payment term documented against the invoice
- No-benefit-to-the-state test
- Funding-source record (on-platform peer sales, no wire from abroad)
- Commercial invoice and bill of lading
Composite illustration based on real QvaPay transaction patterns. Names, amounts and identifying details have been changed. Not a determination that any transaction is authorized.
Common questions
Can I ship foreign-made goods?+
Yes, when a U.S. merchant sells it from its own U.S. inventory and exports it under a Commerce authorization. QvaPay puts U.S.-made goods first. See the Florida export guide.
Can the MIPYME pay on terms?+
For non-agricultural goods, yes — §515.533(a) does not restrict payment terms (OFAC FAQ 766). Food and agricultural commodities require payment in advance or third-country-bank financing.
Open QvaPay and follow the steps above. If you are a business, an exporter or an organization, write to us and we onboard you case by case.
QvaPay, Inc. is a FinCEN-registered money services business (MSB No. 31000329382692) providing payment services; it is not a bank. A QUSD balance is a payment obligation of QvaPay, Inc., held in the United States — not a bank deposit and not FDIC-insured. QvaPay forwards remittances under 31 CFR §515.572(a)(3) and processes authorized payments as transactions ordinarily incident under §515.421 (OFAC FAQ 756); the standing of balances held for persons in Cuba is among the questions put to OFAC in QvaPay's pending request for interpretive guidance (Case CU-2025-1426925-1).
This guide is general information, not legal advice and not a determination that any transaction is authorized. Rules change; the update date is above. Keep your own records for ten years (31 CFR §501.601).