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Vol. 73/No. 29      August 3, 2009

 
Philips fined for selling
medical device to Cuba
 
BY SETH GALINSKY  
The U.S. government announced July 1 that it had fined Philips Electronics of North America Corporation $128,750 for violating the U.S. embargo of Cuba between June 2004 and March 2006. The alleged violation? Selling medical equipment to Cuba through a foreign subsidiary.

The fine is based on the travel to Cuba without a license by an employee of the New York-based subsidiary of the Dutch company in relation to the sale. Philips has subsidiaries in more than 60 countries, including Brazil where the equipment was made. The company manufactures a large range of medical devices including ultrasound systems, X-ray machines, and heart defibrillators.

According to El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language daily owned by the Miami Herald, during the first few weeks of President Barack Obama’s administration the U.S. Treasury Department was “cautious” about fining companies and U.S. citizens for “violating” the embargo. The application of fines has “increased notably” since March, the paper says, although the pace is less than in previous years. The fine against Philips is the largest imposed on a U.S. company this fiscal year.

Philips voluntarily disclosed the “violation” to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control. Evasion of the embargo can result in stiff sanctions, including up to 10 years in jail, and $1 million in fines for corporations and $250,000 for individuals.

In April the Obama administration overturned Bush administration restrictions that limited visits to the island by Cuban Americans to once every three years. Restrictions on the amount of money they can send to the island were also eased. At the same time, Obama kept in place a travel ban on U.S. citizens and residents who would like to visit, along with most other provisions of the embargo.

Washington first imposed some economic sanctions against Cuba in 1960, in retaliation for workers and farmers there not only overthrowing the U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship, but for having the audacity to nationalize U.S.-owned sugar plantations and oil refineries and place them under control of working people. President John Kennedy made it a full-fledged embargo in February 1962.

Washington and Havana held talks July 14 in New York City to discuss immigration from Cuba. The U.S. delegation included representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard. The one-day discussion, the first since 2003, did not end with any agreements, but the Cuban diplomats invited Washington to continue the discussion in Havana in December.  
 
 
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