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"Over the last five years, travel restrictions between the United States and Cuba have eased to the point where travelers now bring in as much as $2-billion worth of products annually.\nBut new restrictions enforced Monday \u2014 an attempt by the Cuban government to crack down on abuses, and likely to increase tax revenue and boost local business \u2014 could greatly affect what is brought into the country.\nSee also: The Internet in Cuba: 5 Things You Need to Know\nUsually, passengers on flights arriving from Miami are carrying duffel bags crammed with goods, ranging from everyday items like soap and socks to luxury items like bicycles, big-screen televisions and game consoles. Travelers arriving in Cuba on Monday complained that the new restrictions would leave their families wanting. They include higher customs duties and stricter limits on both the number and total value of items.\n\"There are barely any bags on the floor inside,\" Arnaldo Roa, a 45-year-old Miami handyman on a trip to see relatives, told the Associated Press. He had a bag with toys and clothes for his daughter, but said he did not bring bags of goods for relatives.\nThe Cuban government said the limits are intended to crack down on professional \"mules,\" who illegally import items that local businesses are supposed to buy from the state.\nThe new rules, outlined in a 41-page document, reveal just how many commercial goods are arriving in checked bags and by ship.\nTravelers are now only allowed to bring in 22 pounds (10 kilos) of detergent instead of 44, one set of hand tools instead of two and 24 bras instead of 48. Four car tires are still permitted, as are two pieces of baby furniture and two flat-screen televisions.\nConsumer goods sold within Cuba are scarce, expensive, of poor quality or sometimes all of the above.\nThe value of a passenger's imported items can total no more than $1,000: Officials arrive at an estimate of a traveler's goods based on a list of assigned prices by item. Under the new rules, the value of products increased sharply from previous estimates.\nThe new rules similarly increased the duties paid on goods shipped from abroad, another major source of foreign merchandise for Cuba.\nAuthorities took to the airwaves and state media in recent days to assure Cubans that the vast majority of travelers won't be affected. The change is intended \"to keep certain people from using current rules on non-commercial imports to bring into the country high volumes of goods that are destined for commercial sale and profit,\" Idalmis Rosales Milanes, deputy chief of Cuban customs, told government newspaper Granma in Friday editions.\nStill, some travelers were furious.\n\"I'm not coming back anymore,\" said Diamara Cespedes, a Miami nurse. \"They're finishing off the Cuban people with this.\"\nThe government has justified the new rules with examples of prolific mules, including one passenger it said brought in 41 computer monitors and 66 flat-screen TVs in a year.\n\nPeople lining up to check in to a Havana flight, carrying supplies for relatives in Cuba, in December 2013.Image: Flickr, Adam IsacsonBetween $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion worth of goods were flown to Cuba in travelers' baggages last year, with the average flyer bringing in goods worth $3,551, according to a 2013 survey of 1,154 Cuban and Cuban-American travelers conducted by the Havana Consulting Group, a Florida-based private consultancy that studies the Cuban economy.\n\"It's sustenance, support that greatly aids in the survival of the Cuban family,\" Consulting Group president Emilio Morales said. \"Along with cash remittances, it's the most significant source of earnings for the Cuban population, not the salaries the government pays.\"\nWhile the survey did not look at the final destination of travelers' goods, Morales said he estimated based on his knowledge of the phenomenon that about 60% went to families and 40% to black-market retailers.\nWith foreign reserves dropping sharply over the last two years \u2014 as Cuba tries to pay off sovereign debt and make itself a more attractive destination for foreign investment \u2014 the government is desperate to reduce the flow of goods, and push Cubans' relatives abroad to send help in the form of cash remittances, which are subjected to hefty government fees, Morales said.\nLimiting informal imports would also presumably help boost business in state-controlled stores.\nThe new restrictions have already had an effect in Miami, where many stores are dedicated to selling goods to island-bound Cubans and Cuban-Americans. Many employees reported sharp drop-offs in sales in recent days, as people braced for the change.\nAdditional reporting by The Associated Press\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/09/01/cuba-restrictions/>