24 THE CUBA REVIEW 



exportation, shall be recognized and identified as being those upon which duty has 

 been paid and provided furtlier that the appraised value of said samples shall not 

 exceed $500. 



In order to obtain tlie refund of 75 per cent, of the duties paid on sanii'les they 

 must be imported by traveling salesmen as part of tlieir personal equipmciu and not 

 as freight duly manifestt'd and declared. In the verbal declarations of jiassciigers, 

 eitlu'r for personal effects or dutiable samples of merchandise, llie value of same 

 must be stated, otlierwise Ihc tlt'clarations caiuiot he acci'pted by (be aulboi-itics. 



Samples of an invoife value of more than .*j;5U0 nuist pay full duly on llie entire 

 amount and there is no lefund whatever ui)on re-exportation. 



Tliere is mueli coniplaiut about this feature of the ('ul>au tariff as to samples. 

 It is contended by liaveling salesmen, and the just ire of the contention is iirac- 

 tically adnutted by the custom authorities, that the limii du the vahu's of samples 

 is too low, and that it should be at least .$1,000 since almost any line of samiile 

 goods which would be brought to Cuba would be worth more than .$.5t»i. 



Re-exportation of samples need not be made through the port of entry. Ipou 

 i«lentirtcation of the samples by the custom authorities at the port of entry the goods 

 can be forwarded in lioiid tn the port of re-exportation. But this bonding recpiires 

 return to the port of euti\, and if a connnercial salesman, therefore, desired to take 

 his samples to an intericn- town he would have to bring them l)ack to Havana before 

 lie could re-export theni via Santiago. All this, of coiu-se. applies only to samph's 

 valued at less than .$500. 



Finally, as to entry of samples upon which a refund of duty is expected, it may 

 be said that the only delay, iirovided the entry papers are correct, is that of the 

 clerical woi'k involved and that usually takes but littl(> time. 



DUTIES ON ADVERTISING MATTER 

 Advertising matter, such as printed circulars, cards, pamphlets, calendars, cata- 

 logues, etc., carried by connnercial travelers for free distribution, is dutiable in 

 accordance with tlie character and manufacture of the article. Such material is 

 regarded as merchandise. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 Buying Skason 

 There is no special .season for selling goods in Cuba, but as the active business 

 period is during the colder months, it is advisable to choose the winter season for 

 more satisfactory results. 



Baggage 

 The Cuban railroads do not give special l)aggage rates to any one. Fifty kilos 

 (110 pounds) are carried free, and excess is charged for at the rate of $2 for 100 

 kilos. 



Expenses 

 It is probably safe to say that the average expen.se of a commercial traveler in 

 Cuba will be about .$12 to $15 per day. 



IMPORTS AND EXPORTS 



Total values of merciiandise imported from and expoited to Cuba during March 

 and the nine months ended March, 1D2(>, comi»ared with corresponding periods of tlie 

 preceding year, have l»eeii made i)ublic by the I'.uieau of Foreign and Domestic Com- 

 merce, Department of Commerce, as f<illows : 



Month of ManJi Nine MoniliK Ended March 



1920 V.)V.) 1920 1919 



Imports from Cuba .$TJ:,S48,C86 .$35,115,704 $37(j.267,.324 $202,250,742 



Exports to Cuba :«,669,938 17,967,785 248,617,663 169,530,150 



