To ship a package to Cuba from the United States, send it as a gift parcel under the Bureau of Industry and Security’s License Exception GFT, keep the contents and recipient within both U.S. and Cuban rules, and choose between USPS and a private carrier based on the weight and value you need to move. No individual export license is required when your shipment fits inside the exception, and OFAC’s general license covers the related financial side.1Bureau of Industry and Security. Cuba Export Controls
The rules come from two directions. Washington controls what leaves the United States. Havana controls what enters Cuba. Your package has to satisfy both, and the numbers don’t match, which is where most senders run into trouble.
What You Can Put in the Box
License Exception GFT, at 15 CFR 740.12, is the authority that lets ordinary people mail things to relatives and friends in Cuba without applying for a license. Eligible contents include food (including vitamins), medicines and medical supplies, clothing, personal hygiene products, seeds, veterinary supplies, fishing equipment, soap-making equipment, receive-only radios with batteries, and other items normally exchanged as gifts. Quantities have to look like a personal gift, not a commercial shipment.2eCFR. 15 CFR 740.12 – Gift Parcels and Humanitarian Donations (GFT)
The combined retail value of a single gift parcel cannot exceed $800. You may send one parcel per month to each eligible recipient. Food is exempt from both the value cap and the monthly frequency limit, so food shipments can go more often and don’t count against the dollar ceiling.2eCFR. 15 CFR 740.12 – Gift Parcels and Humanitarian Donations (GFT)
What You Cannot Include
For Cuba, GFT excludes anything on the Commerce Control List except consumer communications devices covered by a separate exception. Gold bullion, gold bars, and gold taels are always prohibited. So is anything controlled for chemical or biological weapons, missile technology, national security, nuclear proliferation, or encryption reasons.2eCFR. 15 CFR 740.12 – Gift Parcels and Humanitarian Donations (GFT)
Cuban customs adds its own prohibited list. Coins, banknotes, bearer securities, platinum, gold, silver in any form, precious stones, and jewelry cannot be imported. Neither can GPS devices, satellite phones, or drones. Large electronic appliances are also blocked: freezers over 7 cubic feet, air conditioners, and microwaves. The two lists overlap heavily but are not identical, so check both before you pack.
Who Cannot Receive Your Package
GFT bars gift parcels to a defined group of Cuban officials. The restricted recipients include ministers and vice-ministers, members of the Council of State and Council of Ministers, National Assembly members, provincial assembly members, employees of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and Ministry of Defense (MINFAR), senior Cuban labor union officials, chief editors and editors of state-run media, and members of the Supreme Court. Any member of the Politburo is off-limits. Organizations controlled by the Cuban government or the Communist Party are also ineligible recipients.2eCFR. 15 CFR 740.12 – Gift Parcels and Humanitarian Donations (GFT)
Separately, the State Department maintains the Cuba Restricted List (CRL), covering entities tied to the Cuban military, intelligence, or security services. OFAC prohibits direct financial transactions with entities on the list, which includes holding companies such as GAESA and CIMEX along with various hotels and military-linked businesses. The CRL mainly affects financial dealings, but avoid routing a shipment through any listed entity.3Office of Foreign Assets Control. FAQ 734 – What Is the Cuba Restricted List and How Does It Impact Cuba-Related Transactions
Cuban Import Limits and the Duty Your Recipient Pays
Cuba treats non-commercial shipments up to $500 in value or 50 kilograms in weight as personal imports. Under Ministry of Finance and Prices Resolution 9/2026, the value limit was raised from $200 to $500.
There is a trap here. If you ship through USPS, Cuban General Customs enforces a separate $200 value cap on mailed items. Packages exceeding $200 in declared value are subject to confiscation.4United States Postal Service. IMM Section CE 017 – Cuba That’s well below both the $800 U.S. gift-parcel limit and the $500 general Cuban import limit, and it catches senders off guard. Higher-value shipments should go by private carrier.
How the Duty Is Calculated
The first $30 in value, or the first 3 kilograms, enters Cuba duty-free. Everything above that up to the $500 or 50-kilogram cap is taxed at a flat 30%. A package declared at $100 has $70 subject to duty, producing a $21 charge. Your recipient pays that in Cuban pesos at the prevailing exchange rate when they collect the package.
The Food, Medicine, and Hygiene Exemption
Cuba has indefinitely extended a tariff exemption for food, toiletries, medicines, and medical supplies sent as non-commercial shipments. Under Resolution 9/2026, these essentials import duty-free up to $200 in value or 20 kilograms in weight. They have to be packed separately from other goods in the same shipment. The exemption no longer carries an expiration date.
USPS or a Private Carrier
You have two practical channels. USPS is cheaper for small parcels but capped hard on weight, value, and insurance. Private carriers handle heavier and higher-value freight at higher cost.
USPS Options
Not every USPS international service is available to Cuba. The available tiers and their weight ceilings are:4United States Postal Service. IMM Section CE 017 – Cuba
- Priority Mail Express International: up to 22 pounds, with flat rate envelopes limited to 4 pounds.
- Priority Mail International: up to 22 pounds for standard packages, 4 pounds for flat rate envelopes and small flat rate boxes, and 20 pounds for medium and large flat rate boxes.
- First-Class Mail International: letters and postcards up to 3.5 ounces; large envelopes up to 15.994 ounces.
- First-Class Package International Service: up to 4 pounds.
Global Express Guaranteed is not offered to Cuba. And remember the Cuban $200 declared-value ceiling on mailed items sits on top of these weight limits.
Insurance is a hard limitation. The standard merchandise insurance that normally comes with Priority Mail Express International and Priority Mail International is not available for Cuba.5Postal Explorer. 322 Priority Mail Express International Insurance If a USPS shipment to Cuba is lost or damaged, you have no indemnity claim. For anything valuable, that alone is a reason to look at a private carrier.
Private Carriers
Companies such as Crowley run dedicated Cuba services out of Miami, handling items from 10 to 500 pounds with dimensions up to roughly 71 by 59 inches.6Crowley. Shipping to Cuba – Durable Products Other freight forwarders offer comparable air and maritime options, and some include door-to-door delivery or pickup in Cuba. Costs are substantially higher once freight, administrative fees, and any insurance are added, but the weight, value, and coverage limits USPS imposes disappear.
Preparing and Labeling the Package
Every international USPS shipment to Cuba needs a customs declaration. Priority Mail Express International uses PS Form 2976-B; most other services use PS Form 2976-A, the Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note. If you haven’t filled it out online, bring PS Form 2976-R to the post office and the clerk will generate the label.7USPS. Customs Forms List every item accurately, with description, quantity, weight, and declared value. Vague entries invite inspections and delays.
For gift parcels, write “GIFT—Export License Not Required” on the address side of the box and include the code “GFT” on the customs declaration. Adding “U.S.A. Gift Parcel” on both the package and the form can help the recipient qualify for duty-free treatment under the receiving country’s rules.2eCFR. 15 CFR 740.12 – Gift Parcels and Humanitarian Donations (GFT)
If you want food, medicine, or hygiene items to qualify for Cuba’s duty-free exemption, pack them in a separate section or separate package from any non-exempt goods. Cuban customs expects the essentials to be presented apart from the rest of the shipment.
Use sturdy boxes and generous padding. Packages pass through multiple postal systems and at least two rounds of customs inspection, and they can spend weeks in transit. Pack fragile items as though the box will be dropped, because at some point it likely will be.
What Happens When the Package Arrives
Cuban customs inspects incoming shipments and calculates any duty from the declared value and weight. The recipient, not the sender, pays. They will be notified when the package is ready at a designated customs or postal location and will need identification to collect it.
Standard math applies: the first $30 or 3 kilograms free, 30% on the rest. A package holding only food, medicine, toiletries, or medical supplies within the $200 or 20-kilogram exemption owes nothing. Anything over the $500 value or 50-kilogram weight ceiling for non-commercial imports can be refused entry outright.