[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[September 30, 1992]
[Pages 1724-1726]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Congress Reporting on the National Emergency With Respect 
to Haiti
September 30, 1992

To the Congress of the United States:
    1. On October 4, 1991, in Executive Order No. 12775, I declared a 
national emergency to deal with the threat to the national security, 
foreign policy, and economy of the United States caused by events that 
had occurred in Haiti to disrupt the legitimate exercise of power by the 
democratically elected government of that country (56 FR 50641). In that 
order, I ordered the immediate blocking of all property and interests in 
property of the Government of Haiti (including the Banque de la 
Republique d'Haiti) then or thereafter located in the United States or 
within the possession or control of a U.S. person, including its 
overseas branches. I also prohibited any direct or indirect payments or 
transfers to the de facto regime in Haiti of funds or other financial or 
investment assets or credits by any U.S. person or any entity organized 
under the laws of Haiti and owned or controlled by a U.S. person.
    Subsequently, on October 28, 1991, I issued Executive Order No. 
12779 adding trade sanctions against Haiti to the sanctions imposed on 
October 4, 1991 (56 FR 55975). Under this order, I prohibited 
exportation from the United States of goods, technology, and services, 
and importation into the United States of Haitian-origin goods and 
services, after November 5, 1991, with certain limited exceptions. The 
order exempts trade in publications and other informational materials 
from the import, export, and payment prohibitions, and permits the 
exportation to Haiti of donations to relieve human suffering as well as 
commercial sales of five food commodities: rice, beans, sugar, wheat 
flour, and cooking oil. In order to permit the return to the United 
States of goods being prepared for U.S. customers by Haiti's substantial 
``assembly sector,'' the order also permitted, through December 5, 1991, 
the importation into the United States of goods assembled or processed 
in Haiti that contained parts or materials previously exported to Haiti 
from the United States. On February 5, 1992, it was announced that this 
exception could be applied for on a case-by-case basis by U.S. persons 
wishing to resume a pre-embargo import/export relationship with the 
assembly sector in Haiti.
    2. The declaration of the national emergency on October 4, 1991, was 
made pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, including the International 
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the National 
Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3 of 
the United States Code. I reported the emergency declaration to the 
Congress on October 4, 1991, pursuant to section 204(b) of the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1703(b)). The 
additional sanctions set forth in my order of October 28, 1991, were 
imposed pursuant to the authority vested in me by the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, including the statutes cited above, and 
implemented in the United States Resolution MRE/RES. 2/91, adopted by 
the Ad Hoc Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization 
of American States (``OAS'') on October 8, 1991, which called on Member 
States to impose a trade embargo on Haiti and to freeze Government of 
Haiti assets. The present report is submitted pursuant 
to 50 U.S.C. 1641(c) and 1703(c), and 
discusses Administration actions and expenses directly related to the 
national 
emergency with respect to Haiti declared 
in Executive Order No. 12775, as

[[Page 1725]]

implemented pursuant to that order and Executive Order No. 12779.
    3. On March 31, 1992, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the 
Department of the Treasury (``FAC''), after consultation with the 
Department of State and other Federal agencies, issued the Haitian 
Transactions Regulations (``HTR''), 31 C.F.R. Part 580 (57 FR 10820, 
March 31, 1992), to implement the prohibitions set forth in Executive 
Orders No. 12775 and No. 12779. Since my last report, there have been 
two amendments to the HTR.
    On June 5, 1992, new section 580.211 was added (57 FR 23954, June 5, 
1992) prohibiting vessels calling in Haiti on or after that date from 
entering the United States without authorization by FAC. This amendment 
is explained more fully in section 6 of this report. In addition, 
effective August 27, 1992, new section 580.516 (57 FR 39603, September 
1, 1992) authorizes the exportation to Haiti of certain additional food 
items (corn and corn flour, milk (including powdered milk), and edible 
tallow), as well as the issuance of specific licenses permitting, on a 
case-by-case basis, exports of propane for noncommercial use. Copies of 
these amendments are attached to this report.
    4. The ouster of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the democratically elected 
President of Haiti, in an illegal coup by elements of the Haitian 
military on September 30, 1991, was immediately repudiated and 
vigorously condemned by the OAS. The convening on September 30, 1991, of 
an emergency meeting of the OAS Permanent Council to address this crisis 
reflected an important first use of a mechanism approved at the 1991 OAS 
General Assembly in Santiago, Chile, requiring the OAS to respond to a 
sudden or irregular interruption of the functioning of a democratic 
government anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. As an OAS Member State, 
the United States has participated actively in OAS diplomatic efforts to 
restore democracy in Haiti and has supported fully the OAS resolutions 
adopted in response to the crisis, including Resolution MRE/RES. 2/91 
and MRE/RES. 3/92.
    5. In the first year of the Haitian sanctions program, FAC has made 
extensive use of its authority to specifically license transactions with 
respect to Haiti in an effort to mitigate the effects of the sanctions 
on the legitimate Government of Haiti and on the livelihood of Haitian 
workers employed by Haiti's export assembly sector having established 
relationships with U.S. firms, and to ensure the availability of 
necessary medicines and medical supplies and the undisrupted flow of 
humanitarian donations to Haiti's poor. For example, specific licenses 
have been issued (1) permitting expenditures from blocked assets for the 
operations of the legitimate Government of Haiti, (2) permitting U.S. 
firms with pre-embargo relationships with product assembly operations in 
Haiti to resume those relationships in order to continue employment for 
their workers or, if they choose to withdraw from Haiti, to return to 
the United States assembly equipment, machinery, and parts and materials 
previously exported to Haiti, (3) permitting U.S. companies operating in 
Haiti to establish, under specified circumstances, interest-bearing 
blocked reserve accounts in commercial or investment banking 
institutions in the United States for deposit of amounts owed the de 
facto regime, (4) permitting the continued material support of U.S. and 
international religious, charitable, public health, and other 
humanitarian organizations and projects operating in Haiti, and (5) 
authorizing commercial sales of agricultural inputs such as fertilizer 
and foodcrop seeds.
    6. The widespread supply of embargoed goods, particularly petroleum 
products, to Haiti by foreign-flag vessels led to the adoption on May 
17, 1992, by the Ad Hoc Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 
OAS of Resolution MRE/RES. 3/92 urging, among other things, a port ban 
on vessels engaged in trade with Haiti in violation of the OAS embargo. 
There was broad consensus among OAS member representatives, as well as 
European permanent observer missions, on the importance of preventing 
oil shipments to Haiti. Vessels from some non-OAS Caribbean ports and 
European countries have been involved in trade, particularly oil 
supplies, that undermines the embargo.
    In response to Resolution MRE/RES. 3/92, section 580.211 was added 
to

[[Page 1726]]

the HTR on June 5, 1992, prohibiting vessels calling in Haiti on or 
after that date from entering the United States without FAC 
authorization. Vessels seeking such authorization must demonstrate that 
all calls in Haiti on or after June 5 were (1) for transactions exempted 
or excepted from the applicable prohibitions of the HTR, (2) 
specifically licensed by FAC, or authorized by an OAS Member State 
pursuant to Resolution MRE/RES. 3/92, or (3) made under a contract of 
voyage that was fully completed prior to the vessel's proposed entry 
into a U.S. port.
    Strict enforcement of the new regulation has benefitted from the 
close coordination between FAC, the U.S. Embassy at Port-au-Prince, the 
U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Coast Guard in 
monitoring vessel traffic to and from Haiti.
    7. Since the issuance of Executive Order No. 12779, FAC has worked 
closely with the U.S. Customs Service to ensure both that prohibited 
imports and exports (including those in which the Government of Haiti 
has an interest) are identified and interdicted and that permitted 
imports and exports move to their intended destinations without undue 
delay. Violations and suspected violations of the embargo are being 
investigated, and appropriate enforcement actions have been initiated.
    Since my last report, penalties totalling more than $30,000 have 
been collected for U.S. banks for violations involving unlicensed 
transfers from blocked Government of Haiti accounts or the failure to 
block payments to the de facto regime. Additional penalties totaling 
nearly $175,000 have been proposed for other violations of the HTR, 
including penalties against the masters of vessels violating the new 
regulation, effective June 5, 1992, applicable to vessels calling in 
Haiti on or after that date.
    8. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from April 4, 1992, through October 3, 1992, that are directly 
attributable to the authorities conferred by the declaration of a 
national emergency with respect to Haiti are estimated at $2.3 million, 
most of which represent wage and salary costs for Federal personnel. 
Personnel costs were largely centered in the Department of the Treasury 
(particularly in FAC, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Office of the 
General Counsel), the Department of State, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the 
Department of Commerce.
    9. The assault on Haiti's democracy represented by the military's 
forced exile of President Aristide continues to pose an unusual and 
extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and 
economy of the United States. The United States remains committed to a 
multilateral resolution of this crisis through its actions implementing 
the resolutions of the OAS with respect to Haiti. I shall continue to 
exercise the powers at my disposal to apply economic sanctions against 
Haiti as long as these measures are appropriate, and will continue to 
report periodically to the Congress on significant developments pursuant 
to 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).

                                                             George Bush

The White House,
September 30, 1992.