Empty Cigar Boxes, Cuba and eBay

Yesterday I posted an item on eBay just to trial it for selling my Cigar Box Guitar products. The item was a "Cigar Box Guitar Kit" containing an empty Cuban Cigar Box.

This morning I received the following email from eBay:

Some of your listings haven’t followed our Embargoed Goods policy. We understand that you may not have been aware of this policy or that this may have been an oversight. So, in this email, we're including some policy information to help you with your future listings. We also had to take the following actions: - Listings that didn't follow eBay guidelines have been removed. A list of removed item(s) is available further down in this email. - We have credited all associated fees except for the final value fee for your listing(s). eBay doesn't allow the sale of items to or from countries, organizations, businesses, or individuals where local or EU embargo regulations exist, or where the United States government has an embargo. This includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Sudan, and other countries. This significantly restricts or bans all trade with these countries. As a United States company, eBay is bound by the government’s restrictions regarding these embargoes. For example, we don’t allow items from Cuba, such as Cuban cigars, to be listed or sold on eBay. The only exceptions are items defined as "informational" or "licensed" by the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control. For more information on this policy, go to: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/embargo.html Please understand that you listed Cuban cigar box, which was made in Cuba and are considered Embargoed Goods. Embargoed Goods are not permitted to be listed on eBay.co.uk. Please don't relist such items on the site. We encourage you to list items that follow our policies, so please take a moment to familiarise yourself with this information. Be sure that your current and future listings, including any items that are relisted automatically, follow these guidelines. If they don’t, they'll be removed and your fees may not be refunded. It could also result in additional actions, including loss of buying and selling privileges on eBay. If you have any questions, contact us: http://ocsnext.ebay.co.uk/ocs/cusr?query=508&domain=email1383 Here's a lit of the item(s) that were removed: 222490113555 - Cigar Box Guitar Kit - Everything you need. We appreciate your understanding.

Thanks, eBay Please don't reply to this message. It was sent from an address that doesn't accept incoming email.

So it seems that empty cigar boxes are still a threat to the American economy!! Yet I remember reading last year that Obama had relaxed the embargo on Cuban Cigars - when I investigated this I learnt that the relaxed embargo only applies to US citizens who visit Cuba and return with Cigars in their carry on luggage.

From now on my eBay listings will have to be Cuba free..........