Washington, Jul 27 (EFE).– The United States removed Cuba from the list of countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards for combating human trafficking and “do not make significant efforts to do so.”

The U.S. State Department published Monday its annual report on human trafficking around the world in 2014, in which it identified the countries not taking the necessary measures to combat this scourge, something that can lead to the application of such sanctions as a freeze on non-humanitarian and non-trade-related aid.

Cuba, which appeared on the blacklist year after year since at least 2003, was upgraded this year to the Watch List, which also includes Bolivia, Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, China and others.

“The Government of Cuba does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so,” the U.S. report said.

The State Department acknowledged that “for the second consecutive year, the (island’s) government reported efforts to address sex trafficking,” but recommended that Cuba pass a comprehensive law against the problem, and “vigorously investigate and prosecute both sex trafficking and forced labor offenses.”

The report was published a week after the United States and Cuba renewed diplomatic relations, broken off in 1961, and two months after the State Department removed the Caribbean island from its state sponsors of terrorism list.

The Watch List includes countries whose governments fail to fully comply with the standards for combating human trafficking established in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act, or TVPA, passed in the year 2000, but are making “significant efforts” to do so, though they have not been able provide concrete evidence of that.

The United States also improved in this report its evaluation of Malaysia, moved from the blacklist to the Special Watch list, a decision criticized by some congressmen who considered it doing a favor for that country in the context of negotiations for the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership. EFE