HAVANA, Cuba – Representatives of Cuba and the U.S. again updated the roadmap to normalization of ties between the two nations, including high-level visits in areas like health and agriculture.

They also agreed to new exchanges on hydrography, the environment and the implementation of and compliance with law.

At the end of the third meeting of the Bilateral Commission, Josefina Vidal, director general of the U.S. Department of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, told a news conference these have become practice since Dec. 17, 2014, and described it as a productive meeting, held in an atmosphere of professionalism and mutual respect.

The Cuban diplomat asserted that in the six months that have elapsed since the last meeting of the commission, an increase of exchanges at different levels, technical and diplomatic has been established, which reached its peak with the official visit of U.S. President Barack Obama to the island in March.

She noted that Cuba appreciates positively the three-day stay of the U.S. head of state in Cuba and considered that a fresh impetus should be given to further progress in normalizing relations.

Vidal said that until September, when they will meet again, they will work to achieve agreements in areas such as health, agriculture and the exchange of information in the meteorological and seismological fields.

Cooperation in terrestrial protected areas, which will continue the agreement on protection of coastal ecosystems, actions to be jointly developed in case of oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, and search and rescue activities in the face of disasters will be on the agenda.

A new topic that representatives of both countries will address in the coming weeks will be that of intellectual property, including industrial property and the protection of trademarks and patents, of great importance for Cuba due to the implications for its world renowned companies.