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U.S. agribusinesmen in Cuba call for end to embargo

Xinhua, March 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

A sizable delegation of U.S. agri- business owners visiting Cuba has called for an end to the U.S.- led trade embargo, state daily Granma reported Tuesday.

The 96-member delegation of agricultural representatives on Monday kicked off a series of meetings with their Cuban counterparts, aimed at "exploring trade and exchange opportunities, " said the daily.

Their visit was organized by the U.S. Agricultural Coalition for Cuba (USACC), which was created shortly after the historic Dec. 17 joint announcement by Raul Castro and Barack Obama on restoring broken bilateral ties, and which is campaigning to have the embargo lifted.

The group believes that a proposed bill in the U.S. Congress calling for unfettered export to Cuba "represents an important step to clearing the obstacles that block their normal business transactions with a market of 11 million people only 90 miles away, " said Granma.

USACC chairperson Devry Boughner said at a press conference Monday, "we are working very hard to get the U.S. Congress to eliminate the restrictions that prevent trade exchange between the two countries."

Boughner, an executive at transnational firm Cargill, said while they have yet to determine what products will be most in demand by the two markets, the sectors with the most apparent potential included tobacco, rum, soy, rice and seafood.

The idea is to promote two-way exchange, said Boughner, adding she would like to see a similar Cuban delegation visit the U.S.

Delegation member John Block, former U.S. agriculture secretary under Ronald Reagan, admitted the fight to lift the embargo will not be easy, but said a substantial segment of the U.S. agricultural sector "understands the (trade) potential" in normalizing ties.

The high-profile delegation also included former agriculture secretary Michael Espy, who served under Bill Clinton.

Current Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsach has said trade with Cuba represents a great business opportunity to U.S. farmers and ranchers, said Granma.

The U.S. Congress in 2000 approved the sale of food products and medicine to Cuba, on the condition that payments are made in cash and goods are transported aboard non-Cuban ships, said Granma.

The USACC, however, says such existing legal and trade limits prevent producers from being competitive and choke exchange.

Citing data from the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, the daily said U.S. food sales to Cuba fell to 291 million U.S. dollars in 2014 from 349 million dollars the year before, and have fallen way down from the 710 million dollars registered in 2008, the year Cuba was hit by two hurricanes and increased its imports of food products.

The delegation has met with Cuban officials from the ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs, as well as sugar producer Azcuba and the national association of small farmers, and is set to tour agricultural regions in the western provinces of Mayabeque, Artemisa and Pinar del Rio. Endite