New bill bolsters hope for U.S. agricultural sales to Cuba

New bill bolsters hope for U.S. agricultural sales to Cuba
Mar. 1, 2011 5:12pm

Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, yesterday introduced legislation (H.R. 833)
to define "payment of cash in advance" for U.S.-Cuba agricultural sales
as receipt of payment by the seller prior to the transfer of the
product's title and the release of control of the product to the purchaser.

Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, yesterday introduced legislation (H.R. 833)
to define "payment of cash in advance" for U.S.-Cuba agricultural sales
as receipt of payment by the seller prior to the transfer of the
product's title and the release of control of the product to the
purchaser. Since 2005, federal regulations enforced by the Treasury
Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) require advance
payment in cash only, before U.S. farm goods leave a U.S. port for Cuba.

H.R. 833 would also prohibit the president from restricting direct
transfers from a Cuban financial institution to U.S. financial
institution to pay for a product authorized for sale under U.S. law.
Federal law allows the sale of U.S. farm goods to Cuba, but requires
payment in cash only.

The USA Rice Federation has led rice industry efforts to open and expand
agricultural trade with Cuba and strongly supports congressional efforts
to remove statutory and regulatory restrictions on direct trade with the
island nation. USA Rice is working to get rice state co-sponsors of
H.R. 833.

Cuba is a potential 400,000 to 600,000 metric ton (MT) rice market for
the United States. U.S. rice sales to Cuba peaked in 2004, at
approximately 176,000 MT. After OFAC imposed restrictive regulations on
U.S.-Cuba agricultural transactions in 2005, U.S. rice sales"

http://westernfarmpress.com/government/new-bill-bolsters-hope-us-agricultural-sales-cuba