WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of
America's leading agricultural organizations and companies
dedicated to normalizing trade relations between the United States and Cuba celebrated its one-year anniversary by
urging policymakers to end the embargo in 2016.
The U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba (USACC), which seeks to
enhance two-way trade between the U.S. and Cuba, pointed to regulatory changes and
Congressional activity on advancement of bills over the past year
as clear evidence that the wheels of change are turning.
"USACC began its first year of existence on the common
realization by U.S. agricultural interests—including producers,
growers, companies, NGOs and state organizations—that the ongoing
embargo with Cuba has far
outlasted its purpose, and now only serves as an obstacle to the
common interests of the two countries," said USACC Chair
Devry Boughner Vorwerk. "Now only a
year on we have seen a series of significant actions by the
Administration to achieve that objective. But there is more to be
done, and all roads lead to Congress."
Over the past year, the USACC has been working with the
Administration and Congress to remove financing and trade
restrictions that have limited the ability of the U.S. agriculture
industry to competitively serve the Cuban market. The sanctions
have caused the United States to
surrender market share to competitors such as Canada, Brazil and Argentina.
The latest development last month—the White House's announcement
on January 26, 2016, that it will
amend regulations to ease financing restrictions for certain types
of exports and expand on earlier changes easing travel
restrictions—comes in addition to a series of historic actions
taken by the Administration over the past year, including the
reopening of the U.S. embassy in Havana in July, and a trade mission to
Cuba in November 2015 by Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack.
"We applaud the Administration's efforts over the past year to
normalize trade relations with Cuba," said USACC Vice Chair Paul Johnson. "These long overdue policy
changes lay the groundwork for opening a logical market of 11
million consumers. However, while we advance trade
opportunities by allowing some products to be sold on credit, we
should not exclude agriculture. Building a healthy agriculture
policy with Cuba benefits not only
U.S. agriculture, but the lives of every Cuban. We believe Congress
understands this and we look forward to working with them on
placing agriculture on an equal footing."
"More work remains to be done to lift restrictions," Vorwerk
said. "As we celebrate the successes of the coalition's first year,
USACC will continue to work to create an environment where U.S.
agricultural interests can enter strong, bilateral relationships
with Cuban partners, to the mutual benefit of U.S farmers,
ranchers, agriculture businesses, and the people of Cuba.
Tomorrow, February 11, 2016, the
coalition will host an advocacy day on Capitol Hill to call for the
reestablishment of Cuba as a
market for U.S. agricultural goods and services. The coalition
members hope to meet with key U.S. Senators and Representatives who
have influence over US policy toward Cuba – from members of Congress who are
leading on legislation to expand trade with Cuba, to members that may not be aware of the
U.S. agriculture community's perspective and need to hear from
their agricultural constituents on this issue.
The Coalition plans to take a second Learning Journey to
Cuba in April 2016 whereby it seeks to sign an industry
memorandum of understanding in areas such as two-way trade,
production, sustainability, investment, supply chain, and research
and development. USACC's goal is to work with Cuban industry
counterparts to develop concrete steps that improve collaborative
efforts on food security for both countries.
To learn more about USACC, please visit
www.usagcoalition.com
About the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba
The USACC seeks to advance trade relations between the U.S. and
Cuba by re-establishing
Cuba as a market for U.S. food and
agriculture exports. The USACC believes that normalizing
trade relations between the U.S. and Cuba will provide the U.S. farm and business
community with new market access opportunities, drive enhanced
growth in both countries and allow U.S. farmers, ranchers and food
companies to efficiently address Cuban citizen's food security
needs. Under current sanctions, U.S. food and agriculture
companies can legally export to Cuba, but financing and trade restrictions
limit their ability to serve the market competitively. The
USACC ultimately seeks to end the embargo and allow for open trade
and investment.
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SOURCE U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba