Bill seeks to increase ag trade to Cuba
Legislation has been introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota to expand U.S. agriculture exports to Cuba.
By Robert Pore, The Grand Island Independent
Legislation has been introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota to expand U.S. agriculture exports to Cuba.
H.R. 4645, the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act, is a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by 30 other members of Congress. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., was not one of the 30 co-sponsors and expressed concerns about the legislation.
"Helping feed Cuba is good for the U.S. economy and for the Cuban people," Peterson said. "This bill increases the ability of our farmers to sell their products to Cuba just like they do with our other trading partners."
He said U.S. producers are the closest suppliers who can help meet the food and agriculture needs of the Cuban people.
"Opportunities to sell to paying customers in Cuba have been hindered by bureaucratic red tape and by arbitrary prohibitions on the ability of U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba," Peterson said. This bill cuts the red tape and allows that trade and travel to happen."
The Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act would eliminate both the need to go through banks in other countries to conduct agricultural trades and the accompanying fees those banks charge.
The bill would also require agricultural exports to Cuba to meet the same payment requirements as exports to other countries, meaning payment would be required when the title of the shipment changes hands, not in advance.
The bill would also require agricultural exports to Cuba to meet the same payment requirements as exports to other countries, meaning payment would be required when the title of the shipment changes hands, not in advance.
The bill would allow U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba, reducing the bureaucratic red tape currently required for individuals to travel to Cuba to facilitate new agriculture sales.
Nebraska and Cuba have already established a strong trading link between the two countries. Since 2005, Nebraska has conducted five successful trade missions to Cuba that have resulted in about $100 million in sales of Nebraska agricultural products. Gov. Dave Heineman has traveled to Cuba three times, Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach has traveled to Cuba four times and Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy has traveled to Cuba once.
But while Nebraska has benefitted from trade with Cuba, Smith was not a sponsor of Peterson's bill and has questions about allowing Americans to visit Cuba.
"The Cuban situation is kind of dicey," he said. "My concern is that Chairman Peterson's bill really focuses on lifting the travel ban with Cuba. If we need to shore up agricultural exports and the handling of that, then let's talk about that. But this is a wholesale lifting of the travel ban. There's still some concerns out there."
The National Farmers Union and the National Corn Growers Association are two national agricultural organizations that have come out in support of the bill and see a benefit to U.S. agricultural exports.
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson expressed his support of the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act.
"Even though U.S. firms offer reliable trading partners, quality products and competitive prices, current U.S. policy hampers their ability to supply the Cuban market " if the United States is not the supplier, the European Union or Brazil will be happy to take our place," Johnson said.
He said by allowing U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba, U.S. dollars will be put into the hands of Cuban citizens.
"This extra money will allow for the purchase of U.S. goods, improving the economy in both Cuba and the United States in the long term," Johnson said. "Agricultural producers in the United States are well positioned to benefit from additional trade in Cuba. This will also assure Cubans a source for sustainable, high-quality food for its people."
The National Corn Growers Association is also supporting Peterson's bill.
"This legislation will increase one-way agricultural trade from the U.S. to Cuba," said NCGA First Vice President Bart Schott, a grower from Kulm, N.D. "We currently export food to Cuba and these changes will level the playing field for American farmers. It is important to note, though, that it does not eliminate the embargo itself."
Schott said the bill provides an opportunity not only to preserve current U.S. sales of corn to Cuba, but also to increase demand for distillers dried grains and other corn value-added products such as poultry.
Nebraska is the nation's third leading corn growing state and the nation's second leading ethanol production state. A byproduct of ethanol production is distillers grain, with about 18 pounds of distillers grain produced from every gallon of ethanol produced. Nebraska has the capability of producing nearly 1.7 billion gallons of ethanol.
Nebraska is the nation's third leading corn growing state and the nation's second leading ethanol production state. A byproduct of ethanol production is distillers grain, with about 18 pounds of distillers grain produced from every gallon of ethanol produced. Nebraska has the capability of producing nearly 1.7 billion gallons of ethanol.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service, Cuba was the 10th largest export market for U.S. corn during the 2008-2009 marketing year.
Steve Yoder of Dalhart, Texas, chairman of the NCGA's Joint Trade Policy A-Team, said, "There are just unnecessary restrictions on food shipments to Cuba."
Currently, Yoder said, cash payments from Cuba are required before food leaves the U.S. port, instead of allowing for payment prior to delivery. He said other countries selling agricultural goods to Cuba do not have this same type of restriction, creating a disadvantage for U.S. corn farmers.
According to Yoder, the "direct banking" provision only allows the Cuban buyer to make payment through a third-country bank outside of the United States. This adds yet another additional cost to each transaction involving the sale of our farmers' products, he said.
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