U.S. farmers protest OFAC change in Cuba export payments rule

U.S. farmers protest OFAC change in Cuba export payments rule    A coalition of U.S. farm groups asked the Bush administration to retain the current payment terms for agricultural commodity shipments purchased by Cuba.
   The coalition became concerned after the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control indicated it may require U.S. exporters to receive payment before goods leave U.S. ports for Cuba.
   “There is no reason to change rules of payment that might reduce the market for the wide number of products produced by our members and exported to Cuba, including wheat, rice, corn, soybeans, chicken, pork, eggs, dairy products, apples and even live animals,” said American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman in a Dec. 9 statement.
   Since trade began with Cuba in December 2001, the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act has allowed payment from Cuba prior to goods being released to the buyer, not prior to shipment.
   The U.S. farm group coalition told President Bush in a letter that the shippers to Cuba have followed the law and warned: “requiring payment prior to shipment would be contrary to the standard method of international business.”
   Cuba has become the U.S. agriculture sector’s 22nd-largest agricultural market, valued at about $400 million per year. “It is a market we cannot afford to lose,” the coalition’s letter said.