Cuban marketplace reopened for U.S. food and agricultural products

Cuba has been reopened for U.S. food and agricultural products.
Cuba has been reopened for U.S. food and agricultural products. | File photo

An agreement signed at the end of May between the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba (USACC) and Cuba’s Grupo Empresarial Agricola (GEA) re-establishes the Cuban marketplace for U.S. food and agricultural products. 

The two groups will work closely to ensure the agreement is mutually beneficial and both industries are mutually productive. The American Soybean Association (ASA) is in full support of this agreement and of policy to normalize relations with Cuba, including a complete end to the embargo.

“Our Cuban partners represent a great deal of promise for the American soybean industry,” Ron Moore, ASA's vice president, said from Cuba where he's with the USACC. “The agreement that USACC is signing on to this morning is something that will help to ensure both American producers and Cuban buyers have what they need as our relationship continues to grow together. So much has changed since the era in which the Cuban embargo was put in place.

"Since 1961, our countries have evolved, our industries have expanded, and our economies have matured. Cubans have an increasing opportunity to develop their economy, and Americans have an equally promising opportunity to help meet that demand. That’s why we’re here — to meet a burgeoning demand for meat protein, for cooking oil and for the array of other products that American producers can provide.”