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A delegation of rice producers affiliated with the USA Rice Federation arrived in Havana Tuesday, in an effort to recapture a share of the Cuban market.
Cuba typically imports some 600,000 tons of rice per year. However, sales of U.S. rice producers to Cuba dropped to near-zero three years ago, as Cuba began to experience a cash crunch, Vietnam offered more leeway with credit, and rice production on the island started to climb.
During their June 21-24 visit, the delegation will meet with officials of state food importer Alimport, the Foreign Trade Ministry, and the Agriculture Ministry. The group is led by USA Rice Merchants’ Association Chairman Brian King.
Most of the participants are from Arkansas, including William Carwell and Randy and Joseph McNeil of Poinsett Rice and Grain, Ronald Miller of Bayou Grain, Gerald Morris of Farmers Granery, and Paul Whittingham of Ritter Grain Services.
The main obstacle to U.S. rice sales, the USA Rice Federation’s Chuck Wilson told KTHV in Little Rock, Ark., are embargo restrictions forcing Cuba to pay cash and use third-country banks to effect payment.
“If they buy it from the U.S. they would have to go through a bank in a third country,” Wilson told KTHV. “They can’t even use U.S. banks. So there’s a lot of little factors there that we place restrictions on them that we do not on other countries that really is impacting our ability to trade with them.”
H.R. 4645, pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, would allow direct bank transfers from Cuba to U.S. banks.
