U.S. POULTRY TRADE WITH CUBA BOOMING

U.S. POULTRY TRADE WITH CUBA BOOMING
UNITED STATES/CUBA: Companies in 37 states exporting food to Cuba
despite trade embargo.

U.S. companies are taking advantage of a loophole in the trade embargo
with Cuba that allows food to be sold to the communist island.

Toby Moore with the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council says, since that
loophole went into effect in 2000, Cuba has become a top ten export
market for U.S. chicken. Federal statistics show Cuba buys about $57
million of U.S. poultry a year. About 40 to 50 percent of that comes
from Alabama.

Moore says the group is working with the Cuban government's purchasing
company (Alimport) to "encourage them to adopt quality standards that
are in line with U.S. standards." He says they are also working with
APHIS on poultry disease issues, such as avian influenza to make sure
U.S. poultry isn't banned because of low-pathogenic outbreaks of bird flu.

Web posted: October 4, 2006

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