Food Should Not Be Used As a Weapon

May 23, 2002

Food should not be used as a weapon, the American Farm Bureau Federation told a Senate panel Wednesday during a hearing on U.S. trade policy with Cuba. "All agricultural products should be exempt from all embargoes and unilateral sanctions, except in the case of armed conflict," said Maryland Farm Bureau President Stephen Weber, a third-generation fruit and vegetable producer from Baltimore County.

"Unilateral sanctions such as the Cuban embargo do not work. Such sanctions often result in little or no change in the foreign policy actions of the targeted nation. The experience in Cuba is a testament to that fact."

Farm Bureau, Weber said, believes that "maintaining our current trade with Cuba and taking steps to lift the remaining restrictions is needed in order to improve our bilateral relationship with Cuba and to foster democratic reform."

In addition, Weber said, the Cuban market "must remain open" for export sales of U.S. food and agricultural commodities. "American farmers and ranchers are under extreme economic stress from low prices and decreasing world market share," he noted. "Access to this small but viable market provides a much-needed economic boost to many producers who are now experiencing financial stress."

He explained, "American farmers should have equal access to the Cuban market as do their foreign competitors. Numerous countries compete for their foreign agricultural export sales, shutting off the Cuban market to our exports simply means that our competitors step in and supply that market."

Market analysts estimate that the U.S. economy is losing up to $1.24 billion annually in agricultural exports because of the Cuban embargo, and up to $3.6 billion more in related economic output. Cuba presently imports around $4 billion in goods per year from countries other than the United States and agricultural commodities account for 20-25 percent of that total - approaching $1 billion.

Weber said having unfettered access to the Cuban market would benefit U.S. farmers and ranchers and restoring trade between the two countries would also help the Cuban people increase their standard of living. Prior to the embargo instituted in 1960, U.S. imports made up 75-80% of the total Cuban foreign agricultural purchases.

Farm Bureau has called for reform of U.S. policy toward Cuba, asserting the best way to achieve that is through trade. The organization has pressed for legislation to end the current restriction on financing of U.S. food and agricultural exports to the island nation.

"The third-country financing restrictions placed on agricultural export sales prevent U.S. agricultural exporters from developing normal commercial relations with Cuba and are contrary to the spirit of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. We support repeal of this provision of U.S. law," Weber said.