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Shipment of U.S. cattle
to Cuba
OK'd after mad cow screening
By Michael Braga. michael.braga@heraldtribune.com.
The
Herald Tribune, FL.
PORT MANATEE -- The on-again, off-again
shipment of Florida beef cattle to Cuba
is on again.
The Cuban government originally agreed
to purchase 250 head of cattle in November
and increased that total to 300 head four
months later.
The shipment, set to leave from Port Manatee
in April, was indefinitely postponed after
a single case of mad cow disease (bovine
spongiform encephalopathy) was discovered
in Washington.
Cuba, like other countries, was concerned
that U.S. cattle infected with the brain-wasting
disease could infect their herds.
After recently meeting with officials at
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cuban
authorities are now convinced that American
ranchers have curtailed the problem enough
to again schedule the shipment.
"The Cubans have certified that America
is BSE free," said John Parke Wright
IV, the Naples businessman who negotiated
the cattle sale. "That's something
that the Japanese, Chinese and Mexicans
have not done yet."
Wright, who shipped 300 head of dairy cattle
to Cuba in 2003, said the process of selecting
cattle for shipment will start immediately.
A team of Cuban cattle specialists will
travel to ranches in Florida and pick the
heifers and bulls they want.
"We should be able to arrange a shipment
within the next two months," said Wright.
Sellers include the Strickland Ranch in
Manatee County, the Adams Ranch in Fort
Pierce and the Baldwin Ranch near Ocala.
The U.S. has maintained a trade embargo
against Cuba since 1962, but Congress altered
the rules four years ago to permit U.S.
companies to sell certain products.
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