*EPF507 10/06/00
Congressional Conference Approves Sanctions Reform Measure
(Measure lifts food sanctions against five countries) (780)
By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The U.S. Congressional agriculture appropriations conference has approved sanctions reform legislation that would allow the sale of food, medicine and medical equipment to Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea and Sudan.

"By any measure, today marks a dramatic shift in American foreign policy, for we have established an unmistakable tenet -- food and medicine will not be instruments of diplomacy," said Representative George Nethercutt Jr., a Washington state Republican who fought to keep the sanctions reform measure alive this congressional session.

The reform measure lifts all unilateral food and medicine sanctions on Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea and Sudan. The measure also reins in the ability of the president to unilaterally impose economic sanctions without congressional consent.

"This bill creates opportunities, not only for American farmers, but for so-called states of concern. We are offering access to the highest quality food and medicine in the world," Nethercutt said October 5.

Efforts to ease sanctions on food, medicine and medical equipment have been spurred in part by falling U.S. agricultural exports and declining commodity prices, which have led agricultural groups to seek changes in U.S. economic sanctions policies. The Clinton administration has long favored exempting food and medicine from sanctions measures for humanitarian reasons.

According to Timothy Galvin, administrator of the U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service, agricultural exports to Cuba could reach $300 million in a year or two with removal of food sanctions. With complete normal trade relations, he said Cuba could become a $1,000 million market for U.S. agricultural producers within five years.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives conference committee has been meeting for several weeks to resolve differences in the amendment to the agriculture spending bill, which is one of a number of measures that make up the fiscal year 2001 federal budget.

The agriculture spending measure -- including the sanctions reform measure -- now faces several different procedural options. It could be voted on as a stand-alone bill by the Senate and House, or be combined with other spending measures for eventual signature into law by President Clinton. As the 106th Session of the U.S. Congress winds down, there has been considerable discussion about combining individual appropriations bills into one or two larger spending bills to simplify legislative passage and enactment.

The measure will require a review process for future unilateral economic sanctions, requiring the president to consult with Congress and request passage of a joint resolution before new food and medicine sanctions could be imposed. And, if sanctions are imposed, they would have to be reviewed in two years for further implementation.

Previously, the Senate approved a form of economic sanctions reform as did the House of Representatives. However, the reform amendment was stripped out of the House-passed appropriations measure with the stipulation that a revised version would be added in a different form in the conference committee.

"The president retains full flexibility to maintain any sanctions necessary to restrict dual-use items, or to deny exports to a country involved in hostilities against the United States," Nethercutt says.

However, the Clinton administration has maintained that it must retain full flexibility to impose economic sanctions under a variety of circumstances and has objected to any language restricting that unilateral flexibility.

Under this measure, all countries other than Cuba would be eligible for private U.S. financing, he said. "Current prohibitions on travel to Cuba are maintained and Cuban exports to the United States are prohibited."

The United States first imposed full economic sanctions against Cuba in 1962, three years after the revolution that brought President Fidel Castro to power.

Cuba has been able to buy medicine from the United States since 1992 under restrictions that requires the Caribbean nation to pay cash for goods or obtain credit from a third country. Cuba buys about $2 million worth of U.S. medicine and health products annually.

The measure also creates a new travel category for the purpose of agricultural sales, and it provides greater licensing flexibility, he said. The president is also given the authority to waive prohibitions on U.S. financing and humanitarian assistance to Iran, Libya, North Korea and Sudan.

Provisions lifting sanctions against Cuba and others were included in the fiscal year 1999 and fiscal year 2000 agriculture spending bills that the Senate passed, but died in the absence of House action.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Website: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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