Making it a bit easier to sell U.S. medicines and medical equipment to Cuba, the Clinton administration and Havana have quietly agreed to allow a Roman Catholic humanitarian agency to monitor such sales.

Both sides empowered Caritas Cubana to certify whether such sales meet U.S. requirements that the goods don't go to the Cuban military or biotechnology industry and are not used for torture or re-export.

Washington also recently began issuing licenses to salesmen of U.S. pharmaceutical and medical equipment so they can travel to Cuba with their samples and drum up sales.

``We are licensing people to facilitate something that is our policy -- getting medicines into Cuba,'' said one official at the U.S. Treasury Department, which administers much of the 35-old-embargo on Cuba.

At least three U.S. firms have already obtained travel licenses, and the first American salesman in Cuba returned with a sales order, said John Kavulich, head of the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.

While financially strapped Cuba is unlikely to flood U.S. firms with orders, the changes appear to reflect U.S. concerns over recent complaints regarding the medical side of the embargo.
`Unnecessary suffering'
A March report by the American Association for World Health said the embargo had caused ``unnecessary suffering and deaths'' in Cuba by blocking the sale of U.S. medicines, medical equipment and food. The Washington-based association is a nonprofit organization funded by grants from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and other sources.

Havana, for its part, said the embargo cost it an extra $30 million last year alone by keeping it out of the cheaper U.S. medical products market -- a figure regarded by U.S. industry experts as highly exaggerated.

Sales of U.S. medical products to Cuba were legalized in 1992 by the Cuban Democracy Act. The law requires sellers to obtain Treasury and Commerce Department licenses and have a credible agency verify that the products go to benefit the Cuban people, not the Cuban government.

A State Department report issued last month said the U.S. government had approved 36 of the 38 licenses requested for sale of medicines and medical equipment to Cuba since the law went into effect.

Donations were licensed

During the same period, Washington licensed $150 million in humanitarian donations to Cuba, mostly in medical products.

Havana reported it imported $50 million worth of medical supplies in 1995, compared to about $200 million for the Dominican Republic that year. The Cuban figure apparently does not include the value of medical goods donated to the island by governments and humanitarian groups.

Cuba's repeated complaints about a U.S. medical ``blockade'' have stuck in the public's mind, and even some American pharmaceutical firms are under the impression that all sales to Cuba are banned.

``It's legal? We thought it was out of the question,'' said the head of a Midwestern medical equipment firm that received a sales inquiry from Havana last year. The firm turned Cuba down, citing the embargo.

The new policies adopted by Havana, Washington and Caritas on end-user verification, and the granting of permission for U.S. medical salesmen to travel to Cuba and take their samples, are expected to increase sales.

Although Caritas in the past monitored the end use of some U.S. shipments on a case-by-case basis, it has now negotiated with the Cuban Health Ministry a standard-language agreement for monitoring any future shipment.

Report required

The document, to be signed by Caritas, the ministry and the U.S. firm involved in each sale, requires the ministry to report to Caritas how it will store, distribute and use the medicines and equipment.

Caritas will have the power to visit government ``warehouses and installations with the sole purpose of checking the destination and use of all materials covered by this accord,'' the agreement adds.

Acting independently, the Commerce Department noted in its latest license to U.S. medical salesmen that it now recognizes Caritas, the Red Cross and Catholic Charities as legitimate verifiers of any shipment and that salesmen can take samples with them to Cuba.

``The approval of this export should be construed as a precedent for future exports of medical devices to Cuba,'' said the license, issued to a member of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council who wished to remain anonymous to avoid alerting competitors to the possibility of doing business in Cuba.

Meanwhile, the Treasury office that handles licenses for travel to Cuba, the Office of Foreign Asset Controls, began issuing permits in October to U.S. salesmen who want to travel to Cuba and drum up purchase orders under the Torricelli Act.

Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald