Alimport, a Cuban import agency intends to buy 1,000tonnes of medium-to-large sized Red Delicious from the north-west US. The deal is estimated to be worth some $500,000. Consultations on price and quality are already underway, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service of the USDA.

The sales are allowed under the US Trade Sanctions Reform Act which came into force in October 2000 and allows US exports of agricultural products and medicines to Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea and Sudan.

It is likely the produce will be paid for in cash and the deal is expected to go through in May or June this year.

News of the proposed exports come two months after a Washington state trade mission visited the Caribbean's largest island nation in an effort to boost its exports.

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