AUGUSTA – A dairy farmer and Democratic lawmaker just back from a trade mission to Cuba was optimistic Friday about newly arranged farm trade contracts for Maine eggs and cattle embryos.

But state Sen. John Nutting, D-Leeds, said he was frustrated by what he believes are changes in policy under the Bush administration that affect how producers can be paid for their products shipped to the island.

“I came home extremely frustrated,” Nutting said.

As a Maine trade mission neared its completion, Gov. John Baldacci announced Thursday that Cuba has agreed to buy up to $10 million in agricultural products from Maine.

Nutting said that longtime U.S. trade embargoes on Cuba that have been lifted by Congress over the past three years, including those allowing agricultural trade and some tourist visits, have been effectively overridden by the U.S. Treasury Department the past six weeks.

Some of the changes, Nutting said, have been through Bush administration policies: a new ban on tourist travel; a decrease in allowed visits with relatives from three times a year to one; a limit on what U.S. citizens can spend each day in Cuba; and a drop in the amount of duty-free items those with agricultural licenses can bring back to the United States.

What has farmers most upset, Nutting said, is that the U.S. Treasury Department is holding all cash payments to U.S. farmers for agricultural goods for 30 days. “They say they are inspecting it,” Nutting said.

The result, he said, is that American farmers are not able to be paid immediately in cash. He said their prices will have to reflect that. “Maine will be particularly affected,” he said.

U.S. Treasury Department spokeswoman Molly Millerwise disputed Nutting’s version.

“There is a lot of confusion out there, and a number of letters have come down from Capitol Hill promoting that inaccurate stance,” she said.

Millerwise said the Treasury Department was approached earlier this fall by lending institutions that sought clarification on regulations requiring the Cuban cash payments “in advance.”

The lenders “questioned whether that meant in advance of shipment, in advance of documentation or once the products were on the docks and inspected,” Millerwise said. “Because of those questions, the financial institutions began blocking transactions.” Millerwise would not identify which banks were involved.

Meanwhile, she said, the Treasury Department was forced to come up with an interim policy in November while creating a more-detailed policy with clearer guidelines. “None of our policies require holding any money,” she said.

Aside from the confusion over payment issues, Nutting said, he was pleased with the trade mission overall and picked up some indications that Cuba’s economy has been progressing since his visit two years ago.

“There were many buildings repaired, new cars, even the people were dressed better. There is much more prosperity,” he said.

Nutting said the second group on the agriculture mission, including state Commissioner of Agriculture Robert Spear, was expected back in Maine late Friday. The group secured $10 million in contracts for Maine dairy products, apples, potatoes, eggs and other agricultural foods over the next four years.