U.S.-grown rice, chewing gum from New Jersey, Florida fruit juices and North Carolina turkey are among products U.S. companies are showing off in Cuba this week as they press to sell more farm products to the communist country.

Grouped inside a stand at the International Fair of Havana opening Sunday afternoon, the 71 U.S. firms from 18 states and Puerto Rico hope their displays will make Cuban officials hungry to buy more under an exception in the long-standing U.S. trade embargo.

"We're hoping to sell more apples, grapes, pears, and dried fruits, said Miguel Mauricio, president of the Florida Produce, a Tampa-based wholesale fruit and vegetable company.

Mauricio spoke Saturday afternoon as he and workers set up tables at the stand where they will display piles of fruits during the annual fair running through Nov. 9.

It is the largest U.S. presence ever at the fair, which will feature products from more than 600 companies from about 50 nations.

U.S. exhibitors include the USA Rice Federation; the New Jersey-based Adams chewing gum firm, which sells the Trident, Chiclets and Dentyne brands; Carolina Turkey and Splash Tropical Drinks of Florida.

In past years there have been one or two U.S. exhibitors at the International Fair.

Still, this year's U.S. presence can't compete with the deluge of U.S. firms that participated in a U.S. food and agricultural exhibition held here a little more than a year ago. It featured 288 exhibitors from 33 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The growing U.S. presence at the International Fair of Havana shows that U.S. firms want to keep selling - and Cuban officials want to keep buying, Mauricio said.

"We welcome all American companies wanting to sell," Pedro Alvarez, president of the Cuban food import company Alimport, said Saturday during an exclusive tour by The Associated Press of the exhibition area where the U.S. products will be displayed.

"We want to increase our purchases," he added, standing outside the Purity Products stand where the Florida firm had already arranged pyramids of canned goods: Golbon brand light tuna in water, sliced peaches, carrots, beets, catsup.

Alvarez said that over the next week Cuba hoped to sign contracts to buy more than $50 million more in U.S. farm products, including cereals and livestock. He predicted new deals would be announced daily, starting Sunday.

Alvarez announced that Cuba expects to sign another $70 million to $80 million in U.S. food products in mid-December. At that time, U.S. agribusiness representatives have been invited here to celebrate the 2001 arrival of the first shipload of U.S. food purchased under a law making the transactions possible.

"We are going to celebrate by buying more products!" Alvarez said.

Initially, Cuba refused to buy "a single grain of rice" under the 2000 law that legalized the direct commercial sales of U.S. farm products to the island.

It objected to the restriction on U.S. financing of the sales, and other U.S. requirements adding time and money to the transactions.

But when U.S. officials offered Havana aid after Hurricane Michelle ravaged a good part of the island in late 2001, Cuban officials saw it as a goodwill gesture. They declined the aid, but said they would buy U.S. food under the law to replenish depleted stockpiles.

Since, Cuba has steadily bought U.S. farm products, forming business relationships and hoping their new commercial partners will push the U.S. government to do away with the trade sanctions of more than four decades.

As of Nov. 1, Cuba had contracted to buy nearly $463 million in U.S. farm goods over two years, said Alvarez. The total estimated cost to Cuba of those contracts was $529.9 million, including transportation and other expenses.

Also as of Nov. 1, Cuba has paid $267.5 million for U.S. farm products - including transportation - for food delivered here since the purchases began, Alvarez said.

He said it was unknown if President Fidel Castro would visit the fair, as he visited the U.S. food exhibition last year. "Many of the Americans here have asked that the president visit" their displays, said Alvarez.

With U.S.-Cuban relations in a particularly difficult time, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has denied a request by a Westport, Conn., firm to stage a repeat of the huge U.S. farm products show it held here last year.

PWN Exhibicon International LLC is fighting the decision by the U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control. It had hoped to stage its second U.S. agribusiness fair in January.