Havana ? A U.S. medical supply company showed off an anesthesia machine and other equipment to Cuban officials on Thursday in hopes of whetting the island’s appetite for American medical goods.

“Cuba appreciates the high quality of American medical supplies,” said Pedro Alvarez, chairman of the Cuban food import company Alimport. “But the (U.S.) embargo affects the ability to export these supplies to Cuba.”

U.S. companies can sell medicine and medical supplies directly to the communist country under the 1992 Cuban Democracy Act. But the rules and required paperwork make the transactions tedious.

Mercury Medical of Clearwater, Fla., brought an estimated $100,000 worth of its own and other U.S. manufacturers’ goods to display at the gathering hosted by Alimport and Cuba’s Health Ministry. The equipment will be donated to the Health Ministry.