Release No. 0391.96
Media Advisory
                                      Tom Amontree (202) 720-4623
                                      Glenn Kaup   (202) 720-3329

U.S.-SOUTH AFRICAN OFFICIALS TO SIGN AGREEMENT FOR AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE

     WASHINGTON, July 19, 1996--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and South
African Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Derek Andre Hanekom will sign
a Joint Terms of Reference that outlines the functions and organizational
structure of the Agriculture Committee for the U.S.-South Africa Binational
Commission.

     The signing ceremony will be held at noon, July 22 in Room 104-A of the
USDA Jamie L. Whitten Administration Building following a plenary session of
the Agriculture Committee.

     On July 23, Vice President Albert Gore and South African Executive
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki will co-chair the full U.S.-South Africa
Binational Commission plenary session at the U.S. State Department.  Glickman
and Hanekom, co-chairs of the Agriculture Committee, will provide a report on
the Committee's activities to the Vice President and Executive Deputy
President. 

     Agriculture is one of six committees -- Human Resources and Development;
Trade and Investment; Science and Technology; Conservation, Environment and
Water; and Energy -- that provide a mechanism for high-level discussions on
mutual interests between the countries. 

     The groundwork for the Agriculture Committee was done in December 1995
during a visit by Vice President Gore to South Africa for the second meeting
of the U.S-South Africa Binational Commission.  The Agriculture Committee held
its first meeting March 26, 1996, in Washington.  Four working groups were
formed to address agricultural issues related to market access, institutional
development, agricultural technology development for income generation, and
sustainable agricultural and rural development.

     The Agriculture Committee also sponsored an agribusiness forum in March
that attracted more than 70 U.S. and South African agribusiness
representatives. The forum gave participants the opportunity to exchange
information on doing business in South Africa.

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