SUPREME COURT SUPPORTS USDA'S GENERIC COMMODITY PROMOTION PROGRAMS

                                              Release No. 0204.97

                                     Jim Petterson (202) 720-4623
                                              jpetterson@usda.gov
                                Connie X. Crunkleton 202/720-8998
                                             ccrunkleton@usda.gov

SUPREME COURT SUPPORTS USDA'S GENERIC COMMODITY PROMOTION PROGRAMS

     WASHINGTON, June 25, 1997--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
applauded the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the constitutionality of
mandatory assessments for generic commodity promotion programs. 

     "The court's decision in the case Glickman v. Wileman Bros. and Elliott,
Inc., validated marketing order and other USDA promotion programs as currently
established and administered," Glickman said. 
   
     "These generic commodity promotion programs have been a mainstay for the
agriculture industry and consumers for more than half a century," he said. 
"They are requested, administered and paid for by the industries that use
them.  The fact that these industries continue to vote overwhelmingly in
support of existing programs or starting up new ones is a clear indication
that they find them to be beneficial.

     "As the majority of producers have found, product promotion tools
increase sales, both at home and in international markets.  These self-help
programs are vital to agriculture's economic health, and they strengthen
America's trade balance," Glickman said.

     Wileman sought the court's review of the First Amendment issues raised
in generic advertising programs under marketing orders for California
nectarines and peaches.  

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A copy of the Court's decision can be obtained via the World Wide Web at
                http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct