USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced Monday that it is placing sanctions on three produce businesses for “failing to meet their contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the PACA (Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act).”
Avocado House Inc. did not pay an $8,629 award to an Arizona seller and Rain Forest Produce Inc. did not pay $35,892 in favor of a California seller. Both businesses, which are based in Los Angeles, are having their PACA licenses suspended and are being barred from engaging in PACA-licensed business or other activities without approval from the USDA.
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Ringer & Son Brokerage Co. Inc., which is based in Brighton, Colorado, is also being sanctioned for failing to pay $43,495 to a California seller.
The PACA, passed in 1930 and administered by the AMS, set regulations for the trading practices of produce businesses and helps companies resolve business disputes. According to a release, the USDA resolved about 3,500 PACA claims in the past 3 years that involve more than $58 million.
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