WASHINGTON, DC– The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has filed a Notice to Show Cause and complaint under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) against CKF Produce Corp. (CKF).
According to a press release, the company, operating from New York, allegedly failed to make payment to 22 produce sellers in the amount of $916,442 from March 2017 through November 2018. The USDA asserts that CKF is unfit to be licensed under PACA due to the alleged violations.
CKF will have an opportunity to request a hearing. Should the USDA find that the company committed repeated and flagrant violations, it would be barred from the produce industry as a licensee for three years, or two years with the posting of a USDA-approved surety bond. Furthermore, its principals could not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee for two years, or one year with the posting of a USDA-approved surety bond.
The PACA Division, which is in the Fair Trade Practices Program in the Agricultural Marketing Service, regulates fair trading practices of produce businesses that are operating subject to PACA, including buyers, sellers, commission merchants, dealers, and brokers within the fruit and vegetable industry.
In the past three years, the USDA resolved approximately 3,350 PACA claims involving more than $63 million. PACA staff also assisted more than 8,000 callers with issues valued at approximately $156 million. These are just two examples of how the USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
