WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cited George Melton, doing business as GM Brokerage, Collierville, TN, for failure to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $440,902 to 22 sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
According to a press release, USDA and George Melton entered into a consent decision and order finding that the company engaged in willful, repeated, and flagrant violations of the PACA. However, because the company subsequently paid the unpaid produce sellers in full and paid a civil penalty in the amount of $37,500, the finding of violation was permanently abated without further process and the case has been closed.
The PACA Division, which is part of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), 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, USDA resolved approximately 3,500 PACA claims involving more than $58 million. Its experts also assisted more than 8,000 callers with issues valued at approximately $140 million.
