WASHINGTON, D.C. – The USDA has cited potato company Taylor Produce LLC in Rigby, Idaho, for failure to pay for nearly $4 million worth of produce.
According to a press release, Taylor Produce (not to be confused with Salinas, CA-based Taylor Farms), has failed to pay $3,943,926 to five separate sellers for 605,492 net hundredweight of potatoes which was purchased, received, and accepted in interstate commerce in the time period between June 2013 through December 2013. As a violator of PACA, Taylor Produce cannot operate in the produce industry until October 30, 2017, at which time they may reapply for a PACA license.
The company’s principals, Alan L. Taylor and Alan Taylor Produce, may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee until October 30, 2016, and then only with the posting of a USDA-approved surety bond.
According to the USDA, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), PACA Division, regulates fair trading practices of produce businesses operating subject to PACA, which includes buyers, sellers, commission merchants, dealers, and brokers within the fruit and vegetable industry. All oversight of actions related to PACA are conducted by AMS, an agency within the USDA.
In the past three years, the USDA resolved approximately 3,700 PACA claims involving more than $66 million. Its experts also assisted more than 7,100 callers with issues valued at approximately $100 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
