WASHINGTON, DC – In a complaint filed on Nov. 15, 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleged that Northern Produce Mushrooms Inc. (Northern Produce), of Commerce, California, failed to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $422,177 to 13 sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
According to a recent USDA press release, subsequent to the complaint being filed, USDA and Northern Produce entered into a consent decision and order finding that the company committed repeated and flagrant violations of the PACA. Northern Produce paid the produce sellers in full and paid a civil penalty in the amount of $40,000. Because Northern Produce satisfied the terms of the consent decision and order, the company is eligible to be licensed under the PACA and this case is 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. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
