<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Washington D.C.-</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">2.8.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>The USDA has announced that it has filed an administrative action under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) against Cardile Brothers Mushroom Packaging Inc.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The Pennsylvania-based company allegedly failed to pay 126 produce sellers in the amount of $2,988,273 from September 2010 through January 2012, according to a press release.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Cardile Brothers Mushroom Packaging Inc. will have an opportunity to request a hearing. If the USDA finds that the company committed repeated and flagrant violations, it would be barred from the produce industry for two years. Furthermore, its principals could not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee for one year, and not without the posting of a USDA-approved surety bond.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The Agricultural Marketing Service, PACA Division, regulates fair trading practices of produce companies operating under PACA. The PACA establishes a code of business conduct for the produce industry. Under it, all interstate traders in fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables must be licensed by USDA. USDA is authorized to suspend or revoke a trader’s license for violating the act.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 5,000 claims filed under the PACA involving $96 million.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/" target="_new">Agricultural Marketing Service</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
