WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has imposed sanctions on four produce businesses for failure to pay reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
According to a press release, the following businesses and individuals are currently restricted from operating in the produce industry:
- Montecito Fresh Produce, operating out of Los Angeles, CA, for failing to pay a $6,420 award in favor of a Texas seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Evangelina Reynoso was listed as the officer, director, and major stockholder of the business.
- Frutera Del Litoral USA LLC, operating out of Miami, FL, for failing to pay a $283,405 award in favor of a Washington seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Fancisco Dabike Armstrong, Diana Carolina Lascano Lozada, and Carlos Mauricio Rueda Mesias were listed as a member of the business.
- Lucas Trading Company LLC, operating out of St Charles, MO, for failing to pay a $50,522 award in favor of a California seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Charles B. Lucas was listed as a member of the business.
- Ramon Alvarado, doing business as Alvarado Produce, operating out of Houston, TX, for failing to pay a $40,539 award in favor of a Texas seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Ramon O. Alvarado was listed as the sole proprietor of the business.
USDA is required to suspend the license or impose sanctions on an unlicensed business that fails to pay PACA reparations awarded against it as well as impose restrictions against those principals determined to be responsibly connected to the business when the order is issued. Those individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, members, managers, officers, directors, or major stockholders may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee without USDA-approval.
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 the USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
