WASHINGTON, DC - In a complaint filed on April 10, 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleged that Goodness Greeness Inc., Chicago, Illinois, failed to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $259,993 to 12 sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
According to a press release, in response to the complaint being filed, USDA and Goodness Greeness Inc. entered into a consent decision and order in which Goodness Greeness Inc. agreed to pay the unpaid produce sellers in full and to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $36,000. As a result of Goodness Greeness satisfying the terms of the consent decision and order, the finding that it had committed repeated and flagrant PACA violations was permanently abated without further process and the case has been closed.
The PACA Division, which is in the Fair Trade Practices Program in the Agricultural Marketing Service, 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 3,400 PACA claims involving more than $58 million. PACA staff also assisted more than 8,500 callers with issues valued at approximately $151 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
