WASHINGTON, DC - Rain Forest Produce has posted a $300,000 surety bond under regulations of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). The Los Angeles, California-based company posted the surety bond with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to employ Ricardo Villalobos, the President and stockholder of RRD Produce Co, a company that failed to pay a reparation award issued against it under the PACA.
Direct from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service:
Any PACA licensee wishing to employ individuals who have failed to pay a reparation award, or have been subject to a USDA disciplinary action, must post a USDA-approved surety bond.
USDA will hold the $300,000 bond for four years and nine months, providing assurance to the industry that the company will be able to pay for produce purchased and to conduct its business according to PACA rules.
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 3,350 PACA claims involving more than $63 million. PACA staff also assisted more than 8,000 callers with issues valued at approximately $156 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
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