As part of its efforts to enforce the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and ensure fair trading practices within the U.S. produce industry, the Department of Agriculture has imposed sanctions on produce businesses for failing to meet their contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the PACA.
The following businesses and individuals are currently restricted from operating in the produce industry:
- NS&J World Trading Corp., operating out of Miami, for failing to pay a $155,441 award in favor of a Puerto Rico seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Silvia Penaranda was listed as the officer, director and major stockholder of the business.
- So Ono Food Products LLC, operating out of Honolulu, HI, for failing to pay a $118,362 award in favor of a Washington seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Richard C. Wheeler, Fresh Foods Hawaii Inc. and Uzor U. Nwoko were listed as members of the business.
- Agro Torres Produce LLC, operating out of McAllen, TX, for failing to pay an $11,323 award in favor of a Massachusetts seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Osvelia Torres Chavez and Ricardo Martinez Moreno were listed as members of the business.
These sanctions include suspending the businesses’ PACA licenses and barring the principal operators of the businesses from engaging in PACA-licensed business or other activities without approval from USDA. By issuing these penalties, USDA continues to enforce the prompt and full payment for produce while protecting the rights of sellers and buyers in the marketplace.
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.
