As part of its efforts to enforce the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and ensure fair trading practices within the U.S. produce industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has imposed sanctions on three 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:

• Ringer & Son Brokerage Co. Inc., operating out of Brighton, CO, for failing to pay a $43,495 award in favor of a California seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Joshua M. Johnson and Stephanie R. Johnson were listed as the officers, directors and/or major stockholders of the business.
• Rain Forest Produce Inc., operating out of Los Angeles, CA, for failing to pay a $35,892 award in favor of a California seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Tony Perez and Fernando Pantoja were listed as the officers, directors and/or major stockholders of the business.
• Avocado House Inc., operating out of Los Angeles, CA, for failing to pay an $8,629 award in favor of an Arizona seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Guadalupe Salvador Vazquez was listed as the officer, director and major stockholder 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 3,500 PACA claims involving more than $58 million. PACA staff also assisted more than 7,800 callers with issues valued at approximately $148 million.