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 four 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:

• Custom Fresh Cuts Inc., operating out of Long Beach, CA, for failing to pay a $32,358 award in favor of a California seller.  As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Alejandro Mora and Richard Wise were listed as the officers, directors and/or major stockholders of the business.
• RRD Produce Co., operating out of Los Angeles, for failing to pay a $19,407 award in favor of an Arizona seller.  As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Ricardo Villalobos and Raul Gomez were listed as the officers, directors and/or major stockholders of the business.
• Nam Lam, doing business as G&N Produce Co., operating out of Oakland, CA, for failing to pay an $8,062 award in favor of a California seller.  As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Nam Lam was listed as the sole proprietor of the business.
• CKF Produce Corp., operating out of Brooklyn, NY, for failing to pay a $4,999 award in favor of a Texas seller.  As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Koji Ueno was listed as the officer, director and/or 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 3,350 PACA claims involving more than $63 million.  PACA staff also assisted more than 8,000 callers with issues valued at approximately $156 million.