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 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:

• Lozamax Distributors LLC, operating out of Pharr, TX, for failing to pay a $92,900 award in favor of an Arizona seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Joaquin Urias, Jorge Gonzales-Pardo, Rodolfo Zambrano-Gonzales, Jorge Luis Linares-Gonzales, Alejandro Rizo and Luis Espinoza-Gonzales were listed as members of the business.
• Newmarkets Inc., doing business as Back to the Land Natural Foods, operating out of Brooklyn, NY, for failing to pay a $15,585 award in favor of a Pennsylvania seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, David A. Basham was listed as the officer, director and major stockholder of the business.
• La Ganga Produce Corp., operating out of Miami, for failing to pay a $12,240 award in favor of a Texas seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Rogelio E. Velasquez was listed as the officer, director and major stockholder of the business.
• La Central Produce LLC, operating out of Forest Park, GA, for failing to pay a $10,496 award in favor of a Texas seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Jose J. Morales was listed as a member 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.