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 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:
- Brahm Foods Inc., operating out of Maspeth, NY, for failing to pay a $52,701 award in favor of a Florida seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Arrora Vijay was listed as the officer, director and/or major stockholder of the business.
- D&R Foods LLC, operating out of St. George, UT, for failing to pay a $47,360 award in favor of a Texas seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Daniel Webster and Roy Cook was listed as a members or managers of the business.
- 54 ISLIP Food Corp., operating out of Central Islip, NY, for failing to pay a $7,114 award in favor of a New York seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Daniel Taveras and Liz Dionicio, Jr., were listed as the officers, directors and/or major stockholders 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.
