Nadine Wilkins (202)720-8998Nadine.wilkins@ams.usda.gov
WASHINGTON, June 29, 2012 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has filed an administrative action under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) against Casa De Campo Inc. and Havana Produce Inc.
The complaint alleges that Casa de Campo Inc. failed to make full payment promptly to 20 sellers in the total amount of $373,989.88 under the PACA. The company, operating from Paterson, N.J., purchased the produce during the period May 2006 through December 2011.
The complaint also requests that Havana Produce Inc. be denied issuance of a PACA license, alleging that the company is unfit to be licensed for the reason that Havana Produce is a continuation of the operations of Casa De Campo, and that Casa De Campo has engaged in practices of a character prohibited by the PACA by failing to pay promptly for produce, and by operating and failing to pay promptly for produce during a period that its PACA license was suspended for failure to pay a reparation award.
Casa De Campo Inc. and Havana Produce Inc. will have an opportunity to request a hearing. Should USDA find that the company committed repeated and flagrant violations, it would be barred from the produce industry for two years. Furthermore, its principals would not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee for one year and then only with the posting of a USDA-approved surety bond.
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), PACA Division, regulates fair trading practices of produce companies operating subject to the PACA, which includes buyers, sellers, commission merchants, dealers, and brokers, within the fruit and vegetable industry. All oversight of actions related to the PACA are conducted by the AMS, an agency within the USDA. The PACA establishes a code of good business conduct for the produce industry. Under it, all interstate traders in fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables must be licensed by USDA. USDA is authorized to suspend or revoke a trader’s license for violating the act.
In fiscal year 2011, USDA resolved approximately 2,000 claims filed under the PACA involving $31 million in their continued efforts to serve and protect the fruit and vegetable industry from unlawful trade practices.
For further information, contact Phyllis Hall, Chief, Investigative Enforcement Branch, at (202) 720-6873, by fax at (202) 720-8868, or by email atInvestigativeEnforcement@ams.usda.gov.
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