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:

• MFC Food Service LLC, doing business as Full Line Food Co., operating out of Houston, TX, for failing to pay a $59,832 award in favor of a Texas seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Mingfa Qu was listed as a member of the business.
• Fresco First LLC, operating out of Temecula, CA, for failing to pay a $15,367 award in favor of an Arizona seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Yvette Aceves and Armando Cruz were listed as members of the business.
• Fuentes Farms LLC, operating out of McAllen, TX, for failing to pay a $13,200 award in favor of a Texas seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Gisela B. Munoz 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 3,500 PACA claims involving more than $58 million. PACA staff also assisted more than 7,800 callers with issues valued at approximately $148 million.