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 two 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:

• Itamp Inc., operating out of Dallas, for failing to pay an $11,640 award in favor of a Texas seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Luis Armando Lopez was listed as the officer, director and major stockholder of the business.
• Candymar Produce Inc., operating out of McAllen, TX, for failing to pay a $1,920 award in favor of a Florida seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Candido Nieto and Maricela Diaz were listed as the officers, directors and/or major stockholders of the business.

The PACA Division, which is in the Fair Trade Practices Program in the Agricultural Marketing Service, regulates fair trading practices of produce businesses that are operating subject to PACA, including buyers, sellers, commission merchants, dealers and brokers within the fruit and vegetable industry.

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.