WASHINGTON, DC - The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has imposed sanctions on three produce businesses for failing to meet contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). 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 the USDA.

Direct from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service:

The following businesses and individuals are currently restricted from operating in the produce industry:

• LMS Distributors, operating out of Los Angeles, California, for failing to pay a $103,969 award in favor of an Arizona seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Silvia Zuazo and Miriam Marquez were listed as the members of the business
• J & M Produce, doing business as Mi Mexico Produce, operating out of Jessup, Maryland, for failing to pay a $6,608 award in favor of a Pennsylvania seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Maria D. Tapia Medina and Jose H. Miranda were listed as the officers, directors, and major stockholders of the business
• Marroko Valley, operating out of Hidalgo, Texas, for failing to pay a $17,188 award in favor of a Texas seller. As of the issuance date of the reparation order, Sylvia Alanis-Alanis and Felipe De Jesus Marroquin Salazar were listed as the members of the business

PACA provides an administrative forum to handle disputes involving produce transactions; this may result in USDA’s issuance of a reparation order that requires damages to be paid by those not meeting their contractual obligations in buying and selling fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables. USDA is required to suspend the license or impose sanctions on an unlicensed business that fails to pay PACA reparations awarded against it as well as impose restrictions against those principals determined to be responsibly connected to the business when the order is issued. Those individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, members, managers, officers, directors, or major stockholders, may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee without USDA approval.

By issuing these penalties, USDA continues to enforce prompt and full payment for produce while protecting the rights of sellers and buyers in the marketplace.

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