WASHINGTON D.C. - Fresh World One Inc., a Springfield, Virginia based company, has posted a $250,000 cash surety bond with the USDA to obtain a PACA license, allowing them to operate in the produce industry in the wake of their bankruptcy.

According to a press release, Fresh World One also paid a civil penalty to the amount of $37,500 for operating previously without a PACA license.

The USDA will hold the bond for three years in order to provide assurance to the industry that Fresh World One will be able to pay for the produce it purchases and that it will conduct business in accordance with PACA rules.

In the past three years, the USDA resolved approximately 4,600 claims filed under PACA involving more than $87 million. Any PACA licensee looking to employ someone who has previously failed to pay a reparation award, or has been subject to a USDA disciplinary action, must post a USDA-approved surety bond.

USDA