Posted January 22, 2014
USDA has filed an administrative action under the
Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) against a Florida company, Big
Bear Storage and Packing Inc. The USDA
press release is available here. The Packer also reported on the story here.
Big Bear, allegedly “failed to make payment to 31 produce
sellers in the amount of $1,244,369 from December 2011 through June 2013.”
If the USDA finds “that the company committed repeated
and flagrant violations,” Big Bear would be “barred from the produce industry
for two years.” Additionally, its
“principals could 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 Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA), 7 U.S.C. §§
499a-499t, was enacted in 1930 to regulate the marketing of perishable
agricultural commodities in interstate and foreign commerce. The primary purposes of the PACA are to
prevent unfair and fraudulent conduct in the marketing and selling of
perishable agricultural commodities and to facilitate the orderly flow of these
commodities in interstate and foreign commerce.
The PACA is administrated and regulated by the Agricultural Marketing
Service (AMS).
For more information on the Perishable Agricultural
Commodities Act (PACA), please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s
website here.
