In a complaint filed on Sept. 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleged that American Fruit & Produce Corp. (American Fruit), Miami, Fla., failed to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $667,214 to 21 sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
After the complaint was filed, USDA and American Fruit entered into a Consent Decision and Order in which American Fruit agreed to pay the unpaid produce sellers in full and to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $30,000. As a result of American Fruit satisfying the terms of the consent decision and order, the finding that it had committed repeated and flagrant PACA violations was permanently abated without further process and the case has been closed.
For more information, contact Corey Elliott, Chief, Investigative Enforcement Branch, at (202) 720-6873 or PACAInvestigations@usda.gov.
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