Washington - In a complaint filed on Aug. 19, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleged that Martinez Fresh Produce LLC (Martinez Fresh), Dallas, Texas, failed to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $155,508 to eight sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
After the complaint was filed, USDA and Martinez Fresh entered into a Consent Decision and Order in which Martinez Fresh agreed to pay the unpaid produce sellers in full and to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $20,000. As a result of Martinez Fresh 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.
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. In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 3,500 PACA claims involving more than $165 million. PACA staff also assisted more than 6,600 callers with issues valued at approximately $169 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service
