Release No.: 078-17
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2017 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has filed an administrative complaint under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) against McAllen Produce LLC, Brenda E. Edwards and Charles Jeffrey Edwards (“Respondents”).
The complaint alleges that the Respondents, operating out of Texas, failed to make payment to 14 produce sellers in the amount of $405,527 from December 2014 through December 2015. Moreover, the complaint alleges that Brenda E. Edwards and Charles Jeffrey Edwards directed, managed and controlled the company’s business operations.
The Respondents will have an opportunity to request a hearing. Should USDA find that the Respondents committed repeated and flagrant violations, they would be barred from obtaining a PACA license for two years. Furthermore, Brenda E. Edwards, Charles Jeffrey Edwards and the principals of McAllen Produce LLC 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 PACA Division, which is part of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), 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 $58 million. Our experts also assisted more than 8,000 callers with issues valued at approximately $140 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
For further information, contact Josephine E. Jenkins, Chief, Investigative Enforcement Branch, at (202) 720-6873, or by email at PACAInvestigations@ams.usda.gov.
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