WASHINGTON, May 8, 2013 – Plainbridge LLC, operating in Montvale, N.J., has posted a $500,000 surety bond with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The company posted the bond to obtain a Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) license to operate in the produce industry.
Plainbridge LLC, the buying entity for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., posted a bond following The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc.’s prior involvement in bankruptcy. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. and eight subsidiaries filed a joint Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 12, 2010.
USDA will hold the bond for three years, providing assurance to the industry that the company will be able to pay for produce purchased and to conduct business according to PACA rules.
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), PACA Division, regulates fair trading practices of produce companies operating subject to PACA, which includes buyers, sellers, commission merchants, dealers, and brokers within the fruit and vegetable industry. USDA is authorized to suspend or revoke a company’s license for violations of PACA. All oversight of actions related to PACA are conducted by AMS, an agency within USDA.
In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 5,000 claims filed under PACA involving $96 million. This is just one more way USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
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