WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2014 – Under regulations of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA), La Galera Produce LLC, operating in Chicago, Ill., posted a $300,000 surety bond.
The surety bond was posted with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to employ Wayne Passoff, previously named in a PACA action. Passoff was the only officer of Waynes World Inc., Chicago, Ill., a company which failed to pay reparation awards issued against it under PACA.
Any PACA licensee wishing to employ an individual who has failed to pay a reparation award, or has been subject to a USDA disciplinary action, must post a USDA-approved surety bond.
USDA will hold the $300,000 bond for four years, providing assurance to the industry that the company will be able to pay for produce purchased and to conduct its 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 4,600 claims filed under PACA involving more than $87 million. This is just one more way USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
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