Release No.: 081-16
WASHINGTON, April 12, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has filed a Notice to Show Cause under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) against The Alphas Company Inc. USDA alleges that the company, operating from Massachusetts, is unfit to be licensed under PACA in that the company and its president engaged in practices of a character prohibited by PACA.
The Alphas Company Inc. will have an opportunity to request a hearing. Should USDA find that the company engaged in practices of a character prohibited by PACA, USDA may withhold issuing a PACA license to The Alphas Company Inc. and it would be barred from operating in the produce industry.
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. All oversight of actions related to PACA are conducted by AMS, an agency within USDA. PACA establishes a code of good business conduct for the produce industry. Under it, all interstate traders in fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables must be licensed by USDA. USDA is authorized to suspend or revoke a trader’s license for violating the act.
In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 3,700 PACA claims involving more than $66 million. Our experts also assisted more than 7,100 callers with issues valued at approximately $100 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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