Complaint settled

In a complaint filed April 21, the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleged the Jones Potato Chip Co., Mansfield, Oh., failed to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $438,673 to four sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.
Jones Potato Chip Co. paid sellers for produce, but not in a timely fashion in accordance with the PACA, the USDA alleged.
After the complaint was filed, USDA and Jones Potato Chip Co. entered into a consent decision and order in which the company agreed to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $5,000 for making untimely payments to sellers for produce purchases.
As a result of Jones Potato Chip Co. satisfying the terms of the consent decision and order, the finding that it had committed repeated and flagrant PACA violations was abated without further process and the case has been closed.
The PACA Division regulates fair trading practices of produce businesses, including buyers, sellers, commission merchants, dealers and brokers in the fruit and vegetable industry.
In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 3,500 PACA claims involving more than $58 million.