WASHINGTON, DC - In a complaint filed on June 8, 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleged that Imperial Frozen Foods Op Co LLC, of Wake Forest, NC, failed to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $2,242,125 to 22 sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA), according to a press release.

After the complaint was filed, USDA and Imperial Frozen Foods Op Co LLC entered into a consent decision and order in which Imperial Frozen Foods Op Co LLC, agreed to pay the unpaid produce sellers in full and to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $40,000. As a result of Imperial Frozen Foods Op Co LLC satisfying the terms of the consent decision and order, the finding that it had committed repeated and flagrant PACA violations was permanently abated without further process and the case has been closed.

The PACA Division, which is in the Fair Trade Practices Program in the Agricultural Marketing Service, 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 3,350 PACA claims involving more than $63 million. PACA staff also assisted more than 8,000 callers with issues valued at approximately $156 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service