Public Affairs
WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2023 – In a complaint filed on Nov. 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleged that Hood River Juice Company Inc. (HOOD RIVER), Hood River, Ore., failed to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $3,607,420 to 12 sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
After the complaint was filed, USDA and HOOD RIVER entered into a Consent Decision and Order wherein HOOD RIVER agreed to pay the unpaid produce sellers listed in the Appendix A to the Complaint and to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $20,000. As a result of HOOD RIVER 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.
For more information, contact Corey Elliott, Chief, Investigative Enforcement Branch, at (202) 720-6873 or PACAInvestigations@usda.gov.
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 over 3,000 PACA claims involving approximately $147 million. PACA staff also assisted more than 5,900 callers with issues valued at approximately $163 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
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