WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2024 – In a complaint filed on Jan. 23, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleged that Vantaggio Farming Corporation (Vantaggio), Carlsbad, Calif., failed to make full payment promptly in the total amount of $1,156,456 to two sellers for multiple lots of produce in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
After the complaint was filed, USDA and Vantaggio entered into a Consent Decision and Order wherein Vantaggio 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 $40,000. As a result of Vantaggio 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 handled more than 2,340 cases valued at $126.3 million. PACA staff also assisted over 5,600 callers with issues valued at $146.7 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
