PACA's new rule

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a final rule regarding trust protection for produce sellers when using electronic invoicing.

Here is the summary from the final rule:

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is amending the regulations under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) to ensure that the status of sellers of perishable agricultural commodities as trust creditors is protected when electronic data interchange (EDI) or other forms of electronic commerce are used to invoice buyers. Specifically, the amendments require that a buyer licensed under the PACA or its third party representative accept the PACA trust notice submitted to it by a seller on a paper, electronic invoice, or other billing statement. In addition, the buyer must allow sufficient data space for the required trust language regardless of the billing medium. Finally, any failure, act or omission inconsistent with this responsibility is unlawful and a violation of the PACA.


TK: There should be no hue and cry from retailers or other buyers about this rule. The USDA said that the proposed rule drew 41 comments during the period that ended Jan. 8, and all were supportive of the language in the proposed rule. The proposed rule was published without revisions as the final rule.