Informal Complaints 



Complaints alleging violation of PACAmaybe 

 filed with USDA. Any financially interested 

 party can file such a complaint under PACA, 

 whether he holds a PACA license or not. To 

 file a complaint, just address a letter to one of 

 the five PACA field offices maintained by the 

 Fruit and Vegetable Division of USDA's Agri- 

 cultural Marketing Service. These offices are 

 listed on the last page of this leaflet. Give the 

 names and addresses of the parties involved, 

 nature of the contract, commodity involved, 

 and an explanation of the cause of the dispute. 

 The amount of damages should be stated and 

 the originals or copies of all papers relating to 

 the transaction should be enclosed. If the matter 

 requires urgent attention, such as rejection of 

 a shipment at a terminal market, you can wire 

 the details or telephone one of these offices and 

 submit the supporting evidence later. 



Your papers will be reviewed by one of the 

 PACA investigators and, if there is a proper 

 basis for a complaint, USDA will contact the 

 other party and try to arrange an informal 

 settlement. The great majority of the com- 

 plaints filed under this Act are settled on an 

 informal basis at a considerable savings in 

 time, effort and expense to the parties involved. 

 USDA makes no charge for its services in 

 handling such complaints. 



The law requires that complaints be filed 

 within nine months from the time the cause of 

 action accrues (for example, the date when 

 payment was due). However, the sooner com- 

 plaints are filed, the easier it is to arrange 

 an informal settlement. It is frequently difficult 

 or impossible to locate all parties to the dispute 

 or assemble all the necessary evidence when 

 complaints are filed long after the transaction 

 occurred. 



