Smile Onion 7 Inc. Satisfies Terms of Consent Decision and Order for Alleged PACA Violations

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2025 - On July 15, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) filed an administrative complaint alleging that Smile Onion 7, Inc. of Columbia, Md., failed to make full payment promptly in the amount of $1,017,919.25 to 15 sellers for multiple lots of produce, purchased, received, and accepted in interstate and foreign commerce, in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).

USDA and Smile Onion 7 then entered into a Consent Decision and Order in which Smile Onion 7 agreed to pay the unpaid produce sellers listed in Appendix A to the Complaint and to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $40,000. Smile Onion 7 has satisfied the terms of the Consent Decision and Order, and the finding that it committed repeated and flagrant PACA violations has been permanently abated without further process. The case has been closed.

For more information, contact Peter Scarabelli, Acting Chief, Investigative Enforcement Branch, at (202) 720-6873 or [email protected].

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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.
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