I am not a USDA licensee. How do I protect my PACA trust rights in the apples that I grew and sold to a receiver in New York, who is now past due on his payment?
As a grower selling your own produce, you are not required to have a valid PACA license. However, without a PACA license, you cannot use your invoice to preserve your PACA trust rights. Therefore, you must protect your rights the old fashioned way — by giving a written notice of intent to preserve the benefits of the trust to the purchaser of your apples. This must be completed within 30 calendar days (1) after expiration of the time prescribed by which payment must be made, as set forth in the USDA’s regulations, (2) after expiration of such other time by which payment must be made, as the parties have expressly agreed in writing before entering into the transaction, or (3) after the time you have received notice that the promptly presented payment instrument has been dishonored. The Notice of Intent must (1) be in writing, (2) include the statement that it is a notice of intent to preserve trust benefits, and (3) include the following information for each shipment: (a) the names and
