Haffield Fruit Company, Inc.

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IN THE j\IATTER OF I-IAFFIELD FR1JIT CO~iP ANY, INC, CUN' SENT ORDEJ~, ETC.~ IN REGARD TO THE ALLEGED nOLATIOK OF SEC. 2( c) OF THE CLATTOX ,ACT Docket 83;;, Complai-I/t, Apr. 1, 19G1-Dccision, Sept. , 1961 Consent order requiring a. citrus fruit packer doing a suhstantifll bnsiness in Vero Beach, Fla., to cease making 11111awfnl brokerage payments to cllstomers purchasing for their own accounts for resale, in violntiol1 of Sec. 2(c) of the Clayton Act.

CO?,IPLAINT The Federal Trade Commission, having reason to believe that the party respondent named in the caption hereof, and hereinafter more particularly described, has been and is now violating the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 2 of the Clayton Act, as amended (D. 698-490--64---- ,, 690 FEDERAL TRADE COIVuvUSSION DECISIONS Complaint 59 F.

Title 15, Section 13), hereby issues its complaint, stating its charges with respect thereto as follows:

PARAGRAPH 1. R.esponclent Raffield Fruit Co., Inc. is a corporation organized, existing and d~ing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Florida with its offices and principal place of business located at Vero Beach, Florida, with mailing address as Post Office Box 1088, Vero Beach, Florida.

PAR. 2. Respondent is now and for the past several years has been engaged in the business of packing, selling and distributing citrus fruit, such as oranges, tangerines and grapefruit, all of which are hereinafter sometimes referred to as citrus fruit or fruit products. respondent sells and distributes its citrus fruit through brokers and wholesalers, as well as direct, to customers located in many sections of the United States. ",Yhen brokers are utilized in making sales for it., respondent pays them for their services a brokerage or commission usual.Ily at the rate of 10 cents per 13/5 bushel box or equivalent, or 5 cents per ca.rton. In some instances, ho\\ever, respondent pays brokerage at the rate of 6 cents per carton. Respondent's annual volume of business in the sale and distribution of citrus fruit is substantial PAR. 3. In the course and conduct of its business over the past several yen.rs, respondent has sold and distributed and is now selling and distributing its eitrus fruit in commerce, as "commerce" is defined in the aforesaid Clayton Act, as amended, to buyers located in the. se.yeral states of the United States other than the State of Florida in which respondent is located. Respondent transports, or causes such citrus fruit, when sold, to be transported from its place of business 01' packing plant in the State of Florida, or from other places within the State, to such buyers or to the buyers: customers located in various other states of the United States. Thus there has been, at all times mentioned herein, a continuous course of trade in commerce in such citrus fruit across state lines between said respondent and the respective buyers of such fruit.

PAR. 4. In the course and conduct. of its business as aforesaid, respondent has 'been and. is now making substantial sales of citrus fruit to some, bnt not all, of its brokers and direct buyers purchasing for' their mnl account for resale, and on a large number of these sales respondent paid, granted or allowed, and is now paying, granting or allowing to these brokers and other direct. buyers on their purchases, a commission, brokerage, or other compensation, 01' an allmvance or discount in lieu thereof, in connection therewith. PAR. 5. The acts and practices of respondent in paying, granting 01' allo\,ingc..' to brokers and direct buvers a commission brokerao-e or. RAFFIELD FRUIT CO. , INC. 691 689 Decision other campensation, or an allowance or discount in lieu thereof, on their mvn purchases, as above alleged and described, are in violation af subsection (c) af Section 2 of the Clayton Act, as amende,d (D. Title 15, Section 13).

111 e88T8. Cecil G. JIiles and Basil J. ill ezhw8 for the Commission. 11b' . J e1'?'e J. IJaffie7d president, for respondents. INITL\L DECISION BY HERl\L\N TOCKER, HEARING EXAMINER In a complaint issued April 14, 1961, the Federal Trade Commission charged respondent, Raffield Fruit Company, Inc. (a corporation organized and existing under the lnwsof the State of Florida and engaged in business at Vera Beach, Florida), "ith having violated Section 2 (c) af the Clayton Act, as amended~ by paying, granting or allowing to brokers and direct buyers a. commission, brokerage or other compensation, 0'1' an allowance or discount in lieu thereof, in the course of its sales and distl-jbut.ion of citrus frllHs in commerce. After the issuance af the complaint, respondent, by its president and counsel suppOliing the. complaint entered into an agreement. and stipulation provi(bng for the issuance of a consent order to cease and desist, thus disposing of an the issues in this proceeding. The agreement provides that. the stipulation ,,-hieh clarjjie~ and1imits the order he ineorporated into and made a part thereof. In the agreement it is expressly provided that the signing thereaf is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by t.he respondent that it has violated the law as in the complaint alleged.

By the terms of the agreement., the respondent. admits al1 the jurisdictional facts alleged in the complaint and agrees that the record herein may be taken as if the Commission had made findings of jurisdictional facts in accardance with the allega tions. By the agreement, the respondent. expressly ,,-niyes any furtlH'r procedural steps before the lTearing Examiner and the Commission, the making of findings of fact 01' conclusions of l~n\-, and all rights it may hate to ehal1enge. or contest the yaliclity of the orcle.r to cease and desist to be entered(1 in accordance therewith. Hesponclent further agrees t.ha t. the order to cease and desist to be issued in accon1anee ,with the agreement, shall ha'-e the same force and eileet as i:f mfH1eafter n full hearing. I t. is further provided in said agreement that the same, together '\with the complaint, shall constitute the entire record herein and that the complaint herein may be used in construing tJle terms of the. order to heissned pnrs11ant. to said agreenwnr and t hnt sllch onh' l' llJilY be 692 FEDERAL TRADE CO1\IMISSION DECISIONS Decision 59 F.

altered, modified or set aside in the manner prescribed by the statute for orders of the Comlnission.

The Hearing Examiner has considered the agreement and the order therein contained, and, it appearing that said agreement and order provide for an appropriate disposition of this proceeding, the same js hereby accepted and shall be filed upon becoming part of the Commission s decision in accordance with Sections 3.21 and 3.25 of the R.ules of Practice.

Now, in consonance with the terms thereof, the Hearing Exmniner finds that the Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction of the subject matter of this proceeding and of the respondent named herein and that this proceeding is in the interest of the public, and issues the following order:

ORDER It is onlered That the respondent J-Iaffield Fruit Company, Inc., a corporation, and its officers, agents, representatives and employees directly or through any corporate or other device, in connection with the sale of citrus fruit or fruit products in commerce, as "commerce is defined in the aforesaid Clayton Act, do fortlnyith cease and desist from:

Paying, gra.nting or allowing, directly or indirectly, to any buyer or to anyone acting lor or in behalf of, or ,yho is subject to the direct or inclirec.t control of such buyer, anything of value as a commission brokerage, or other compensation, or any allo\yance or discount in lieu thereof, upon or in connection ,,-ith any sale of citrus fruit or frult products to suc.h buyer for his own account. DEClSIOl'~ OF THE CO:\IJIISSlO~ AND onder TO FILE HEPORT OF COl\1PLIAXCE Pursuant to Section 3.21 or the Commission s rules of Practice, pub- Eshed l\lay G , E155, as amended, the initial decision of the hearing examiner shall, on the 2Gth day of September l!JGl, become the decision or the Commission; and, accordingly: 1 t is ordei'ed, That the respondent herein shall within sixty (60) days after service upon it of this order, file with the Commission (1report in ,writing setting :forth in detail the manner and form in which it has complied "ith the order to cease a.nd desist. YAKIMA FRUIT & COLD STORAGE CO. 693 Complaint