AsureQuality Limited (previously AgriQuality Limited) is a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) fully owned by the government of New Zealand.[1] The company's core business is food quality assurance with its services including certification, inspection, testing, and training. AsureQuality has over 1700 staff at over 100 locations throughout New Zealand. AsureQuality also has a joint venture partner, Bureau Veritas.[citation needed]. Bureau Veritas and AsureQuality have two joint ventures, BVAQ Australia and BVAQ SouthEast Asia.[2][3][4][5][6]
Company history
AsureQuality was formed in 2007 from the merger of ASURE New Zealand Limited and AgriQuality Limited.[7] Both companies were originally formed in 1998 from the service delivery arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Quality Management, with ASURE handling meat inspection and AgriQuality specialising in livestock, horticulture and forestry.[8] Following the merger the company employed more than 1700 staff at 140 sites throughout New Zealand and Australia, with its primary laboratory in Gracefield, New Zealand.[9]
In 2008 AsureQuality entered a partnership with the Hospitality Standards Institute to provide food safety training for the hospitality sector.[10] In 2010 it opened a wine-certification laboratory in Auckland;[11] in 2013 it expanded its Christchurch food-testing laboratory.[12]
In May 2010 it was among a group of SOEs valued for possible sale by the New Zealand government.[13]
In April 2016 the company acquired Australian laboratory-testing provider Dairy Technical Services.[14]
In November 2020 the company was fined $66,000 after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act over an incident in which seven workers suffered chemical burns while cleaning a Mycoplasma bovis-infected farm in 2018.[15]
Services
Audit, inspection, testing, verification and certification
Independent audit, inspection, verification and certification against local and international regulatory and retailer standards[16][17]
Veterinary and field technician services including farm assurance, dairy farm assessment, sample collection, TB testing and related disease management[18]
Food testing and analysis against regulatory and retailer standards for pathogens, toxins, allergens, chemical residues, genetically modified organisms and nutritional information[20]
Seed testing and certification for arable, dairy, and livestock farming and export[21]
Contract manufacturing of diagnostic products and distribution of specialist veterinary test kits for use in disease management programmes[23]
Assurance Marks
AsureQuality Assurance Marks are on-pack symbols that distinguish and identify a product’s claims and supply chain transparency as having been independently verified.[24]
AQ Certified AQ Certified provides independent and certified assurance relating to a specific claim. These claims can range from food safety through to animal welfare, grass fed, and much more.[25]
AQ Assured Transparency Programme AQ Assured Transparency Programme provides verified holistic supply chain transparency covering the entire food supply chain. This can also be accompanied by a QR code, which when scanned by consumer's mobile phone will direct them to each product’s information page, allowing them instant access in-store and on the go.[25]
Training
NZQA-approved training courses[26] are offered mainly to help Quality Control Managers, Internal Auditors, Food Producers, Technical Compliance Coordinators and other food industry professionals to improve their confidence and competence in their field of work
Courses on Food Safety, HPCCA and Auditing[27][28][29]
^"Merger gives company world-class potential". The Orchardist. Vol. 80, no. 10. 1 November 2007. pp. 64–65 – via EBSCOhost.
^Robyn Bristow (6 September 2007). "FOOD SAFETY VENTURE". The Press. p. A6 – via EBSCOhost.
^"A multinational approach to food safety". Dominion Post. 20 February 2008. p. E18 – via EBSCOhost.
^"AsureQuality collaborates with HSI". Hospitality. 1 June 2008. p. 18 – via EBSCOhost.
^"AsureQuality opens new export wine certification lab". Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker. No. 558. 1 July 2010. p. 79 – via EBSCOhost.
^Heather Chalmers (1 February 2013). "Food industry growth prompts lab expansion". Orchardist. pp. 12–13 – via EBSCOhost.
