History
The history of food quality management and assurance stems from the very beginnings of settlement in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
AsureQuality's food quality assurance journey began nearly 150 years ago, in 1875, as part of the Department of Crown Lands, which in 1892 became the Department of Agriculture. But the story goes back even further.
This timeline outlines some of the key events in our history.
Around 800 years ago |
Māori settlers left their Pacific home bringing crops and animals to Aotearoa; establishing food-producing resources on land and fishing practices on the sea |
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Mid 1700s - mid 1800s |
European explorers and later English, French and other settlers arrive brining further crops and animals. Māori agricultural industry, provides crucial food support |
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1850s - early 1860s |
Māori farmers exported grain and potatoes to the Australian colonies |
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1861 |
Diseased Cattle Act passed |
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1876 |
Animals Import Prohibition Act introduced, stopping importation of any animals that could cause farmers problems |
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1882 |
First frozen shipment of lamb sent to the UK |
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1888 |
First dairy factory inspections |
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1898 |
Meat Hygiene Service created |
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1908-39 |
Slaughter and Protection Act legislated meat inspection |
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1909 |
Department of Agriculture laboratory in Wellington begins seed testing |
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1928 |
Seed testing laboratory moves to Palmerston North |
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1952 |
Dairy Industry Act introduced regulating dairy factories and the quality and safety of their products |
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1961 |
TB testing commenced |
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1972 |
Department of Agriculture merged with Fisheries Department to create Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) |
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1977 |
First intake of female meat inspectors |
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1980 |
New laboratory opened at Lynfield, Auckland |
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1993 |
New Zealand Biosecurity Act – creates laws relating to pests and unwanted organisms; a world first |
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1998 |
MAF Quality Management division becomes two State Owned Enterprises (SOE) – ASURE New Zealand Ltd (handling meat inspection) and AgriQuality (specialising in livestock, horticulture and forestry) |
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1999 |
Meat Act and Dairy Industry Act replaced by Animal Products Act and concept of 3rd party audits of Risk Management Programmes (RMP) introduced |
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2003 |
AgriQuality Wellington Laboratory opened by Prime Minister Helen Clark |
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2005 |
Food testing laboratory opened in Christchurch |
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2007 |
AsureQuality established from AgriQuality and ASURE |
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2007 |
Diagnostics kit manufacturing facility in Melbourne opened, production starts |
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2009 |
Singapore Lab established and SINGLAS accreditation gained in nine months |
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2011 |
Global Proficiency founded providing independent assurance for testing laboratories |
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2015 |
Breeding population of Queensland Fruit Fly eradicated in Auckland |
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2015 |
AsureQuality rapidly develop and implement testing and quality assurance in response to 1080 contamination in infant formula scare |
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2016 |
Joint Venture with BVAQ established with the purchase of Dairy Technical Services (DTS) in Australia |
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2017 |
Mycoplasma bovis outbreak response supported by AsureQuality biosecurity services |
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2020 |
AsureQuality rebranded and name extended to AsureQuality - Kaitiaki Kai |