AsureQuality assists wine exports to EU

PRESS RELEASE

1 October 2009

AsureQuality has been granted formal recognition by the NZFSA for analysing wines for export to the EU; and will be partnering with WineWorks to offer this and other testing services.

For a New Zealand grape wine to be eligible for export to the EU it must meet the requirements of the New Zealand Wine Act 2003, which states that it is free from ‘obvious fault’ and comes from a winery that has a fully traceable and audited record keeping system. The processes that allow an exporter to meet these requirements are administered by New Zealand Winegrowers on behalf of New Zealand Food Safety Authority. Part of the EU export certification process involves laboratory analysis of every batch of wine produced.

As of 1 October AsureQuality will offer export wine testing having met the criteria specified under the Wine Act 2003 and EU regulatory requirements. This includes IANZ 17025 accreditation.

“AsureQuality is delighted to gain this recognition. We are now able to offer the wine industry a fully integrated range of quality assurance services that also includes testing for export wine,” said Karen De Lacy, Business Development Manager – Auckland Laboratory.

“We are pleased to be partnered with WineWorks as its chosen service provider for this testing, and look forward to adding further value through the other services we can provide WineWorks and its New Zealand customers,” said Karen.

Darrell O’Brien, Plant Manager at WineWorks Marlborough Limited, said the decision to work with AsureQuality stemmed from its current relationship through certification activities and AsureQuality’s commitment to technical expertise and scientific best practice.

AsureQuality offers the wine industry a full range of training, auditing and testing services including: NZFSA Wine Verification Audits (for Wine Standards Management Plans), BRC, GLOBALGAP, True to Label Assurance, AsureQuality Organic Standard, Wine Laboratory Proficiency Programme, ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems, ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems and carboNZero certification.

AsureQuality will be partnering with WineWorks to offer the following services:

*Export wine testing to meet EU and other country requirements

*Chemical analysis

*Residue analysis

*Microbiology testing

*Allergen testing

*Forensic investigations

Visit the AsureQuality website for more information: http://www.asurequality.com

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