The Agency's General Manager, Jos Goebbels believes achieving this accreditation is a world first for a government verification service. MAF VA is responsible for food safety assurance, adding value to New Zealand's export processing industries by ensuring the integrity of food safety systems.
Emphasis is placed on systems such as training, competency and verification.
The international ISO 17020 standard is especially relevant to MAF VA given its involvement in critical inspection and certification activity. MAF sees its Verification Agency's accreditation as part of an on-going opportunity to further enhance the quality of its services at an individual as well as an organisational level.