WA co Milne Feeds commended on gaining SQF 2000 accreditation

3/12/96

Primary Industry Minister Monty House today congratulated Western Australian company Milne Feeds on successfully obtaining Safe Quality Food (SQF) 2000 accreditation.

Mr House said the oaten hay export division of Milne Feeds had obtained the quality assurance standard to assure the quality and safety of their product to their overseas customers.

The company was the first hay exporter to gain quality accreditation through the SQF 2000 program.

SQF 2000 was developed by Agriculture Western Australia's Agwest Trade and Development unit specially for primary producers, fishermen and manufacturers involved in the food industry.

"By adopting SQF 2000, Milne Feeds are assuring their customers they can reliably deliver products of consistently high quality that meet their specific requirements," Mr House said.

"Customers want to know they are getting a 'clean and green' product that is of the highest quality, obtaining quality accreditation gives this assurance.

"If WA is to compete with the rest of the world, quality assurance systems will become a necessity for the food trade by the turn of the century.

"Consumers and customers throughout the world are increasingly demanding that farm and fishing practices, food and fibre production and processing systems provide clean, nutritious and premium quality products."

Milne Feeds General Manager Rory Coffey said the company had been working with Agriculture Western Australia since the start of the year to address market concerns over product quality and safety.

"To achieve SQF 2000 accreditation within a relatively short time frame is an excellent result for the export hay business and a worthy outcome for the significant effort devoted to the task by our quality assurance team," Mr Coffey said.

He said the company's quality accreditation had been welcomed by their Japanese customers and would prove to be invaluable in restoring consumer confidence in WA oaten hay.

Gaining accreditation for their oaten hay export division was the first step in their plans to have all of the company's operations quality assured.

Media contact: Nicole Trigwell (09) 481 2044