Verification & Certification Services to the Apiculture Industry
Our team of specialists provides quality assurance services to apiculture industries throughout New Zealand ensuring your bee products comply with food safety and export standards.
We verify the following standards:
- Risk Management Programmes
- Food Safety Programmes
- Beehives to pollination standards
- Bee products and live bees for export
- Collection of samples for National Honey Residue Testing Programme
- Organic certification
Risk Management Programmes (RMP)
A RMP is designed to identify, control, manage and eliminate or minimise hazards and other risk factors so that the resulting product is fit for its intended purpose. If a government official assurance is requested or required for bee products being exported they must have been processed, stored or handled in premises operating under an RMP. AsureQuality are experts in auditing Risk Management Programmes. Read more...
Food Safety Programmes (FSP)
A FSP is a written programme designed to manage food safety required for any business involved in the production of general food products. It examines all of the steps involved in producing food (from ingredient purchase through to final sale), identifying things with the potential to cause harm to the consumer and implementing controls to eliminate or control such hazards. We are experts in auditing FSPs. Read more...
Beehives to pollination standards
One of the variables that can have a significant effect on both the quantity and quality of fruit, vegetables and small seeds is effective pollination. A cost effective way of achieving good pollination is to use honey bees. Determining whether or not the hives you have meet quality standards is a service provided by AsureQuality for growers who source hives that are not subject to a group audit (such as the service provided by the Kiwifruit Pollination Association (KPA), Hawke's Bay Pollination Group (HBPG) or some pollination brokers).
Article published in Kiwifruit Journal
Auditing process
This can involve verifying management plans and systems as well as opening beehives and inspecting and evaluating the colony against a standard. The standard requires counting frames of brood (eggs, larvae and pupae) and frames of bees and making other value judgements on the state of the colony such as disease status, food supplies, queen performance and room for expansion.
The number of hives audited is statistically determined and ensures that we have a 95% chance of detecting one defective hive if 10% or more defective hives are present.
Verification of bee products and live bees for export
A number of countries that import our bee products and or live bees require an official assurance from our government. AsureQuality apiculture staff verify that importing country requirements have been met before an official assurance (export certificate) can be issued by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority.
Collection of samples for the National Honey Residue Testing Programme
A regulated control scheme for contaminants in bee products came into force on 1May 2009. AsureQuality verifiers collect samples of honey from honey producers as selected by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) for testing for a variety of potential contaminants.
