IQUA

The "Instituto de Calidad Agroalimentaria de las Islas Baleares" or Balearic Institute for Quality Agri-Foodstuffs (IQUA) was created in the year 2001 by virtue of Decree 131/2000 of November 30th. The IQUA is an administrative body without a legal personality of its own, attached to the General Directorate for Rural and Marine Affairs.

The IQUA is responsible for centralizing all areas of authority of the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands in matters regarding the promotion of quality agri-foodstuffs and any pertinent controls.

The IQUA is organized into two areas: the Department for the Promotion of Quality, which is in charge of developing tasks related to promoting and improving quality, and the Quality Control Department, which authenticates the quality of agri-foodstuffs.

Department for the Promotion of Quality

The main function of the Department for the Promotion of Quality is to improve and promote the quality of both industrial and artisan-type agri-foodstuffs.

Below is a list of the department's specific duties:

· The design and management of programmes and activities to improve the quality of agri-foodstuffs.

· The drafting and processing of required stipulations for quality designations.

· The organization of quality control bodies and associations, and consultancy work.

· The control and audits of Regulatory Councils' quality management systems.

· The compilation and updating of statistical information concerning products with a Balearic Island quality designation.

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Department for the Promotion of Quality
Quality Control Department
The Quality Control Department carries out tasks relating to the official control of food products and means of production (fodder, fertilizers, plant protectants, additives etc) in order to safeguard the interests of arable and livestock farmers and manufacturers from the agri-food industry, as well as guaranteeing the reliability of commercial transactions.

Below is a list of the main, specific functions of the Quality Control Department:

Direct or indirect expert and/or analytical tests of agri-foodstuffs and means of production.
The control and certification of the origin of wines with a geographic indication or spirits with a geographic designation.

The control and certification of the quality of products with a quality designation that do not have a recognized certification agency.

The transfer of data to those bodies responsible for the official control of food products.

The transfer of any pertinent facts that have been detected to the competent bodies in matters regarding public health, consumption, animal and/or plant health.

The notification and classification of any facts detected during inspections, with the referral of any action to the Legal Department.;
Quality Control Department
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