Quality plan to boost SW jobs

NEW jobs are expected to be created and food commodity exports boosted from the South West by a new quality assurance program.

The move is expected to help agricultural businesses become better equipped to compete on global markets.

The South West Quality Assurance project, a joint South West Development Commission–Agriculture WA project, aims to increase the number of South West food producers achieving high standards in quality assurance.

The project will have significant employment creation prospects for the region’s food industry by helping growers and processors to maximise returns and create jobs through exporting.

SWDC commission chairman Stuart Morgan said it was no longer sufficient to claim to be “clean and green”.

“In the future producers will have to verify product quality,” he said.