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.
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.