SGS deal boosts official inspection capability

26-Sep-2016 - Last updated on 27-Sep-2016 at 07:29 GMT

SGS did not reveal the price of the deal

SGS has acquired the assets and license of John R. McCrea Agency, Inc. (McCrea), a designated inspection agency licensed by the US Department of Agriculture.

The acquisition is expected to generate annual revenues of $0.5m.

McCrea is active in the US States of Illinois and Iowa in the Midwest Corn Belt. It inspects grains and by-products for export and performs domestic quality settlements with growers.

“This acquisition will give us the opportunity to enhance our designated territory for official inspection, and to replicate services which were previously outside McCrea’s scope,” said Frankie Ng, CEO of SGS.

Meanwhile, the firm has invested in a new testing laboratory in Villa Mercedes San Luis, Argentina for the peanut industry before expanding to offer testing and analysis services to the wider food industry in the region.

In Brazil, the acquisition of a 75% stake in Unigeo in September builds farming services, expanding geographic coverage and increasing expertise.

The seed quarantine laboratory is fully operational and the GLP pesticide residue laboratory is also up and running.