Crown Research Institute AgResearch has sold its textile testing division to the country's biggest wool testing agency.
The New Zealand Wool Testing Authority will integrate the textile unit into its own operation in the new year and is setting up a new laboratory at its Napier base.
AgResearch put the textile testing serivice on the market as part of its wool research cut-backs after farmers decided they would no longer pay a wool levy any more.
Wool Testing Authority chief executive Duane Knowles says the textile unit will expand the scope of its core operation, which focuses on testing raw wool to make sure it meets the specifications that buyers and processors are looking for.
The authority was established by the Government in 1964, and is now owned by the Australian Wool Testing Authority.
