in june 1959, the agriculture, co-operatives, fisheries, rural development and veterinary divisions of various ministries were reshuffled to form the primary production department, under the new ministry of national development. the department was restructured into a statutory board, the agri-food and veterinary authority, on 1 april 2000. the food control division (formerly part of the ministry of the environment) was added to the ava in july 2002.