New Zealand PM says milk scandal hushed up for weeks

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Helen Clark: We blew the whistle

Sanlu, the company behind the melamine tainted milk scandal is partly owned by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra. Yesterday Radio New Zealand reported:

Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier told a media conference on Monday afternoon that Fonterra and the Sanlu Group, which is 43% owned by the co-operative, had rigorous testing procedures but it was impossible to exclude sabotage of a product.

Mr Ferrier says investigations so far have ruled out contamination from the production, storage and sales process, but he says it appears the raw milk which Sanlu buys from a third party has been contaminated…

…Earlier, Prime Minister Helen Clark said New Zealand officials had to go to the Chinese government to get action over the contaminated formula.

An article by Jamil Anderlini and Peter Smith in The Financial Times makes the accusation more explicit, leading with this paragraph:

Chinese officials knew for weeks about sales of chemical-tainted milk powder that has killed two infants and sickened 1,253, but did not act until the New Zealand government pressed Beijing, New Zealand’s prime minister said yesterday.

Can you imagine the dilemma faced by the Hebei officials who knew about the milk problems as they emerged in the run-up and during the Olympic Games? To report or deal with the problem and cause a food scandal during the Games, or to hush it up and hope for the best?

Of course, a hush up was the chosen answer.

But what of the role Fonterra played? If they knew about the problems, why didn’t they do something aside from pressure the New Zealand government to talk to the Chinese government?

The Financial Times gives the answer from Fronterra’s chief executive:

Sanlu could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Mr Ferrier defended Fonterra’s role, saying “as a minority shareholder [the company] had to continue to push Sanlu. Sanlu had to work with their own government to follow the procedures that they were given.”

However, New Zealand’s Green party said Fonterra should have gone public much earlier.

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