New Zealand blew whistle on tainted China milk powder
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
WELLINGTON, Sept 15 (AFP): New Zealand "blew the whistle" on the sale of tainted milk powder in China, linked to at least one death, after local Chinese authorities refused to act, Prime Minister Helen Clark said today.
Her revelation came one day after New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, a joint venture partner of Chinese milk manufacturer Sanlu Group, said it knew about the contamination for several weeks before a recall was initiated.
Government figures show 432 babies in China have developed kidney stones and one has died after drinking milk made from powder contaminated with melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and glue. At least one child has died.
Officials at Fonterra "have been trying for weeks to get an official recall and the local authorities in China would not do it," Clark told Television New Zealand's Breakfast programme.
The prime minister said she learned about the problem on September 5. Three days later, she ordered officials to inform authorities in Beijing, bypassing the local officials.
"As you can imagine, when the New Zealand government blew the whistle in Beijing, a very heavy hand then descended on the local authorities," she said.
"At a local level...I think the first inclination was to try and put a towel over it and deal with it without an official recall. That is never what we would do in New Zealand."
Clark said the scandal had shown Fonterra it could not be "naive" in its foreign operations and had to insist on its own high standards.
"I think Fonterra, from the advice I have had, has behaved responsibly at all times, but it has been dealing in a political system at a local level in China where the inclination is to cover things up," she said.
"But I have to say once we blew the whistle in Beijing, they moved very fast."
Fonterra has a 43 per cent stake in Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co Ltd, which ordered a product recall on September 11.
Her revelation came one day after New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, a joint venture partner of Chinese milk manufacturer Sanlu Group, said it knew about the contamination for several weeks before a recall was initiated.
Government figures show 432 babies in China have developed kidney stones and one has died after drinking milk made from powder contaminated with melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and glue. At least one child has died.
Officials at Fonterra "have been trying for weeks to get an official recall and the local authorities in China would not do it," Clark told Television New Zealand's Breakfast programme.
The prime minister said she learned about the problem on September 5. Three days later, she ordered officials to inform authorities in Beijing, bypassing the local officials.
"As you can imagine, when the New Zealand government blew the whistle in Beijing, a very heavy hand then descended on the local authorities," she said.
"At a local level...I think the first inclination was to try and put a towel over it and deal with it without an official recall. That is never what we would do in New Zealand."
Clark said the scandal had shown Fonterra it could not be "naive" in its foreign operations and had to insist on its own high standards.
"I think Fonterra, from the advice I have had, has behaved responsibly at all times, but it has been dealing in a political system at a local level in China where the inclination is to cover things up," she said.
"But I have to say once we blew the whistle in Beijing, they moved very fast."
Fonterra has a 43 per cent stake in Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co Ltd, which ordered a product recall on September 11.