Key John: Ministerial Statements — Dairy Products Whey Protein—Contamination IncidentText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKey John: Ministerial Statements — Dairy Products Whey Protein—Contamination Incident[Sitting date: 06 August 2013. Volume:692;Page:12293. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):I wish to make a ministerial statement under Standing Order 352 in relation to Fonterra and the potential contamination issue. Last Friday the Ministry for Primary Industries received notification from Fonterra about a potential contamination issue relating to whey protein concentrate manufactured at itsHautapu plant that had tested positive for the food poisoning bacteria that could cause botulism. Officials immediately swung into action and they have been working around the clock since then to give us certainty and clarification on the extent of the potential contamination.I would like to reassure all New Zealanders as well as our international trading partners that the Government has all possible resources focused on this issue. We have established a ministerial response team and a number of briefings meetings and teleconferences have been held over the days since the issue first came to the regulator’s attention. Our main priority at this point is public safety. There are a number of questions that need to be answered by Fonterra and it is likely that both Fonterra and the Ministry for Primary Industries will hold inquiries after this situation has been resolved but those questions are for another day. As I said yesterday now is not the time for recrimination. Now is the time to make sure that consumers have the best information.The Ministry for Primary Industries has had staff inFonterra’sHautapu plant the site of the contamination conducting testing and has also had staff inNutricia’s offices assisting with the tracking of infant formula products that may contain the contaminated whey protein. It has also put officials intoFonterra’s data centres with its agreement to assist in getting absolute clarity on the situation. However the situation remains fluid. The information changed a number of times over the first 72 hours. That is why officials and the Government have been taking and will continue to take a conservative precautionary approach until we get absolute certainty.This issue will obviously have implications for our export markets. We are working closely with our trading partners to keep them informed and to get them the latest information as soon as it comes to hand. Overall to date the response from international markets has on balance been measured. We have received mixed messages from Russia and we are working with the Russian authorities to clarify the situation. China has suspended imports ofFonterra’s produced whey powder and dairy base powder from New Zealand and Australia and has increased inspection and supervision at the border for New Zealand dairy products. However that has not stopped imports of our two biggest exports whole-milk powder and skim-milk powder at this stage. Together these two exports to China were worth around about $2.37 billion over the past year.Yesterday after the Ministry for Primary Industries had issued earlier precautionary advice regarding two ofNutricia’s infant formula productsNutricia decided to issue a voluntary recall for those two affected product lines:NutriciaKaricare Infant Formula Stage 1 for babies from birth all batches; andNutriciaKaricare Gold Plus Stage 2 Follow-on for babies from 6 months all batches. It is important to note the recall does not affect any otherNutriciaKaricare products. As I said earlier the health of consumers is of the utmost importance and it is critical that these products are recalleduntil any contamination can be ruled out. Parents and caregivers should move to alternative brands in the meantime until we can get absolute clarity on the situation.The Government and officials are working closely with the Food and Grocery Council and retailers to ensure that the two affected product lines are removed from the shelves and to ensure an adequate supply of alternative brands. If any parents or caregivers have any of the recalled product lines at home they should return it to the shop they bought it from for a refund or dispose of it. Officials and the Government will be keeping the New Zealand public completely up to date with all information as it arrives and further clarification is received. In the meantime I urge all parents and caregivers to refer to the Ministry for Primary Industries website for the latest and most up-to-date information on the situation.