Dairy giant Fonterra has pleaded guilty in a New Zealand court to four food safety-related charges connected to last year's global recall of whey protein concentrate (WPC80) over a false botulism scare.
A statement from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Thursday said that it had filed the charges Wednesday in Wellington District Court against Fonterra Ltd., following MPI's investigation last year into the incident.
The charges were:
-- Processing dairy product not in accordance with its risk management program, which New Zealand food manufacturers are legally obliged to register;
-- Exporting dairy product that failed to meet animal product standards;
-- Failing to notify that dairy product had not been processed in accordance with its risk management program;
-- Failing to notify the director general of MPI as soon as possible that exported dairy product was not fit for intended purpose.
Fonterra Managing Director of People, Culture and Strategy Maury Leyland said Fonterra accepted responsibility for the allegations made in the charges.
"We have previously detailed issues relating to the decision to reprocess the original WPC80, and being slow about escalating information, which are reflected in the charges laid by MPI," Leyland said in a statement.
"Our customers and consumers need to know that New Zealand's food quality and safety regulations are being robustly applied by food manufacturers and enforced by New Zealand authorities."
The charges, which reportedly carry maximum penalties of 500, 000 NZ dollars (427,168 U.S. dollars), were laid just days before Prime Minister John Key heads to China next week to assure officials and consumers there of the safety of New Zealand's food and the effectiveness of its food safety regime.
Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye said she could not comment on the charges as they were still before the courts.
"It is important to note that the compliance investigation has been run by the regulator (MPI), and has been independent from ministers," Kaye said in a statement.
The move by Fonterra Ltd., a subsidiary of the farmer-owned Fonterra Co-operative Group, was welcomed by the Federated Farmers of New Zealand association.
"This is not just a lesson for Fonterra; all food producers in New Zealand should take note and learn from their experience," Federated Farmers dairy chairperson Willy Leferink, said in a statement.
"Our reputation for food quality and safety is paramount to our success on the world stage. Whilst this product recall was a false alarm, it has unearthed some flaws in Fonterra's system."
Fonterra is also fighting a civil case brought by French food giant Danone, which is claiming compensation of 350 million euros (486.5 million U.S. dollars) for the scare.
Fonterra launched a global recall last August after batches of whey protein concentrate were wrongly found to be contaminated with a botulism-causing bacterium, forcing Danone's Australasian subsidiary, Nutricia, and other producers to recall products made with the affected WPC80.
The scare prompted the New Zealand government to launch an official inquiry into the incident and food safety standards.
In December last year, ministers pledged to tighten the food safety regime despite the inquiry issuing a report finding no failures in the regulatory system.
However, critics have claimed that government cost-cutting was partly responsible for the scare.
