Dr Richard Phillips, chairman of the World Civilisation Forum and long-time China watcher, says recent Chinese state-media attention critical of foreign infant formula may impact on New Zealand’s reputation. New Zealand’s milk powder exports in China are currently worth around $2 billion.
He says the change in attitude toward New Zealand imports is in part a response to the DCD milk residue issue earlier this year.
Dr Phillips says China is highly sensitive about food safety, especially after the 2008 melamine milk contamination crisis.
«So if there is any suspicion if they’re not of as a high standard as they should be this is of a major concern at this end.»
China’s state media service, CCTV, in a series of reports, investigated infant milk formula, discovering some falsely claimed to be imported from New Zealand.
One report features a CCTV journalist in Auckland finding none of the New Zealand brands sold in China on our supermarket shelves.
«They are very serious indeed – I think that the intention of the producers of these programmes, of sending of journalists to New Zealand, to do these things are decisions that have been made editorially by those who are running the state media in China.
Source: National Business Review
