Tuesday, 12 December 2017 10:55

Fonterra made right call – Coull

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Fonterra Shareholders Council chairman Duncan Coull. Fonterra Shareholders Council chairman Duncan Coull.

Fonterra farmers are confident their co-op was right in issuing a precautionary recall of infant formula four years ago.

Fonterra Shareholders Council chairman Duncan Coull says the decision to put safety ahead of everything else was the right decision.

Fonterra was this month slapped with a $183 million fine in an arbitration claim filed by French dairy giant Danone for recall costs during the false botulism scare at a Fonterra plant in 2013.

Coull says the council is confident the co-op acted with integrity when it issued the precautionary recall.

“ ‘Do what’s right’ is one of our four values and in continuing to put safety ahead of all else we will build on the trust people throughout the world have in us.

“As tough as this outcome is, the lessons learned have enabled our co-op to emerge stronger and we now need to move forward together, proud of who we are, what we have achieved and of our commitment to our values.”

Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings says Fonterra is disappointed the arbitration tribunal did not fully recognise the terms of its supply agreement with Danone, “including the agreed limitations of liability, which was the basis on which we had agreed to do business”.

Both Fonterra and the New Zealand Government conducted extensive reviews into the events. A follow-up review by the Independent Inquiry commissioned by the Fonterra board confirmed that the cooperative’s management acted in the best interests of its consumers and the business at all times.

 “The decision to invoke a precautionary recall was based on technical information obtained from a third party, which later turned out to be incorrect,” says Spierings.

Danone says the arbitration outcome stresses critical importance of food safety procedures and transparency.

 “Danone considers this arbitration underscores the merit of its legal actions against Fonterra, including to champion the highest standards of food safety across the industry.”

More like this

Fonterra R&D: Innovation needs more than just PhDs

Common sense and good human judgement are still a key requirement for the super highly qualified staff working at one of New Zealand's largest and most important research facilities - Fonterra's R&D Centre at Palmerston North.

Misguided campaign

OPINION: Last week, Greenpeace lit up Fonterra's Auckland headquarters with 'messages from the common people' - that the sector is polluting the environment.

Featured

Farmstrong marks 10 years of rural support

Nationwide rural wellbeing programme, Farmstrong recently celebrated its tenth birthday at Fieldays with an event attended by ambassador Sam Whitelock, Farmers Mutual Group (FMG), Farmstrong partners, and government Ministers.

National

Machinery & Products

Farming smarter with technology

The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

110,000 visitors!

OPINION: It's official, Fieldays 2025 clocked 110,000 visitors over the four days.

Sticky situation

OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter