KEY POINTS:
Organised crime interests were behind the Chinese tainted milk scandal which resulted in the death of at least four infants, a previously confidential briefing paper to Prime Minister Helen Clark suggests.
The paper was written by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Helen Clark and faxed to her
home on September 5, triggering New Zealand Government action which eventually led to the scandal becoming public days later.
The briefing paints a picture of high-level concerns that the emerging food safety scandal could harm New Zealand's interests. It gives ministers the option of agreeing to the New Zealand Embassy making contact with Chinese authorities - this was done.
"The Chinese milk supply has been targeted by Chinese organised crime, which has been adding a byproduct of the chemical industry, melamine, to raw milk supplied to processing plants," the paper states.
"The harmful impact on consumers, particularly Chinese infants who are the most at-risk group, is the most serious concern."
The ministry clearly warned the issue was likely to become public at some point and urged appropriate action from ministers, while noting action should be taken in a way that "minimises the risks to New Zealand's reputation and interests".
Tainted milk left tens of thousands of infants ill and at least four dead in China and local dairy giant Fonterra was implicated as 43 per cent owner of milk powder producer San Lu.
Helen Clark has previously indicated she was disturbed enough by what she read in the briefing paper to see quick action was taken.
The document has been released to the Weekend Herald under the Official Information Act although large chunks of it have been deleted.
Among the deleted sections is one on New Zealand's "international responsibilities", while another missing piece covers the response by Chinese authorities to Fonterra's concerns about the milk. However, part of the paper indicates tension between Fonterra and Chinese authorities.
"Fonterra advises that by mid-September all of the adulterated product should have been accounted for or consumed," the paper states.
"This suggests that despite the authorities' reticence to support a full product recall, San Lu/Fonterra have managed to achieve a similar outcome through a variety of other methods."
The ministry provided Helen Clark and other ministers with suggested "defensive talking points" to use if the issue became public and they were asked about it. The tenor of the answers is to talk about San Lu as a "victim" of deliberate and illegal attempts to dilute milk, and to say it is a problem occurring within China that Fonterra has done its best to act on.
The suggested answers even point out that Fonterra's joint venture company has widened its tested procedures and employed an extra 200 staff for this purpose.
Helen Clark appears to have largely ignored the suggested answers to questions, choosing in the days after the scandal broke to say her Government blew the whistle. She also said that local authorities in China would not allow an official recall - something missing from MFAT's advice.
