Trade Minister Tim Groser says New Zealand is partway through a process of restoring its reputation in the world as a safe food producer after Fonterra's whey product contamination scare and subsequent product recall last month.
Groser, in announcing a $2 million Government support package yesterday aimed at helping small- to medium-sized companies to restore confidence in their markets abroad, said "things are stabilising and moving in the right direction". "I'm reasonably encouraged by the way that things are evolving," he said.
The situation in China - New Zealand's biggest dairy market - was also encouraging, he said. Officials from the Ministry for Primary Industries are in Beijing at the moment.
Fonterra last month advised that several tonnes of whey product was thought to contain clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that can cause botulism, prompting a widespread product recall.