Dairy giant says improvements being made following botulism scare.
Fonterra said it had accepted charges laid against it by the Ministry for Primary Industries over events that led to last year's market recall of whey protein concentrate.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) filed four charges against Fonterra in the Wellington District Court relating to breaches of the Animal Products Act after the recall, which turned out to be a false alarm after the product was earlier linked to botulism. Contravention of the act can make corporates liable for fines of up to $500,000.
Fonterra's managing director people, culture and strategy Maury Leyland said Fonterra had co-operated fully with MPI throughout its investigation, and accepted responsibility for the allegations made.
"We have accepted all four charges, which are consistent with the findings of our operational review, and the independent board inquiry," Leyland said. "We have previously detailed issues relating to the decision to reprocess the original WPC80 [whey protein], and being slow about escalating information which are reflected in the charges laid by MPI.