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Government Inquiry into Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC) Contamination Incident

Updated 12 December 2014

Report into Part A of the Government’s Inquiry into the Whey Protein Concentrate Contamination Incident

Report into Part A of the Government’s Inquiry into the Whey Protein Concentrate Contamination Incident

The second and final report from the Government Inquiry into the Whey Protein Concentrate Contamination incident was delivered to Hon. Nathan Guy, Minister for Primary Industries, and Hon. Jo Goodhew, Minister for Food Safety, on 28 November 2014.

The Government has released the Inquiry’s second report: the WPC80 Incident: Causes and Responses together with the Government response to the report. This is the final report to be delivered, fulfilling the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference.

The Inquiry will not be making any public comment on the report.

 

The Ministers’ response to the report can be found here:

 Ministers' earlier news release:

Having delivered the report, the Inquiry office has now closed. Enquiries can be emailed to wheyinquiry@dia.govt.nz or info@dia.govt.nz.

Part A – Inquiry reconvenes May 2014

The Inquiry reconvened on Monday 12 May 2014 to address Part A of the Terms of Reference. The Inquiry released a provisional list of issues:

Report on New Zealand’s Dairy Food Safety Regulatory System – Parts B & C

Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy and Minister for Food Safety Nikki Kaye have released the first of two reports from the Government Inquiry into the Whey Protein Concentrate Contamination Incident. The report addresses Parts B and C of the Terms of Reference for the Inquiry.

The Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy and Minister for Food Safety Nikki Kaye have also released the Government response to the report.

Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference for the Inquiry are set out in full below.

Inquiry members

The three Inquiry members are Miriam Dean CNZM QC (chair), Tony Nowell CNZM and Dr Anne Astin PSM.

Miriam Dean CNZM QC

Miriam Dean has extensive governance and commercial litigation experience.  A former partner at Russell McVeagh, she is a Queen’s Counsel whose practice focuses on commercial, competition and consumer law, arbitration and mediation.  She was also recently the lead reviewer for the 2012 Review of the Crown Law Office.

She is currently chair of both New Zealand on Air and the Banking Ombudsman Scheme.  She is also a director of Crown Fibre Holdings, the Government’s investment vehicle responsible for managing the introduction of ultra-fast broadband to urban areas, and the Auckland Council-controlled organisation managing the Council’s investment portfolio.

Ms Dean is a former president of the New Zealand Bar; previously also a member of the Auckland Transition Agency, the government’s Electricity Market Review and the IANZ Council.

Tony Nowell CNZM

Mr Nowell has extensive governance, food standards and export sector experience. He is currently the chair of Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute Ltd), a director of Food Standards Australia New Zealand, New Zealand Food Innovation Auckland and the National Export Advisory Board. A past chair of the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council and the former Chief Executive of Zespri International Ltd, he also previously held senior management roles with Griffin’s Foods Ltd and Sara Lee Corporation.

He co-chaired the New Zealand Government’s Food and Beverage Task Force in 2005 and currently represents New Zealand on the APEC Policy Partnership for Food Security.

Dr Anne Astin PSM

Dr Astin has extensive scientific and management experience, including 10 years as the Chief Executive Officer who developed, established and led the start-up of a government statutory authority for dairy food safety in Victoria, Australia.

The Inquiry is supported by a legal advisor, Simon Mount, and two policy advisors, Mark Patchett and Sally Johnston.

Independent peer reviewer

Professor Alan Reilly

Professor Reilly, Chief Executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, has agreed to act as expert peer reviewer for the Inquiry’s reports.

Professor Reilly has worked for more than 30 years in the area of food safety. Before taking up his current role, he worked in the Food Safety Programme of the World Health Organization in Geneva. He is also the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Food Information Council.

Contacts

Email  info@dia.govt.nz.