China has eased the ban on New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra’s whey powder and dairy base powder imports which are used as ingredients in infant formula production.
Fonterra will now be able to sell the ingredients to infant formula manufacturers.
The ban was imposed in August last year on the two products due to botulism scare.
When the ban was imposed by China, Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings had then said he was confident the suspension could be lifted within 48 hours.
The scare prompted China to make precautionary product recalls and impose import bans in various markets. However, the scare was found to be a false alarm.
The two products account to about 3% of the company's total exports to China.
Around 90% of the New Zealand's dairy product exports to China are from Fonterra.
During the ban period, China scrutinised all the dairy products of New Zealand. However, it did not affect the whole milk powder and the skim milk powder export.
The import of the blended infant milk formula also remained unaffected by the ban.
Image:About 90% of dairy products exported by New Zealand to China are from Fonterra. Photo: courtesy of Fonterra Co-operative Group.
