Zespri's method of importing kiwifruit into China is unlikely to be investigated again by the Chinese Government, an inquiry launched by New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers has found.
The organisation, which represents most New Zealand growers of the fruit, has released details of its independent inquiry into Zespri's actions in China.
The first part of the inquiry pertains to Zespri's current performance in China, while the second part of the inquiry will look at Zespri's actions in China up to 2010.
The inquiry's members will begin the second part of their inquiry soon, following the conclusion of Zespri's court appeal in China last week.
The first part of the inquiry, released yesterday, sought to establish whether Zespri's operations and its standing in China remained robust and whether kiwifruit sent to China might encounter further issues at the Chinese border which could delay importation and impact Orchard Gate Returns.
Inquiry head Neil Trebilco, New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers president, said Zespri's current import method did not appear to be at risk of investigation.
A new Asian market manager had been appointed after the previous manager's resignation, and a new importer had been appointed after in-depth vetting.
Fruit was moving across the border efficiently and Zespri was developing relationships with the Chinese Government and customs authorities which should ensure effective trading operations in the future, he said.
"As a result of the events in China, Zespri reviewed its operations in the market, took steps to ensure full compliance with Chinese laws and regulations, and made structural and other changes to minimise future risk."
The inquiry found that Zespri sought to operate in China to the highest possible standards and in an entirely different way to pre-2010, Mr Trebilco said.
Zespri chief executive Lain Jager said operational and cultural changes were being made to Zespri's Chinese business.
"We're in the market for a new country manager - Simon Limmer is the acting country manager for China - we're also recruiting for a number of other positions in China. But some of the changes, too, are about the compliance framework and that's really about making making sure that the delegated authority manual is very clear.
"We've got good checks and balances in place, we've recently implemented a whistleblower policy with an independent company so employees have a number they can ring.
"So a number of changes where we're really just looking to strengthen the compliance framework on the one hand but on the other hand not losing the ability to make decisions at the customer interface because in our view centralisation's the wrong thing to do."