The confidential review commissioned by the Fonterra board into management's handling of the Sanlu disaster will go to the dairy co-op's shareholder representatives.
Shareholders' council chairman Blue Read confirmed to the Herald that Fonterra was making the report available in line with the monitoring body's watchdog role onbehalf of the 10,500 farmer shareholders.
Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden refused to make the report available to journalists at last week's full day briefing on the company's business plan in Auckland. Read says the council will not release the report either. The name of the report's author has (so far) been kept confidential.
Fonterra is also continuing to sit on the release of the minutes of conversations between Sanlu chairwoman Tian Wenhua and its own directors on the joint-venture board which took place after the contamination was confirmed.
Tian's lawyer has recently cited an EU document provided by Fonterra - which dealt with melamine levels - as evidence that she had been unfairly blamed for the disaster.
At last week's briefing Fonterra boss Andrew Ferrier revealed Chinese police had interviewed all three co-op directors: Chinese national Patrick Kwok, who is understood to have sent the EU document to Tian; Bob Major, the Kiwi who is the long-time head of Fonterra China; and Briton Mark Wilson who is managing director of Fonterra's Asia/Africa and Middle East operations.
Ferrier said the three directors were interviewed individually. He was adamant that while the EU document was provided to Sanlu the message from Fonterra was that there should be "zero use"of melamine in the joint venture's products.
No charges have been laid against the Fonterra three - but Tian faces a life sentence for continuing to produce and market melamine-contaminated infant formula into the Chinese market after the contamination was reported to the August 2 Sanlu board meeting.
Tian is clearly trying to shift blame Fonterra's way by citing the document in her appeal. But diplomatic sources suggest that Fonterra had to call on the New Zealand Government for help after its own remonstrations with Tian to go public failed.
