Infant formula industry ‘mildly optimistic’ NZ standard will arrive in time, after warning to ministers

Thursday, 22 January 2026

The Infant Nutrition Council is hopeful the Government will put in place a new infant formula standard in time to head off concerns it raised with the ministers late last year that a lack of progress was threatening the multibillion-dollar export industry.

The association, whose members include Danone, Synlait and Fonterra, wrote to Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in November, urging the Government to spell out a pathway for a new standard by the end of the year and to put that in place by the first half of this year.

It says it has since been informed the Government intends to have a new regime in place by August.

Danone took a lead role in 2024 in persuading the Government to opt out of a new standard for infant formula developed by trans-Tasman regulator Food Safety Australia and New Zealand (Fsanz), out of concern that new, tougher controls on product labelling would hinder its ability to sell formula it produces here for sale in China.

But the accolades from the industry gradually turned into growing alarm as nearly 1½ years passed without the Government setting out how it would produce its own alternative standard that did not include those labelling rules.

New Zealand’s annual exports of infant formula are believed to value about $2b, and the standards delay has effectively frozen past rules, leaving manufacturers with no means to gain approval for any changes they want to make to how they produce formula locally, including incorporating new ingredients.

Infant Nutrition Council chief executive Jonathan Chew warned in the letter to ministers that the absence of an announced decision or detailed implementation time-line for a new standard was having “material and escalating consequences for manufacturers”.

“Worryingly, it is also starting to undermine the reputation of New Zealand’s ability to remain innovative and competitive, as Fsanz’s processing of applications for new ingredients relating to infant formula are completed only for Australia, with no system in place to make these risk assessments for New Zealand manufactured products,” he wrote.

“Some overseas suppliers have already indicated an intention to de-prioritise New Zealand manufacturers for new and innovative ingredients that can improve health outcomes for infants, because of the regulatory uncertainty.”

The council urged the Government to announce a decision on the regulatory pathway before the end of last year, “ideally confirming development of a New Zealand domestic infant formula standard aligned with Australia, with the exception of the necessary labelling changes”.

It also called on the Government to commit to implementing the new standard “within the first half of 2026”.

Chew said the council subsequently heard from Hoggard, days before Christmas, that a decision had been made — subject to Cabinet approval — to move ahead with a domestic standard empowered by the Food Act, and that “targeted consultations” were likely kick-off around April with the goal of having that in place by August.

“If that time-line is adhered to, I think the industry will be able to manage, in terms of the time for transition,” he said.

“I’m mildly optimistic. Obviously, we’ve got a couple of questions around detail, but at least we’ve seen a time-line with the outline of what they are going to do.”

Hoggard has been contacted for comment.

The Post reported in September, after successfully appealing to the Ombudsman for the relevant documents, that Cabinet had overruled Hoggard’s advice when it elected to opt-out of the Fsanz standard in 2024 — though Hoggard made clear his recommendation had been a line-call and that he accepted his colleagues’ decision.