Dairy giant Fonterra has accepted a Chinese court's guilty verdicts in the contaminated milk scandal which left six babies dead but not the death sentence it has imposed.
A Chinese court sentenced to death cattle farmer Zhang Yujun, 40, and milk trader Geng Jinping for the scandal, which also left hundreds of thousands of infants ill.
The contaminated milk powder was produced by Sanlu, a company 43 percent owned by Fonterra, which has now written off its $200 million investment.
Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier today said the company accepted the court's findings but that it did not support the death penalty.
"We accept the court's findings but Fonterra supports the New Zealand Government's position on the death penalty," he said.
"We have been shocked and disturbed by the information that has come to hand as a result of the judicial process.
"Fonterra deeply regrets the harm and pain this tragedy has caused so many Chinese families."
Mr Ferrier reiterated that Fonterra had no knowledge of the criminal actions taken by those involved.
"We certainly would never have approved of these actions," he said.
"I am appalled that the four individuals deliberately released product containing melamine. These actions were never reported to the Sanlu Board and fundamentally go against the ethics and values of Fonterra."
Prime Minister John Key yesterday said the Chinese Government had a right "to take a very serious attitude".
"The way the Chinese approach these things ... in the sense of the death penalty, is something for them to determine (whether it is appropriate)," he said.
"New Zealand does not condone the death sentence but we respect their rights to take a very serious attitude to what was an extremely serious scandal."
But Amnesty International criticised the decision to execute the men and raised concerns about New Zealand's implication in the scandal.
"The death penalty will not put right the immense suffering caused by these men," Amnesty New Zealand chief executive Patrick Holmes said.
"The death penalty is the ultimate, cruel and inhumane punishment and New Zealand must take a stand to prevent further abuses of human rights."
A third man, Gao Junjie, was given a death sentence for endangering public safety, but it was suspended for two years, and may be commuted to life in prison.
The chairwoman of Fonterra's Sanlu venture, Tian Wenhua, 66, will also spend the rest of her life behind bars as well as being fined 24.7 million yuan ($NZ5.6m).
She learned of problems with her company's BeiBei milkpowder from consumer complaints around mid-May of last year but the company did not stop producing and selling formula until about September 11.
NZPA