Brian Rogers Rogers Rabbits www.sunlive.co.nz

Message to the world – clean up your own backyards before you go off the deep end at New Zealand.

The infant formula case leaves more questions than it answers. It's a potential killer and a terrible mistake which I'm sure is deeply regretted by all concerned. Yet, no-one has died. No-one is even sick. The recall has been successful.
Maybe the potential effects yet to surface have not been well reported, but it seems the trade bans are a massive over-reaction. Yes it has serious potential, but it seems to be well under control and being well managed.
There seems to be an incredible backlash against New Zealand – even to the point of a Reuters report, 100% pure fantasy, claiming all our rivers are too polluted to swim in.
The punishment and scorn from holier-than-thou nations defies belief.
The Chinese have been sounding off, as if they've never had a food safety issue. This is the grubbiest of all pots calling the kettle black.
Here at RR we have to ask why a major backlash against all Fonterra products, such as imposed by Russia, is justified.
Worldwide, intelligent trade commentators have been impressed with NZ's reaction, their honesty, and the Government's determination to work closely with the company to solve it. Fonterra has nailed the problem, recalled the product; and other milk products are not affected.
China's position is particularly rich, considering some of the life threatening hazards that come out of that country, and continue to take lives within and beyond.
There have been numerous reports on China's horrific pollution of air, water, and soil. With that level of pollution, it is almost impossible to have safe food.
Ingredients tainted with melamine entered the global food supply — including products from well-known brands like Mars, Heinz and Cadbury in the United States.

Dodgy fish farming
Melamine-tainted milk products sickened hundreds of thousands of infants in China, and melamine contamination is believed to be responsible for thousands of pet deaths in the US.
In May this year, half the rice sold in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou was found to be tainted with cadmium.
Chinese seafood farmers won't let their children eat the fish they cultivate.
A girl living in a fish-farming village is reported to have started her period at age seven because of the high levels of hormones used in fish cultivation. Farmers use strong antibiotics and growth hormones to keep fish alive in overcrowded, dirty conditions.
Half the apple juice sold in the United States originates from China—about 367 million gallons per year. Pesticide residues that remain on fruits, vegetables, and processed foods, when they enter the food supply have long been a problem.
China is the world's largest pesticide producer and has failed to address illegal or dangerous chemical residues on foods, evident by its industrial strength maximum allowable residue levels.
Then remember the toys filled with lead, sulphurous drywall and pet food spiked with melamine.
We could go on. And on. Okay, so we will.
There's plenty of examples in recent weeks of foreign hazards and incompetence causing death, yet the reaction worldwide has been relatively light, compared to the Fonterra case.

Crash and burn
Tonga has knowingly accepted into service a crap Chinese aircraft, the MA-60, which has crashed all over the world, and is banned from NZ. Rumour has it, other pilots, when passing, brace their hands on the windscreen of their own planes, for fear of flying debris.
When the Asiana flight 214 crashed at San Francisco, due to pilot error, we didn't see every plane from that airline grounded internationally as a consequence; or any Asian-trained pilots banned from the skies. As far as I know, Korean pilots are still blazing around the globe with exactly the same set of skills (or lack of) as the four hapless Noddys who smashed, bounced and burned 305 passengers and killed two Chinese girls. (Although, if the impact doesn't get you, the fire engines will. We don't see a world ban on American crash tenders, do we?)
Nor did we see the airline busting its guts to reassure travellers or retrain pilots. It seemed more concerned about suing a TV station for reporting bogus crew names (in case you missed it) Captain Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk, and Bang Ding Ow.
Just about every week there's a man-made disaster in China, caused by poor engineering, shoddy building practices and inferior materials. Thinking of travelling to Asia? Bear in mind that six bridges have collapsed in China in the last two years. We'd recommend taking a boat instead, but the record of ferry disasters proves marine safety isn't any better.
We are swamped with chemical-laden Asian goods, some that leach substances and others that are highly flammable.
We've seen American, Japanese and European cars recalled because of faulty equipment, including brakes, which have killed people. Yet, there is no ban on products as a result.

Water woes
As for the story about our rivers – that is just complete bollocks.
As a fanatical kayaker for more than 40 years, I can tell you the Kiwi rivers are the best in the world and getting better. Yes there are a few isolated issues, and they are under incredible scrutiny. So much in fact, you could get the impression that the problem is bigger than reality. Which is probably the source of the Reuters' mis-information.
When you witness the atrocious pollution of other waterways around the world, you realise exactly how pure NZ is. Canal boaters in France can't even handle wet mooring ropes that have been dunked in the contaminated rivers. Many English waterways have similar problems.
Russia, Knee Jerk Champions of the World, ain't no saint either when it comes to pollution.
Forty per cent of Russia's territory was screwed over with significant ecological stress by the 1990s, due to deforestation, energy irresponsibility, pollution, and nuclear waste. Need I mention Chernobyl?
In Russia, 75 per cent of surface water and 50 per cent of all water is polluted.
Worst of all is their game Russian Roulette, which kills at least one in six. More dangerous than Bullrush and banned most in NZ schools except maybe Urewera High.
About time the tut-tutters around the world wound their heads in, and put things in perspective.
Mistakes will be made. Human nature guarantees there is no such thing as perfection.
But nations are judged on how they respond, and New Zealand will be 100 per cent 'She'll be right”. Not because we leave it to chance, but because we work to make it right. Because at least, we care enough to make sure she's right.
brian@thesun.co.nz