Speciality milk producer A2 Milk's application to export infant milk formula (IMF) to the United States has been deferred, but Fonterra says it has yet to hear anything about its application.
Photo: 123rf
While more than a dozen international IMF producers recently received temporary approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to supply product, A2 Milk said its application had been deferred along with many other applicants.
IMF companies had been queuing up to restock empty shelves in the United States with baby food, after the country recently relaxed its import policy to mitigate one of the biggest infant formula shortages in recent history caused by contamination.
A2 Milk chief executive David Bortolussi said the crisis was yet to be solved and the company was standing by with a supply of about one million cans of premium A2 Platinum IMF, which equalled about 27 million eith-ounce bottle serves, through to the end of the November.
"In any event, we would not expect that this opportunity over the current FDA enforcement discretion period would have a material impact on the company's financial results in FY23 due to the market dynamics and cost to serve of the US infant milk formula market," Bortolussi said.