The investigation will cover the sales of large amounts of milk powder by Fonterra -- New Zealand's biggest company -- and its predecessor, the New Zealand Dairy Board, to a Vietnamese company named by the UN as having paid bribes to the Iraqi regime under the oil-for-food program that ran between 1996 and 2003. A UN report charged last week that the regime of former president Saddam Hussein received more than 1.8 bln usd in bribes and illegal surcharges under the program. The independent panel probing the now-defunct program detailed how it was hijacked by corruption and political favouritism, amid a lack of proper United Nations oversight. Peters said officials were moving to establish the facts behind Fonterra's dealings. 'We must not rush to judgement until we do find out,' he said in a radio interview. Fonterra confirmed it had sold milk powder to Vietnam Northern Food Corp (known as VinaFood) and the Vietnam Dairy Products Co (VinaMilk), which together accounted for 1.4 bln usd in sales to Iraq under the program. Fonterra said it could not reasonably have been expected to know about any bribes paid by the Vietnamese company to Iraq under the UN's oil-for-food program. 'I don't know how we could be expected to discover that,' the spokesman said. The spokesman said Fonterra would investigate the situation in light of the latest concerns. Investigations are also being made into exports to Iraq by two small New Zealand companies, a beekeeping business and a machinery manufacturer. PIN/AFX