Prime Minister John Key is hoping to head to China by the end of the year, with the results of a speedy inquiry into the Fonterra contamination scare.
Fonterra and the Ministry for Primary Industries are already holding separate inquries into the contamination of whey protein at the company's Hautapu plant last May.
Mr Key says an independent inquiry will be commissioned by the Government and he hopes to go to China as soon as it is finished to reassure consumers there.
Cabinet has considered holding a Commission of Inquiry but Mr Key said that could take a year or more.
Instead, the Government is resurrecting the Inquiries Bill introduced in 2008, which would give a panel appointed by the Government the powers to summon witness and obtain documents.
Mr Key hopes the bill will be passed in the next three weeks, giving a Government inquiry the same bite as a Commission of Inquiry, with a faster timeline.
