OIA23-0210
20 July 2023
Camryn Brown
[FYI request #22518 email]
Dear Camryn Brown
Thank you for your email 20 April 2023 requesting information relating to the Forestry
Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Your request has been considered under the Of icial
Information Act 1982 (OIA).
You requested the following:
Please provide all relevant documentation, communication, and meeting minutes
relating to the period of time that MPI has been unable to process ETS applications
due to the staged rollout of the Tupu-ake system that demonstrate (a) the start of
the period during which application submission is impossible, (b) the estimated end
of that period, and (c) the decision to have such a period and its justification(s).
My intent is to understand the extent to which MPI planned this "outage" and
believed it to be acceptable. I'm interested in any and all discussions relating to
whether to have an outage or not, all of the options considered and their pros/cons,
and so on. Please also include any documentation of consultation undertaken.
On 2 May 2023 you refined your request to:
I am happy to amend by request from "all such material" to "the minimum such
material as necessary to address my stated intent". I expect that the Tupu-ake
project manager should have sufficient information readily available in project
planning, approval, and status update material.
On 25 May 2023 MPI extended the time limit to respond to your request to 17 July 2023. I
apologise for the delay in my reply.
MPI has identified a number of Board minutes, Board updates and a Board memorandum,
which are considered in scope of your request. The information contained in those
documents is redacted in its entirety under the following sections of the OIA:
• 9(2)(j) – to enable a Minister of the Crown or any department or organisation holding
the information to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations,
(including commercial and industrial negotiations).
• 9(2)(g)(i) – to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and
frank expression of opinions by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members
of an organisation or officers and employees of any department or organisation in the
course of their duty.
Charles Fergusson Building, 34-38 Bowen Street
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140, New Zealand
agriculture.govt.nz
Once the relevant commercial contract periods have ended MPI may consider the release of
these documents.
In summary, a Programme Board was set up as part of the establishment of the Tupu-ake IT
system delivery programme to provide oversight and governance. The Programme Board is
comprised of senior officials from the Ministry for Primary Industries, the Environmental
Protection Authority and external agencies.
The original programme delivery plan was to deliver the majority of system functionality by 1
January 2023. Complications that resulted in delays in the system build and delivery of
features meant a programme reset was required in early 2022. This reset provided a re-
evaluation of the priorities of the system and Te Uru Rākau - New Zealand Forest Service’s
(Forest Service) ability to meet legislative timeframes under the original plan.
Through a series of Board meetings from early February to April 2022, the Board were
presented with options for the ongoing provision of forestry transactions in the ETS within the
new system. After consideration, in May 2022 the Programme Board decided to proceed
with the progressive rollout of Tupu-ake focused on a prioritised delivery of critical
requirements in Tupu-ake.
The Forest Service is enhancing services for ETS forestry participants by continually
delivering additional features and functionality to Tupu-ake, the next release of Tupu-ake is
scheduled for early August 2023.
Should you have any concerns with this response, I would encourage you to raise these with
the Ministry for Primary Industries at
[email address].
Alternatively, you are advised of your right to also raise any concerns with the Of ice of the
Ombudsman. Contact details are: Of ice of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington
6143 or at
[email address].
Yours sincerely
Oliver Hendrickson
Director Forestry & Land Management
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