Kia ora Nadine

 

Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act), received by the Ministry of Health on 4 June 2025. You requested:

 

Please provide all communications including but not limited to: emails;
letters; reports; policy documentation; recommendations; decisions;
 assessments; and notifications between all Government departments
including but not limited to: decision-making groups; Taskforce
Committees; DPMC; MoH; MBIE; MPI; MFAT; EPA; Treasury; Medsafe; Pharmac;
and any related agencies, that were involved in seeking any type of
guidance or feedback; clarification or public policy recommendations; or
international standards when assessing the following:

1) Implications of signing any contract indemnity stipulating a 'Hold
harmless' indemnity clause.

2) Implications of, and guidelines for, a breach in any capacity of a
'Hold harmless' indemnity clause.

3) Questions, concerns, or raising objection to, the following statement:

Pursuant to section 65ZD(3) of the Public Finance Act 1989, the Minister
of Finance
makes the following statement:
In September 2021 I, Grant Robertson, Minister of Finance, on behalf of
the Crown, gave
indemnities to Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech and
specific
associated persons, and to Spain and Denmark, in relation to the supply of
a COVID-19
vaccine.

4) Implications related to and guidance for:

a) "There are no limitations on availability of the indemnification in the
event of negligence or fraud on the part of the Suppliers."

b) "The representation that adequate authority and funding to fulfill the
indemnification obligations"

c) The requirement to "satisfactorily demonstrate indemnification
obligations in Suppliers’ sole discretion, with true and complete
documentary support”.

5)  Addressing matters of foreign interference; anti-bribery; fraud;
bribery; or any security measures relating to regulatory assessment
processes.

6) Addressing matters of conflicts of interests between Bell Gully as the
legal advisory and other potential conflicts of interest.

 

The reference number for your request is H2025068094. As required under
the Act, the Ministry will endeavour to respond to your request no later
than 20 working days after the day your request was received:
http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/.   

 

If you have any queries related to this request, please do not hesitate to
get in touch ([1][email address]).

 

 

Ngā mihi 
 
OIA Services Team 
[2]Ministry of Health information releases 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...

Kia ora Nadine, 

 

Thank you for your request for official information received on 4 June
2025 requesting: 

 

“Please provide all communications including but not limited to: emails;
letters; reports; policy documentation; recommendations; decisions;
 assessments; and notifications between all Government departments
including but not limited to: decision-making groups; Taskforce
Committees; DPMC; MoH; MBIE; MPI; MFAT; EPA; Treasury; Medsafe; Pharmac;
and any related agencies, that were involved in seeking any type of
guidance or feedback; clarification or public policy recommendations; or
international standards when assessing the following:

 

1) Implications of signing any contract indemnity stipulating a 'Hold
harmless' indemnity clause.

 

2) Implications of, and guidelines for, a breach in any capacity of a
'Hold harmless' indemnity clause.

 

3) Questions, concerns, or raising objection to, the following statement:

 

Pursuant to section 65ZD(3) of the Public Finance Act 1989, the Minister
of Finance

makes the following statement:

In September 2021 I, Grant Robertson, Minister of Finance, on behalf of
the Crown, gave

indemnities to Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech and
specific

associated persons, and to Spain and Denmark, in relation to the supply of
a COVID-19

vaccine.

 

4) Implications related to and guidance for:

 

a) "There are no limitations on availability of the indemnification in the
event of negligence or fraud on the part of the Suppliers."

 

b) "The representation that adequate authority and funding to fulfill the
indemnification obligations"

 

c) The requirement to "satisfactorily demonstrate indemnification
obligations in Suppliers’ sole discretion, with true and complete
documentary support”.

 

5)  Addressing matters of foreign interference; anti-bribery; fraud;
bribery; or any security measures relating to regulatory assessment
processes.

 

6) Addressing matters of conflicts of interests between Bell Gully as the
legal advisory and other potential conflicts of interest."

 

The Ministry of Health has decided to extend the period of time available
to respond to your request under section 15A of the Official Information
Act 1982 (the Act) as consultations necessary to make
a decision on the request are such that a proper response to the request cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit. 

 

You can now expect a response to your request on, or before, 22 July
2025. 

 

You have the right, under section 28 of the Act, to ask the Ombudsman to
review my decision to extend the time available to respond to your
request. 

 

 

Ngâ mihi 

  

OIA Services Team

Ministry of Health  | Manatû Hauora 

M[1]inistry of Health information releases 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...

Kia ora,   
Thank you for your request for official information received on 4 June
2025 for: 
“1) Implications of signing any contract indemnity stipulating a 'Hold
harmless' indemnity clause.
2) Implications of, and guidelines for, a breach in any capacity of a
'Hold harmless' indemnity clause.
3) Questions, concerns, or raising objection to, the following statement:
Pursuant to section 65ZD(3) of the Public Finance Act 1989, the Minister
of Finance
makes the following statement:
In September 2021 I, Grant Robertson, Minister of Finance, on behalf of
the Crown, gave
indemnities to Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech and
specific
associated persons, and to Spain and Denmark, in relation to the supply of
a COVID-19
vaccine.” 
We are contacting you to clarify part of your request. 
Can you please advise if you are specifically looking for advice in
relation to any contract for the Pfizer Covid vaccine?
We look forward to receiving your response. 

Ngâ mihi 

  

OIA Services Team

Ministry of Health  | Manatû Hauora 

M[1]inistry of Health information releases 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...

Tēnā koe Nadine 

  

Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act) to the Ministry of Health – Manatū Hauora (the Ministry) on 4 June
2025. You requested:    

   

“Please provide all communications including but not limited to: emails;
letters; reports; policy documentation; recommendations; decisions; 
assessments; and notifications between all Government departments
including but not limited to: decision-making groups; Taskforce
Committees; DPMC; MoH; MBIE; MPI; MFAT; EPA; Treasury; Medsafe; Pharmac;
and any related agencies, that were involved in seeking any type of
guidance or feedback; clarification or public policy recommendations; or
international standards when assessing the following: 

  

1) Implications of signing any contract indemnity stipulating a 'Hold
harmless' indemnity clause. 

  

2) Implications of, and guidelines for, a breach in any capacity of a
'Hold harmless' indemnity clause. 

  

3) Questions, concerns, or raising objection to, the following statement: 

  

Pursuant to section 65ZD(3) of the Public Finance Act 1989, the Minister
of Finance 

makes the following statement: 

In September 2021 I, Grant Robertson, Minister of Finance, on behalf of
the Crown, gave 

indemnities to Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech and
specific 

associated persons, and to Spain and Denmark, in relation to the supply of
a COVID-19 

Vaccine. 

 

Documentation that you have requested is withheld in full under section
9(2)(h) of the Act, to maintain legal professional privilege. In making
this decision, I considered the public interest in the release of the
material and consider that it does not outweigh the need to withhold the
documentation at this time and is met by the summary information released.
  

 

Information regarding indemnities can be found in the summary of vaccine
contracts linked in response to question four. The Ministry has consulted
with Pharmac and The Treasury on this request, who have advised that they
do not hold any information to add to this request. The following link
regarding indemnity requests may be of interest to you:
[1]www.treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2022-04/oia-20210528.pdf. 

  

4) Implications related to and guidance for: 

  

a) "There are no limitations on availability of the indemnification in the
event of negligence or fraud on the part of the Suppliers." 

  

b) "The representation that adequate authority and funding to fulfill the
indemnification obligations" 

  

c) The requirement to "satisfactorily demonstrate indemnification
obligations in Suppliers’ sole discretion, with true and complete
documentary support”. 

 

The Ministry recognises the public interest in this information has
published a summary statement with information on the COVID-19 vaccine
procurement process and the nature of the commitments made by the
Government across the contracts. The summary statement can be found here:
[2]www.health.govt.nz/information-releases/summary-statement-of-new-zealand-covid-19-vaccine-procurement-process-and-contracts-with-suppliers/.  

  

Documents relevant to this part of your request is withheld in full under
the following sections of the Act: 

·                  9(2)(b)(ii), where its release would likely
unreasonably prejudice the commercial of the person who supplied the
information,  

·                  9(2)(ba)(ii), to protect information that is subject to
an obligation of confidence and making it available would likely damage
the public interest; and 

·                  9(2)(c), to avoid prejudice to measures to protect the
health or safety of the public. 

In making this decision, I considered the public interest in the release
of the material and consider that it does not outweigh the need to
withhold the documentation at this time and is met by the summary
information released.   

5)  Addressing matters of foreign interference; anti-bribery; fraud;
bribery; or any security measures relating to regulatory assessment
processes. 

  

6) Addressing matters of conflicts of interests between Bell Gully as the
legal advisory and other potential conflicts of interest.”   
   

This part of your request is refused under section 18(g)(i) of the Act as
the information requested is not held by the Ministry and there are no
grounds for believing it is connected more closely with the functions with
another agency subject to the Act. 

    

If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this
decision, please feel free to contact the OIA Services Team on:
[3][email address].   

   

Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to
review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be
contacted by email at: [4][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602.   

   

Nāku noa, nā   

 

  

OIA Services Team

Ministry of Health  | Manatū Hauora 

M[5]inistry of Health information releases 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. https://www.treasury.govt.nz/sites/defau...
2. https://www.health.govt.nz/information-r...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...