19 September 2025
Ref: DOIA-REQ-0020092-Spencer Jones
Spencer Jones
Email:
[FYI request #31350 email]
Tēnā koe Spencer
Thank you for your email of 24 August 2025 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
(MBIE) requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following information:
Official Information Act Request – Refined Scope: MBIE’s Role in Industrial Hemp
Kia ora MBIE,
This is a refined follow-up to my earlier OIA request (Ref: DOIA-REQ-0016727, 21 August 2025) regarding
MBIE’s involvement in the industrial hemp (iHemp) sector. To ensure the scope is clear and reasonable, I
now request the following:
1. Interagency Communications (Time-Bound)
Copies of any communications (emails, meeting notes, or briefings) between MBIE and MPI, Medsafe, or
MfE relating to industrial hemp regulation, licensing, or shared responsibilities between 1 January 2024
and 31 December 2024.
2. Ministerial Briefings
Copies of any ministerial briefings prepared by MBIE since 1 January 2022 that refer to industrial hemp,
including references to:
• interagency coordination,
• shared or overlapping roles, or
• industry development or regulatory barriers.
3. Search Evidence if No Records Exist
If MBIE holds no information within scope, please confirm this explicitly and provide a brief description of
the searches undertaken to establish this, as per your obligations under the OIA.
Notes
• I am seeking documents in electronic form.
• If parts of documents require withholding under sections 6 or 9 of the OIA, I request that you
release all reasonably separable factual material in accordance with s17A.
• If this request is considered too broad, I invite MBIE to contact me under s13 of the OIA (duty to
assist) so that we can refine the scope further.
In regard to your first two items, MBIE has undertaken a reasonable and thorough search of documents
that may fall within the scope of your request. This included a review of the search conducted for your
previous OIA request, and consultations with relevant teams, including Building, Resources and Market;
Kānoa – Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit; and Labour, Science and Enterprise. MBIE
has also consulted with the Ministry of Prime Industries and the Ministry of Health regarding any material
they may hold in scope regarding your request.
Aside from the two papers previously released to you, there are no other papers that are in scope of your
requests.
Regarding your request about search evidence, MBIE conducted a keyword-based search using the terms
“iHemp”, “industrial hemp”, and “hemp” across the period 2020–2025. This initial search returned over
one thousand results. To ensure relevance, we applied a timeframe filter for 2024–2025, which narrowed
the results to approximately 245 documents.
While it was administratively challenging to review every document in full, we conducted a title review
and spot-checked content to identify material of potential relevance. The results included items such as
in-confidence curriculum vitae, business profiles held by MBIE, and funding applications referencing
hemp-related keywords. These fall outside the scope of your request, as they are not relevant to
interagency communications or ministerial briefings.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, or if you require any further assistance,
please con
tact [email address].
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802
602.
Nāku noa, nā
Nerissa Smith
Head of the Office of the Deputy Secretary
Labour, Science and Enterprise, MBIE
