Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request:

Important: no transfer

I am sending a related but separate request to MFAT. I request that MPI does not transfer any part of this request to MFAT or any other agency under section 14. I am seeking MPI's own records independently. Disclosures from each agency will be assessed separately.

Request 1 — Origins and development

All correspondence, briefings, meeting notes, aide-mémoires, and records of discussion relating to the initiation, drafting, and negotiation of the Memorandum of Cooperation on Horticulture between MPI and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare of India, signed on 12 March 2025. This includes any records identifying when the MoC was first proposed, by whom (whether by New Zealand or India), and the policy rationale for proceeding.

Request 2 — Relationship to FTA negotiations

All correspondence, briefings, and records of discussion between MPI and MFAT or any other government agency referencing both the MoC and the India FTA negotiations, including:

(a) Any analysis or discussion of how the MoC's commitments would relate to, inform, or be incorporated into the FTA's horticulture provisions (Chapter 14A);

(b) Any discussion of the timing of the MoC's signing (12 March 2025) relative to the formal launch of FTA negotiations (16 March 2025), including whether the timing was deliberate or coincidental;

(c) Any assessment of how the MoC's commitment to exchange varieties "without any cost" (Paragraph 3(d)) would interact with the FTA's Action Plans and market access provisions (Annex 2B);

(d) Any discussion of whether commitments made in the MoC would constrain or pre-determine New Zealand's negotiating position on horticulture in the FTA.

Request 3 — Industry consultation

All records of consultation with the following entities prior to the signing of the MoC on 12 March 2025:

(a) Zespri International Limited; (b) The Kiwifruit Breeding Centre; (c) Plant & Food Research / Bioeconomy Science Institute; (d) New Zealand Apples and Pears Incorporated; (e) Prevar Limited; (f) Any other horticulture industry body or stakeholder.

This includes meeting notes, correspondence, briefing papers, submissions received, and any records of industry responses — whether supportive, conditional, or opposed — to the MoC's proposed commitments, and in particular to Paragraph 3(d)'s "without any cost" provision.

Request 4 — "Without any cost" provision

All analysis, advice, and records of discussion relating to the inclusion and implications of the phrase "without any cost" in Paragraph 3(d), including:

(a) Who proposed this language (New Zealand or India);

(b) Any assessment of the impact on existing Plant Variety Rights holders, including Zespri;

(c) Any assessment of the impact on Crown-owned germplasm held by Plant & Food Research / BSI;

(d) Any legal advice on whether this commitment could require the transfer of PVR-protected material or Crown-owned breeding lines;

(e) Any assessment of the interaction between "without any cost" and the MoC's intellectual property provision (Paragraph 8), which limits IP protection to what "does not conflict with the laws of the respective Parties."

Request 5 — Scope of varieties and material

All records identifying which specific plant varieties, seeds, planting materials, germplasm, or breeding lines have been or are intended to be exchanged under the MoC, or under the FTA's Action Plans that derive from the MoC. This includes any inventory, schedule, or list — whether finalised or under discussion — of material to be provided to India.

Request 6 — Confidentiality provision

All records relating to the inclusion and scope of Paragraph 6 (Information Exchange and Confidentiality), including:

(a) Who proposed the confidentiality clause;

(b) Any assessment of whether the clause restricts the ability of New Zealand agencies to respond to OIA requests or parliamentary questions regarding material exchanged under the MoC;

(c) Any records of the confidentiality clause being invoked to withhold information from the public, parliament, or industry stakeholders.

Request 7 — McClay media release claims

All records supporting the figures cited in the Minister's Beehive media release of 17 March 2025, specifically:

(a) The "$600 million in mutual benefits over the next decade";

(b) The "up to $1 billion in reciprocal horticultural benefits";

including the methodology, modelling, or analysis that produced these figures and any caveats or qualifications that were not included in the media release.

Public interest

The MoC was signed four days before FTA negotiations formally launched. Its horticulture cooperation framework — including the commitment to exchange varieties "without any cost" — was subsequently hardened into binding treaty obligations in Chapter 14A of the India FTA, with enforcement through market access suspension (Annex 2B(9)). The MoC's Paragraph 3(d) directly affects the commercial interests of New Zealand's PVR holders and the Crown's germplasm assets. The public interest in understanding whether these commitments were made with the knowledge and consent of affected industry stakeholders, whether they were designed to pre-determine the FTA's horticulture provisions, and whether the Minister's public characterisation of the MoC accurately reflected its contents, is compelling.

Parliament is currently considering the India Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill. Select committee submissions closed 19 July 2026 and oral hearings are scheduled for 27 and 30 July. Timely release of this information is essential to informed parliamentary scrutiny.

I am content to receive documents in electronic form. If any part of this request is considered too broad, I welcome consultation under section 18B to refine scope. I note that the MoC's confidentiality clause (Paragraph 6) applies to information exchanged between the Parties under the MoC — it does not override New Zealand's domestic obligations under the Official Information Act 1982.