Printed from https://fyi.org.nz/request/35142-authorisation-of-undrip-affirmation-in-the-india-fta on July 27, 2026 19:37

Authorisation of UNDRIP affirmation in the India FTA

Joshua Riley made this Official Information request to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Currently waiting for a response from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, they must respond promptly and normally no later than (details and exceptions).

From: Joshua Riley

Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request:

1. All records relating to the decision to include the affirmation
of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples in Article 13.2 of the India-New Zealand FTA,
including:

(a) Who proposed the inclusion of UNDRIP — whether NZ or India;

(b) Who authorised the use of "affirm" rather than "note"
(the verb used in the NZ-UK FTA and NZ-EU FTA);

(c) Whether ministerial approval was sought for the inclusion
and the specific language;

(d) Whether the Cabinet direction to halt UNDRIP implementation
was considered, and if so, how the decision to affirm UNDRIP
in a binding treaty was reconciled with that direction.

2. All briefings, aide-mémoires, and correspondence provided to
or exchanged with the following Ministers or their offices
mentioning UNDRIP, Article 13.2, or Chapter 13 of the India
FTA, from the commencement of negotiations (March 2025) to
the date of the first reading (25 June 2026):

(a) The Minister of Trade (Todd McClay);
(b) The Minister responsible for the Treaty Negotiations
Implementation Act / Associate Minister (David Seymour);
(c) The Minister of Foreign Affairs (Winston Peters);
(d) The Prime Minister's Office.

3. All records of the FTA negotiating mandate as it relates to
Chapter 13, including whether the mandate authorised the
affirmation of UNDRIP or specified the language to be used.

4. All records relating to the Minister's subsequent direction
that UNDRIP is not to be referred to in future FTAs,
including the date of that direction and whether it
constitutes an acknowledgment that the India FTA inclusion
was not authorised.

I note that the NIA (149 pages, authored 24 April 2026) does
not mention UNDRIP. I request confirmation of whether this
omission was deliberate or inadvertent.

No transfer under section 14.

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