Mahi 2021

This is a big year for the protection of Mātauranga Māori in Aotearoa.

The Labour government has until December 2021 to pass a new law to protect Māori rights to taonga native plants. This is because Aotearoa signed up to an international trade deal which allows access to our native plants to cultivate new plants, including by overseas corporations.

The government was able to carve out an exception in the international trade deal in an effort to ensure compliance with Te Tiriti. But the terms of this exception are dependent on New Zealand passing the new law before 30 December 2021.

Because of the importance of our taonga plants and species to Te Ao Māori, this issue also overlaps with the commitments the government has made regarding implementing Wai 262 and the subsequent Waitangi Tribunal report Ko Aotearoa Tēnei, which recommends how Te Tiriti partnerships can be part of everyday life in Aotearoa.

Over 2021, Wakatū will be working on advancing the legal protections of plant taonga and at the same time, we will be working to advance the bigger Wai 262 goal of comprehensive Te Tiriti partnerships across government.

International trade

The international treaty at the heart of these issues is the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (the CPTPP).

The countries who have signed up to this trade deal include New Zealand, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, and Viet Nam.

The government recently sought public feedback regarding new countries joining the CPTPP including the United Kingdom. Wakatū made submissions before the 2 May 2021 deadline which called on the government to commit to strong Te Tiriti partnerships with Māori in the trade negotiation process.

Chapter 18 of the CPTPP relates to intellectual property, which regulates the legal rights over new ideas or new products. Under Chapter 18 the creation of new plant varieties is regulated under Article 18.7.2(d) which requires all countries to accept the international treaty on the protection of new varieties of plants (also known as UPOV 91).

However, under Annex 18-A, New Zealand reserved the right to adopt its own national law that gives effect to the international UNPOV 91 treaty, but it only has three years to pass this national law – this deadline expires on 30 December 2021. In addition, the provisions of this exception also state that:

Nothing in paragraph 1 shall preclude the adoption by New Zealand of measures it deems necessary to protect indigenous plant species in fulfillment of its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi, provided that such measures are not used as a means of arbitrary or unjustified discrimination against a person of another Party… The interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi, including as to the nature of the rights and obligations arising under it, shall not be subject to the dispute settlement provisions of this Agreement.

The government now has a draft version of the national law known as the Plant Varieties Rights Bill (also known as the PVR) which would update the first version passed in 1987 to comply with the CPTPP before the December deadline.

The PVR Bill was introduced on 11 May 2021. Wakatū plans to engage in the consultation process once the Bill is referred to the Select Committee, which is when the public can make written and oral submissions seeking any necessary amendments.

Wakatū will be looking very closely at the different concerns which were raised by Māori across Aotearoa during the national hui on the PVR to make sure Te Tiriti partnerships are realised.

Waitangi Tribunal claim - Wai 262

The 30 December 2021 deadline under the CPTPP provides additional urgency with respect to the implementation of the Waitangi Tribunal recommendations resulting from the Wai 262 claim.

The Wai 262 claim relates to the intellectual property issues around new plant varieties, which is the subject of Chapter 18 of the CPTPP. The report on the Wai 262 claim is known as the Ko Aotearoa Tēnei report and it was the first to address the whole-of-government responsibility as a Te Tiriti partner.

The report found that the essence of Wai 262 is:

a claim about mātauranga Māori – that is, the unique Māori way of viewing the world, encompassing both traditional knowledge and culture. The claimants, in other words, are seeking to preserve their culture and identity, and the relationships that culture and identity derive from.

In September 2019, the government announced Te Pae Tawhiti to implement Ko Aotearoa Tenei under three broad kete of issues. Kete 2 directly relates to the implementation of the CPTPP Chapter 18 through the new Plant Varieties Rights Bill due to be released in mid-May:

kete 1 : taonga works me te mātauranga Māori

kete 2 : taonga species me te mātauranga Māori

kete 3 : Kawenata Aorere / Kaupapa Aorere (with an international focus)

Wakatū welcomes any input from our whānau on the PVR Bill.

Please email me if you have any thoughts to share or any questions about the PVR bill.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Kerensa Johnston
Tumu Whakarae (Chief Executive Officer)
Wakatū Incorporation