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The attached document has been proactively released by the New Zealand Customs Service on behalf of the Minister of Customs.

Paper prepared by: Hon , Minister of Customs Date considered by Cabinet: 5 July 2021

Name of paper: Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and New Zealand on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters: Approval for Signature and Entry into Force Cabinet Reference: ERS-21-MIN-0023 Purpose of the paper: This paper seeks approval for New Zealand to sign and bring into force the Agreement Between the Kingdom of The Netherlands and New Zealand on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters

Some parts of this paper have been redacted section 6(a) of the Official Information Act 1982. Any redactions will appear in the text as grey boxes, with an explanation of why the redaction was made.

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This document is licensed by the New Zealand Customs Service under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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PROACTIVELY UNCLASSIFIED ------RESTRICTED ERS-21-MIN-0023 8 approved the text of the CMAA, attached as Annex A to the paper under ERS-21-SUB-0023, subject to any minor technical changes arising from the legal verification or translation processes;

9 authorised the signing of the CMAA on a date to be determined with The Netherlands;

10 noted that the CMAA will enter into force on the first day of the second month after the date on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other, through exchanges of diplomatic notes, the completion of their necessary respective domestic processes;

11 authorised officials to bring the CMAA into force through an exchange of diplomatic notes after the CMAA has been signed.

Janine Harvey Committee Secretary

Present: Officials present from: Rt Hon (Chair) Office of the Prime Minister Hon Officials Committee for ERS Hon Kelvin Davis Hon Andrew Little Hon David Parker RELEASED Hon Hon Hon Hon Dr David Clark Hon Meka Whaitiri

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Outside of scope

Michael Webster Secretary of the Cabinet

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------RESTRICTED UNCLASSIFIED Office of the Minister of Customs Cabinet External Relations and Security Committee

Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and New Zealand on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters: Approval for Signature and Entry into Force Proposal 1 The purpose of this paper is to seek Cabinet’s approval to sign and then bring into force the Agreement between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and New Zealand on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters (CMAA).

Executive Summary 2 In June 2020, Cabinet directed the New Zealand Customs Service to commence negotiations on the CMAA with the Kingdom of the Netherlands (the Netherlands), and for the Minister of Customs to report back on the outcome of these negotiations with a recommendation as to whether New Zealand should sign [ERS-20-MIN-0012 refers]. Officials concluded their negotiations of the CMAA text on 11 April 2021.

3 New Zealand is actively engaged in an offshore disruption programme, to protect our communities and prevent harm to New Zealanders by stopping narcotics and the proceeds of crime from reaching our shores. The Netherlands is an important partner in these efforts, having been the largest source country for narcotics seizures within Europe in 2019, representing 35 percent of the social harm cost of offshore seizures in Europe. In 2020, the Netherlands had the joint highest number of New Zealand-bound narcotics items seized offshore in Europe.

4 The CMAA facilitates the cooperation and exchange of information between New Zealand and the Netherlands. It will form part of New Zealand’s suite of information sharing arrangements with our international partners, supporting our offshore disruption effortsPROACTIVELY. RELEASED 5 The CCMA is critical to New Zealand’s offshore disruption efforts; the Netherlands require a bilateral agreement before they can share information with us.

6 The negotiated CMAA text aligns with other CMAAs that are currently in place between New Zealand and its offshore partners. It includes articles covering information requests relating to customs offences, the communication of requests, special types of assistance, the execution of requests, and the use, confidentiality, and protection of information.

7 This paper proposes that Cabinet approve New Zealand signing the CMAA, and the exchange of diplomatic notes to bring it into force, at the next available opportunity. Officials are working with the Netherlands to have the CMAA ready for signing, but the exact date for signing will depend on advice from the Netherlands about when it expects to complete its translation, Cabinet, and administrative processes. 1 ------RESTRICTED UNCLASSIFIED

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Information sharing is crucial for offshore disruption 8 The New Zealand Customs Service is actively engaged in an offshore disruption strategy to prevent the flow of narcotics and its associated harm to New Zealanders, and to prevent organised criminal groups who traffic narcotics, from reaching our shores. The Source to Shore programme and our global Customs network, work with international partners to share information, seize narcotics, and detain offenders.

The Netherlands is an immediate priority for an information sharing agreement

9 The Netherlands is a significant source of narcotics destined for New Zealand, with criminal networks operating to export Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), Methamphetamine and other substances.

10 The New Zealand Customs Service seized an estimated social harm cost of $731 million in drugs and precursors bound for New Zealand, originating in Europe, in 2019. Of this, the Netherlands accounted for the greatest share of the seizures, representing 35 percent, or $259 million. In 2020, the Netherlands remains in the top three exporters in Europe for New Zealand-bound narcotics seized offshore.

11 It is critical that the New Zealand Customs Service is engaged with the Netherlands to combat the flow of narcotics to New Zealand, and undermine criminal networks operating across our borders. While New Zealand has a customs cooperation arrangement with the European Union, New Zealand requires national information sharing instruments to cover the varied law enforcement authorities at different levels, and enable information sharing from the Netherlands.RELEASED

12 s 6(a) OIA

13 s 6(a) OIA It is timely for New Zealand to sign and enter into force a CMAA with the Netherlands on information sharing, so that we may reduce social harm as quickly as possible to whānau and communities, and disrupt supply chains. PROACTIVELY The Netherlands is also a critical partner in addressing child exploitation

14 On 28 April 2020, the Internet Watch Foundation identified that the majority of online images of child sexual exploitation were hosted in Europe, and the Netherlands is the primary location where such content is hosted. The Netherlands accounts for 71 percent of global content of this nature. Therefore, close cooperation and information sharing with the Netherlands is a crucial part of addressing child exploitation.

15 The New Zealand Customs Service, New Zealand Police, and Department of Internal Affairs all have responsibilities for detecting, investigating, and prosecuting offences related to child sexual exploitation material, and have a cooperation arrangement to ensure the best national response is delivered by the three agencies. The CMAA enables the sharing of information to prevent the distribution of this harmful material.

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The benefits of the CMAA

16 The CMAA will provide access to information held by the Netherlands on the activities of organised criminal groups with operations in New Zealand, their methods, and wider international interception trends. This would support New Zealand’s efforts to disrupt the distribution of narcotics and child exploitation material from the Netherlands.

17 The CMAA enables tactical operational support in the Netherlands and mutual assistance in criminal prosecution. It would also facilitate the potential for controlled deliveries of drugs to take place, for New Zealand-bound narcotics detected offshore.

18 The CMAA enables an ability to exchange information on customs matters that would also provide assurance over supply chains and help facilitate New Zealand exporter access to the Netherlands.

19 The Netherlands Customs are world leaders in innovative technological solutions at the border, while having a similar investigative mandate and enforcement approach to border security. The CMAA can support closer cooperation on customs matters, including the potential for New Zealand to benefit from these advanced technologies and approaches through exchanges of research, personnel, or technology.

Key Provisions of the CMAA

20 The CMAA would be applied within the limits of applicable New Zealand law, and is consistent with the textual provisions of existingRELEASED international arrangements held between the New Zealand Customs Service and international partners.

21 The CMAA follows a standard New Zealand model. Namely, articles covering the:

21.1 scope of the information sharing (the enforcement of customs law, relating to customs offences, relating to the lawfulness of importation and exportation, and automatic and advanced transmission of information);

21.2 special types of assistance (including technical cooperation, surveillance, recovery of customs claims, and providing experts and witnesses); 21.3 communicPROACTIVELYation and execution of requests (including whether one has the means to obtain information, the requesting and invitation of presence in the territory of the other contracting party, and visiting officials under the CMAA);

21.4 use, confidentiality, and protection of information; and

21.5 exemptions for providing information.

Next Steps

Signature and Entry into Force

22 No decision has yet been taken on when and where the CMAA may be signed. The Netherlands’ signature and entry into force process also includes the translation of the CMAA into Dutch for the Cabinet of the Netherlands, and the Cabinet agreement.

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23 The Netherlands indicate that this will likely occur in the second half of 2021. Officials will continue to work with the Netherlands to determine when the CMAA will be ready for signature, and report back to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and myself.

24 The CMAA will enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other through the exchange of diplomatic notes of the completion of their necessary respective domestic procedures.

Financial Implications

25 There are no financial implications from this proposal. The cost of the establishment, signing, operation, and associated formal meetings of the CMAA will be undertaken within the New Zealand Customs Service baseline funding.

Legislative Implications

26 There are no legislative implications from this proposal. No implementing legislation is required.

Impact Analysis

27 On 24 March 2021, the Minister of Foreign Affairs determined that the CMAA is not a major bilateral treaty of particular significance.

28 The CMAA will not be subject to the Parliamentary treaty examination process, and no National Interest Analysis is required. RELEASED

Population Implications

29 There are no significant population implications from an agreement on information exchange with The Netherlands.

Human Rights

30 There are no implications for the Human Rights Act 1993 or the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 arising from the signing of the CMAA.

Consultation PROACTIVELY

31 The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Department of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand Police, Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Ministry of Justice, and the Treasury, were consulted on this paper.

Communications 32 Given the significance of the Netherlands as a bilateral partner, I envisage using the signing of the CMAA to generate further publicity around the bilateral relationship.

Proactive Release 33 This paper will be proactively released with any redactions that would be justified if the information had been requested under the Official Information Act 1982.

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Recommendations The Minister of Customs recommends that the Committee:

1 Note that in 2020, the Cabinet External Relations and Security Committee agreed that the New Zealand Customs Service should commence negotiations of the CMAA.

2 Note that the Minister of Customs was invited to report to the ERS Committee on the outcome of negotiations once they were completed, with a recommendation regarding whether New Zealand should sign the CMAA with the Netherlands.

3 Note that officials completed the negotiation of the CMAA on 11 April 2021.

4 Note that within Europe, the Netherlands was the largest source of narcotics destined for New Zealand and their cooperation is critical to New Zealand’s offshore disruption efforts, s 6(a) OIA

5 Note that the negotiated text of the CMAA with the Netherlands shares common provisions with CMAAs that we currently have with other international partners.

6 Note that on 24 March 2021, the Minister of Foreign Affairs determined that the CMAA is not a major bilateral treaty of particular significance and therefore should not be subject to the Parliamentary treaty examination process. 7 Note that no amendment to legislation is requiredRELEASED in order to implement the CMAA. 8 Note that funding will be sourced from the New Zealand Customs Service baseline and no additional funding is sought.

9 Authorise the signing of the CMAA on a date to be determined with the Netherlands.

10 Approve the text of the CMAA which is attached as Annex A, subject to any minor technical changes arising from the legal verification or translation processes.

11 Note that the CMAA will enter into force on the first day of the second month after the date on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other, through exchanges of diplomaticPROACTIVELY notes, the completion of their necessary respective domestic processes. 12 Authorise officials to bring the CMAA into force through an exchange of diplomatic notes after the CMAA has been signed.

Authorised for lodgement

Hon Meka Whaitiri

Minister of Customs

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