Format of international treaty action papers

Security classification

Office of the Minister of [xx]

Chair
Cabinet XXX Committee

Title - use the full title of the treaty and note the approvals being sought (e.g. Air Services Agreement with Canada: Approval for Signature) unless this is obviously inappropriate due to the length of the treaty's title.

Proposal - one or two sentences explaining what is proposed.

Executive summary - required if the paper is more than four pages long.

1  Briefly state what is proposed in the paper. Note the nature of the instrument proposed and provide a summary of its provisions. Note key costs and benefits of adoption of the instrument.

Background

2  Note any relevant background to the treaty; the process of negotiations etc.

3  Succinctly note any previous Cabinet or Cabinet committee consideration of the issue, e.g. if a mandate for negotiations has been approved etc. Give references to previous Cabinet and Cabinet committee decisions (e.g. ERD Min (0X) X/X).

Comment

4  This section should provide the detail required by Ministers to understand the proposal and the decisions they are being asked to make.

5  It should note:

- the exact nature of the instrument (e.g. treaty-status agreement? non-binding arrangement?);

- what stage of the process is being considered (e.g. non-binding signature? binding treaty action?);

- an outline of the provisions of the instrument and their effect (NB - the full text of the proposed instrument must be included, usually attached as an appendix). If amendments to an international treaty are proposed, it may be useful to attach the treaty itself, perhaps showing the changes "tracked";

- costs and benefits of the instrument;

- if the instrument is a treaty, a statement about the parliamentary treaty examination process. If the treaty is a bilateral treaty, the paper should indicate the Minister of Foreign Affairs' view as to whether the treaty should be presented to the House for parliamentary treaty examination or not (depending on whether it is a major bilateral treaty of particular significance);

- advice as to whether the National Interest Analysis (NIA) required to initiate the parliamentary treaty examination process is attached for approval or whether it will be submitted for Cabinet's approval later;

- whether domestic legislation will be required to incorporate the treaty into New Zealand law, and the proposed process and timing for managing that;

- when it is proposed to bring the treaty into force and whether approval is required for that now (subject, perhaps, to the satisfactory completion of the parliamentary treaty examination process and/or the enactment of legislation);

- any timing issues;

- any other matters that Ministers should be aware of when considering the proposed instrument.

Financial implications

6  Note any financial implications of the proposed action.

Regulatory impact analysis 

7  An "extended" NIA must be prepared for treaties with regulatory impacts, containing all of the requirements otherwise considered in a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS).  A separate, standalone RIS is not required.

8  The regulatory impact analysis (RIA) section should:

• indicate whether or not the RIA requirements apply and whether an extended NIA has been prepared and is attached to the Cabinet paper, and if not the reasons why;
• provide an agency opinion on the quality of the impact analysis, which is a statement on whether the reviewer considers that the relevant RIS information and analysis summarised in the NIA meets/does not meet/partially meets the quality assurance criteria, and comment on any issues that have been identified in relation to any of the dimensions of quality set out in the quality assurance guidance;
• provide Ministerial certification on whether the proposal(s) in the paper are consistent with the expections set out in the Government Statement on Regulation.

9  Remember to attach the extended NIA when submitting the paper, or indicate that the NIA will be submitted for Cabinet's consideration later.

Publicity

10  Briefly set out what steps, if any, are to be taken to publicise the treaty action.

Consultation

11  Briefly set out the consultation that has taken place in the course of developing the paper. Papers on treaty actions must comply with standard consultation requirements for all submissions to Cabinet and Cabinet committees.

12  Remember that the Minister of Foreign Affairs must either be a signatory to the paper, or be consulted on it.  The Treaty Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade must also be consulted.

Recommendations

13  Depending on the approvals sought, a range of recommendations is appropriate. The particular circumstances of each treaty action will determine which recommendations should be used.

14  Recommendations would normally note the process that has led to the conclusion of an agreed text, e.g:

note that in XX the Cabinet External Relations and Defence Committee agreed that officials should negotiate [the text of the Agreement];

note that the negotiations have now been completed;

15  The text of the proposed instrument should be attached, e.g:

approve the text of [the Agreement], which is attached;

16  The actions that will bring the treaty into force should be authorised, e.g:

note that [the Agreement] will enter into force on the date of signature;

agree that New Zealand sign [the Agreement];

or

note that [the Agreement] will be brought into effect by the deposit of an instrument of ratification following notification that the necessary procedures to give effect to [the Agreement] have been fulfilled;

agree to ratify [the Agreement] subject to the satisfactory completion of the parliamentary treaty examination process;

or

note that [the Agreement] will enter into force on the date of the conclusion of [the proposed exchange of letters];

authorise the conclusion of [the exchange of letters];

etc.

17.  If approval to sign an instrument is sought, for example at an international conference, it may also be worthwhile to include provision for any minor technical amendments that might be needed, giving authority to a suitable person to agree these, to avoid having to go through the Cabinet process again should minor changes to the text be required, e.g:

agree that the New Zealand delegation may agree to minor editorial amendments to [the Agreement] before its signature;

or

authorise the [Minister of Foreign Affairs] to approve minor technical amendments to [the Agreement], should the need arise;

18  If parliamentary treaty examination is required, approval for this should be sought, e.g:

approve the content of the National Interest Analysis (NIA), attached to this paper;

agree to present [the Agreement] and the NIA to the House for the purposes of the parliamentary treaty examination process, under Standing Order XX;

19  Alternatively, the Minister of Foreign Affairs' confirmation that the parliamentary treaty examination is not required should be noted, e.g:

note that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has determined that [the Agreement] is not a major bilateral treaty of particular significance and therefore is not subject to the parliamentary treaty examination process;

20  It may also be appropriate at this stage to authorise the drafting of any legislation or regulations necessary to bring domestic law into compliance with the treaty. The legislation will not be enacted until select committee consideration (if required) is complete, but beginning the drafting at this stage avoids unnecessary delays later on, e.g:

invite the Minister of XX to issue drafting instructions to the Parliamentary Counsel Office to give effect to [the Agreement].

[signature of Minister]
[title of Minister]
[date of signature]