Law reform is being recommended to overhaul New Zealand's military export control regime, with a review finding a lack of transparency and that parts "falls short of contemporary best practice".
Concerns were raised earlier this year after it was revealed New Zealand was exporting military equipment to countries accused of major human rights violations .
Military equipment was being exported to the Saudi-led coalition nations - including mortar fire control systems, artillery fire control systems and firearms suppressors, while they were on a UN blacklist.
An independent review led by former Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment head David Smol has now found that the export control regime is not fit for purpose.
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta agreed with the recommendations and made it clear to MFAT she would implement them.
"The report concludes that while Aotearoa New Zealand’s export controls regime has been run in accordance with the legislation, it is now not fit – or resourced – for what is likely to be an increasingly challenging future," Mahuta said.
She was expecting more advice from officials on law reform early next year.
It found the Ministry of Foreign Affair's export control regime lacked transparency that risked undermining public confidence.
The process for risk assessment was informal and unstructured.
The assessment criteria was found to not explicitly consider domestic reputation and was also "not informative as to how to weigh risks or make trade-offs in complex cases".
It also said it was under-resourced for the future, and that overall, "most MFAT staff have little familiarity with the specifics of the export controls regime".
The export control team consisted of only three people, described in the report as "small by any measure" - including in comparison to overseas regimes.
A review into our military export controls, sparked by a 1 News investigation earlier this year, has found those regulations were not up to standard.
There was concern by people interviewed that the regime worked "as well as it does in no small part because of the experience, knowledge and networks" of just one individual.
Various parts of the system "falls short of contemporary best practice in several respects and, in that sense, is not fit for what is likely to be an increasingly challenging future".
The report noted New Zealand had relatively few businesses that make or trade weapons or military equipment, but there was an increasing number of companies that had areas of dual-use (technology that can be used for civilian and military purposes) such as artificial intelligence, robotics, security and biotechnology.
There are usually about 700 export permits received each year. An expansion in part of the scope means the regime could see a higher number of applications and increased complexity of technological and reputational risk assessments.
The review recommended that law reform was pursued to ensure the export control regime was fit for the future.
In the last three years to April, the ministry received 256 applications for military exports to 41 countries and territories it has declined just one, that was an export to Saudi Arabia in 2019.
In June, Government Ministers made it clear to ministry officials that military equipment should not be sold to parts of the Middle East at that time.
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