MFAT releases files in annual restricted file review

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is releasing more than 1500 previously restricted files for public access today, as part of its ongoing programme of reviewing and releasing classified material.

The files cover a wide range of topics, dating mainly from the 1940s to the 1970s. All the newly released files can be found at Archives New Zealand’s Wellington office.

The material being released includes:
• reports on 1970s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings
• bilateral negotiations on special arrangements with the European Economic Community on agricultural products
• apartheid and sport files
• conferences on trade, development, the law of the sea and whaling
• 1960s proposals on the Omega Navigation System
• attitudes of Indonesia and the Philippines to the formation of Malaysia

Files returned from overseas posts such as Apia, Bonn, Brussels, Kuala Lumpur, London and New York are also being released.

As in previous years, the files being released have been reviewed and cleared during the previous.

Rather than releasing files after a fixed period (e.g. 30 years), the Ministry reviews and releases closed files as soon as practicable, subject to international document release agreements and resources.

ENDS

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