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Iwi chairs will meet Trade Minister Todd McClay this week to push the case for protection of the name manuka.
Ngati Kahungunu chair Ngahiwi Tomoana says if the Government had moved in 2011 to protect Maori names, as recommended by Waitangi Tribunal’s WAI 262 fauna and flora report, current problems in the manuka honey business could have been avoided.
New Zealand producers are trying to block the efforts of Australians to cash in on the growing international demand for the honey, which fetches a premium for its antibacterial qualities.
Manuka or leptospermum scoparium also grows across the Tasman, but Mr Tomoana says it’s another example of the Australians credit for a New Zealand success.
"We’ve just got to stand on our tikanga and our whakapapa and ensure those rights stay here with us – the intellectual property, the ingoa, nga kupu, and nga matauranga Maori, ta te Maori e pupuri, we've got to hold onto it ourselves," he says.
Mr Tomoana says it also highlights the need to strengthen the clauses in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement protecting rights under the Treaty of Waitangi
NGAHIWI TOMOANA INTERVIEW
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