Amotai verifies that supplier members meet the below criteria. 

Māori and/or Pasifika-owned business are defined as enterprises where: 

• Limited Liability Companies: Individuals of Māori and/or Indigenous Pasifika descent either: 
• • Individually own at least 50% of the company’s shares, or 
  • Collectively hold a minimum of 50% of the company’s shares 
• Sole Traders: 100% ownership by a Māori and/or Indigenous Pasifika person. 
• Partnerships: At least 50% of each class of partnership interest is owned by Māori and/or Indigenous Pasifika person(s) and such ownership must be reflected in the partnership agreement. 
• Charitable Trusts: At least 50% of the listed trustees identify as Māori and/or Indigenous Pasifika descent. 

Māori are defined as people with Māori whakapapa (verifiable genealogical lineage). 

As defined by Statistics New Zealand (Ariā classifications) Pacific peoples are people who whakapapa to, and identify as, descendants of the indigenous Pacific ethnic groups of Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue, Fiji, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and the small island states of Micronesia. 

Amotai also recognises people who whakapapa to Hawai’i and Tahiti as Pacific peoples. 

Statistics New Zealand recognises people with Indigenous Fijian ancestry as being Pacific peoples, however this does not include people of Indo-Fijian descent.