 Like its similarly named Australian and Canadian counterparts, the NZDEA was named "External Affairs" rather than "Foreign Affairs" in deference to the British Government’s responsibility for conducting foreign policy on behalf of the British Empire and later the Commonwealth of Nations.From 1969 to 1988, the Ministry was known as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).Between 1988 and 1993, the Ministry was renamed the Ministry of External Relations and Trade (MERT).