Her Excellency Ms Charlotte Frater officially assumed her duties as Ambassador of New Zealand to the Kingdom of the Netherlands after presenting her Letters of Credence to His Majesty King Willem-Alexander at Noordeinde Palace on 4 February 2026. Ambassador Frater brings to the role a strong background in international law, trade policy, and multilateral diplomacy, developed over more than two decades with New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Her career has been shaped by a consistent focus on the intersection of trade, sustainability, and global governance.
Ambassador Frater has held a variety of leadership roles within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Prior to her appointment in The Hague, she served as Manager in the Middle East and Africa Division, focusing on New Zealand’s relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, following several earlier leadership roles in the Trade Policy and Negotiations Division.
The Ambassador undertook her first diplomatic posting in the Pacific, serving as Vice-Consul in Nouméa with responsibility for New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna from 2005 to 2008. She was subsequently posted to Geneva as Legal Adviser and First Secretary at New Zealand’s Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development from 2014 to 2018, where she further consolidated her extensive experience in multilateral negotiations. Her legal background also includes roles contributing to international climate change and other multilateral environmental negotiations, the negotiation of various free trade agreements, and involvement in international dispute processes, including World Trade Organization disputes.
A central thread throughout her career has been her work as a negotiator. She served as New Zealand’s Chief Negotiator for the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS), an initiative aimed at aligning trade policy with environmental objectives. She also played a leading role in the Global Trade and Gender Arrangement and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, reflecting New Zealand’s commitment to inclusive and innovative approaches to international trade policy.
In The Hague, Ambassador Frater’s mandate includes further strengthening the longstanding and warm relationship between New Zealand and the Netherlands, while advancing engagement with key international institutions based in the city—particularly the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court.
She holds a Master of Laws in International Legal Studies from New York University, as well as a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts in French and European Studies from Victoria University of Wellington. She speaks English, French, and some German. Ambassador Frater is accompanied by her husband and two children.
