BPCA has been working to ensure professional pest management stays firmly on the radar of MSPs, following a call for views from the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee.
The Committee is scrutinising a draft of The Good Food Nation (Specified Functions and Descriptions) (Scottish Ministers) Regulations 2025. This long list of ministerial powers and policy areas will soon need to align with Scotland’s new National Good Food Nation Plan.
Published earlier this year, the plan sets out the Scottish Government’s objectives for the future of food policy. These include ensuring access to safe and nutritious food, supporting sustainability, protecting biodiversity and animal welfare, and strengthening the resilience of the food and drink sector
The regulations and the plan flow from the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act, passed in 2022. They are expected to come into force on December 23.
While the Committee can’t amend the draft regulations directly, its scrutiny informs any changes the Scottish Government may choose to make.
In our response, BPCA recommended that two existing powers held by Scottish Ministers be added to the list. These relate to deciding which spring traps can be used in Scotland and the circumstances of their use, and the design and implementation of a licensing scheme for glue traps, which are currently banned.
We also called for pest control to be added as a defined policy area. This would ensure that any future Scottish legislation or policy that touches our sector is developed in line with the Good Food Nation principles.
BPCA chief executive Rosina Robson said: “If Scotland wants a resilient, safe and sustainable food system, pest management cannot be an afterthought.
“Professional pest controllers protect public health and safeguard food businesses every day, so it’s important that future policy reflects the realities of our work.”
