124.This Part amends the Agriculture (Retained EU Law and Data) (Scotland) Act 2020 (“
125.Since ARELDS was passed, the UK Parliament has passed the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023. Among other things, that changes the status of, and restrictions on, the body of law now known as ‘assimilated law’ and allows the Act to provide for a wider range of modifications to be made to that law.
126.This section amends sections 1 and 2 of ARELDS.
127.The amendment to section 1 (defined terms) adds Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 (establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products) (“
128.The “relevant CAP legislation” is therefore—
Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy (sometimes called the Direct Payments Regulation),
Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (sometimes called the Rural Development Regulation),
The CMO regulation (defined above),
Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy (sometimes called the Horizontal Regulation),
Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund etc. (often called the Common Provisions regulation). However, this is only part of the relevant legislation in so far as it relates to the operation of the Rural Development Regulation,
any delegated or implementing Regulations made (whether by the Commission or the Council) under any of the Regulations referred to above,
any subordinate legislation implementing or otherwise relating to any of the Regulations referred to above (including the delegated or implementing regulations).
129.The amendments to section 2:
adjust subsection (1) to link to the new definition of relevant CAP legislation (that incorporates the CMO regulation) and enable the restatement (in addition to modification) of that legislation,
the amendment to subsection (2) creates a new paragraph structure with the new material in paragraph (b) permitting modifications of the relevant CAP legislation to take account of changes in technology or developments in scientific understanding,
the new subsection (2A) provides the parameters for restatement to the relevant CAP legislation. This may be done to improve the clarity or accessibility of the legislation (including by removing doubts or ambiguities) and also for the purposes of taking account of changes in legislation or developments in scientific understanding,
the new subsection (2B) makes clear the restatement can use different words or concepts from what is being restated. This allows greater flexibility of approach in any restatement,
lastly, the section title of section 2 is updated to reflect its expanded content.
130.This section amends section 3 of ARELDS. The amendments allow for the Scottish Ministers to make regulations modifying any of the relevant CAP legislation in order to either (i) enable it to continue to operate or to (ii) cease to have effect in Scotland. The amendments also change the parliamentary procedure to the negative procedure.
131.This section amends section 4 of ARELDS. This expands the existing provision such that the Scottish Ministers may make regulations in relation to financial provision for all relevant CAP legislation and removes the illustrative list of CAP legislation that may, in particular, be amended.
132.The kind of financial provision that may be modified relates to the setting or determining of ceilings on the amounts of any payments or expenditure for any purpose under the relevant CAP legislation, or to the reallocation or transfer of amounts or proportions of such ceilings between or among different purposes under the legislation.
133.Provision that might be made under this power will include reducing the sum available to be spent under a particular ceiling (also known as “capping”), or provision giving effect to flexibility between the CAP Pillars (also known as “Pillar to Pillar Transfer”). It might also include changing the ceiling on the total amount of a rural development programme that may be devoted to technical assistance.
134.The section is also amended to change the parliamentary procedure for regulations to what is referred to as ‘either way’ procedure by providing that regulations made under the section which have not been subject to the affirmative procedure, are subject to the negative procedure. The effect is that the Scottish Ministers can choose which procedure is to apply to any particular use of the power.
135.This section repeals section 5 of ARELDS. Doing so removes the automatic sunsetting of the Scottish Ministers’ powers to make regulations under section 2(1), 3(1) or 4(1) of that Act, with the effect being that the modification powers will continue to be available after 7 May 2026.
136.This section amends section 6 of ALREDS which deals with public intervention and private storage aid. It should be read alongside sections 13 and 14 (which deal with interventions in markets in exceptional conditions). Public intervention and private storage aid are designed to allow for the removal of surplus products from the market (and so stabilise market prices). The price of certain goods is monitored, so that when the market situation so requires, eligible goods may be bought in, stored and resold once prices have risen, or producers may be paid to store products for an agreed period to remove them from the market.
137.The amendments to section 6:
remove the restrictions on the modifications that may be made to the legislation governing public intervention and private storage aid (the PIPSA legislation),
confirms that the power to modify the PIPSA legislation includes the power to make provision for (i) the purposes of altering the effect of the PIPSA legislation where there are an exceptional market conditions that are subject to a declaration under section 14 of the Act, (ii) securing that the PIPSA legislation ceases to have effect otherwise than in connection with the exceptional market conditions, and (iii) otherwise altering the operation of the PIPSA legislation,
provide that, for the purposes of this section (i.e. public intervention and private storage aid) the definition of exceptional market conditions includes a reference to circumstances which are the subject of measures under Articles 219, 220 and 221 of the CMO regulation. This expands the circumstances from what is set out in section 14 of the Act.
138.Taken together, this allows the Scottish Ministers to adjust the PIPSA legislation to adapt it to the Scottish context. Similar powers exist in England and Wales.
139.This section amends section 7 of ARELDS, which currently confers power on the Scottish Ministers to simplify or improve certain CAP legislation governing aid for fruit and vegetable producer organisations. Section 27 expands this power by removing the restriction in subsection (2) of section 7 of ARELDS so that the Scottish Ministers may make modifications of any kind.
140.This section inserts a new section 7A into ARELDS dealing with apiculture. The new section enables the Scottish Minsters to modify the legislation governing apiculture (which includes, but is not limited to, the legislation listed in subsection (2)). These modifications are not restricted. It is also possible to modify the legislation in relation to apiculture in the manner described in sections 2 and 3 of ARELDS.
141.Regulations under this section are subject to the ‘either way’ procedure described above.
The Explanatory Notes for ARELDS may be found at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2020/17/notes/contentsBack [1]