Scotland will switch on a legal duty for food policy on 16 December 2025, after ministers signed the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations. It activates section 6 of the Act, giving the national Good Food Nation Plan real pull on future decisions.

Section 6 requires ministers, when exercising specified functions, to have regard to the national plan - a legal duty to take the plan into account. The Act’s notes say those functions can be defined in regulations, for example around school food.

Scottish Government guidance confirms the first set of section 6 regulations will go through the affirmative procedure, with a similar package for councils and health boards (under section 15) to follow. That’s what will decide where the duty bites day to day.

The Plan itself is already on Holyrood’s desk. Ministers laid a proposed national plan on 27 June 2025 for a 60‑day look, with committees examining procurement, allotments and public health in September; the final plan is now published on gov.scot.

For readers across Cumbria, the North East and the Lancashire coast, the practical angle is procurement. Councils here buy school meals and care‑home food via NEPO and YPO frameworks; many of the distributors are national, so changes in Scotland can ripple through contracts on both sides of the border.

NEPO’s food frameworks build in social value, promote locally sourced produce and support food education in schools - aims that sit neatly with Scotland’s Plan. YPO, meanwhile, lists more than 40 suppliers including national wholesalers such as Brakes and Thomas Ridley.

Ministers insist they will bring the duty in sensibly. “We want to commence the act in a timeframe that we know local authorities and health boards are comfortable with,” Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon told MSPs this month.

Industry wants clarity. “FDF Scotland welcomes the consultation on the Good Food Nation National Plan,” its chief executive said when the draft landed, calling for detail that avoids duplication and supports investment and skills.

Campaigners, meanwhile, want tougher, measurable targets in public buying. Scottish Fair Trade argues the plan should “measure real‑world impact rather than Brand Scotland perceptions” and build Fair Trade indicators into procurement; SPICe has also captured wider civil‑society concerns about gaps on food environments and worker safety.

What to watch next: Holyrood is due to lay the ‘specified functions’ regulations later this autumn. If school food is in scope, expect Scottish policy to influence product lines carried by UK‑wide wholesalers - the same firms serving Northern councils. Now is a good time for procurement leads to speak with framework suppliers about standards, evidence and reporting.