“This is a purely consequential amendment and it does not change policy or obligations under food law,” Food Standards Scotland said when consulting on similar tidy‑ups earlier this year. It’s the same message today as Holyrood updates wording across farm product rules.

Laid before the Scottish Parliament on Monday 22 December 2025 and signed by Rural Minister Jim Fairlie, the instrument switches references from “retained EU law” to “assimilated law” in a cluster of regulations used every day by Scotland’s agri‑food sector. It covers eggs and chicks (2008), beef and pig carcase classification (2010), poultrymeat (2011) and marketing standards touching milk and spreadable fats. The changes take effect on 14 February 2026.

For producers and processors from Dumfries to the Highlands-and Northern firms selling into Scotland-the message is simple: daily practice does not change. Labelling rules, carcase classification grids and enforcement powers stay the same; what shifts is the legal shorthand that inspectors and compliance teams use in paperwork and notices. Food Standards Scotland has been clear this is a wording clean‑up.

That matters across the border too. Cumbrian egg packers, Northumberland abattoirs and Yorkshire poultry businesses trading into Scotland should make sure internal manuals, supplier specs and compliance templates reflect “assimilated law” ahead of February, so that documentation tallies with Scottish local authority checks. It’s good housekeeping rather than a new regulatory burden.

The rename flows from the UK Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, which replaced the “retained EU law” label with “assimilated law” from 1 January 2024. The Scottish Government has set out what that means in practice-and its political objections to the Act-while continuing to update devolved rules to keep the statute book readable.

Westminster has already done a similar sweep: UK Regulations made in January 2025 changed “retained EU” to “assimilated” across a raft of food and farming instruments, from olive oil marketing standards to CAP enforcement provisions. Scotland’s move in agricultural products aligns with that wider clean‑up.

This isn’t the first Scottish tidy‑up either. Ministers ran a comprehensive round of consequential amendments effective from 1 January 2024 to update primary and secondary laws with the new terminology. The latest farm‑focused changes are a continuation of that workstream.

Practical next steps for Northern operators who supply Scotland: check contracts and specifications that still name “retained EU law”, refresh compliance training slides with the new term, and keep an eye on Scottish trading standards guidance. Product labels and grading criteria do not need to change unless you are already due a routine update, but aligning the language now will save questions at audits.

More technical tweaks are likely to follow in 2026 as Scotland updates market rules piece by piece; MSPs have already been considering further amendments around fruit and veg schemes. For farm businesses on both sides of the border, expect more of this light‑touch statute housekeeping rather than sudden shifts in standards.