261.Section 52 modifies the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 (“the 2018 Act”) to give the Scottish Ministers the power to create regulations in connection with sustainable forest management (including the implementation of the forestry strategy). Regulations may in particular require specified persons to comply with specified requirements of the UK Forestry Standard (“UKFS”). The regulations may also provide that a failure of a specified person to comply with a specified requirement may result in a remedial notice being issued under section 54(1) of the 2018 Act. The UKFS is the benchmark for sustainable forest management. The UKFS is defined in subsection (5) as the fifth edition of the technical standard for sustainable forest management, published in 2023 and endorsed by the Scottish Ministers, or the most recently published subsequent edition of such standard which is endorsed by the Scottish Ministers. However, in the event of there being no published UKFS which is endorsed by the Scottish Ministers, it is such other document as the Scottish Ministers consider most similar to the UKFS.
262.Subsection (4) sets out what happens if a new edition of the UKFS is endorsed by the Scottish Ministers. In such a case, the Scottish Ministers must review any regulations made under this section and, if appropriate, lay new regulations before the Scottish Parliament for approval.
263.Before making regulations under this section, Ministers are required to consult with persons representative of the forestry sector in Scotland and such other persons they consider appropriate (subsection (3)). The regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure.
The Act Forestry Section 52 – Sustainable forest management