Section 5: Preparation of plan: consideration of international instruments
14.Section 5 imposes a duty on the Scottish Ministers to have regard, to the extent specified, to certain international instruments in preparing the national good food nation plan:
Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides that a right to an adequate standard of living includes, among other things, adequate food;
Article 24(2)(c) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (the “UNCRC”) sets out the right of a child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health which requires those bound by the UNCRC to combat disease and malnutrition, including through the provision of adequate nutritious foods;
Articles 27(1) and (3) of the UNCRC require those bound by the UNCRC to recognise the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development and to take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement this right and, in case of need, provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to, for example, nutrition;
Article 12(2) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women requires those bound by the Convention to ensure women are provided with, among other things, adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.
15.For further reference, the full titles of those instruments are set out in section 25.
16.The Scottish Ministers may by regulations modify the list of international instruments so as to add, remove or vary a reference to an international instrument. Provisions which may be made by such regulations include provisions to limit the extent of an international instrument (similar to the way in which, for example, the instrument referred to in subsection (2)(a) is limited to the extent that it concerns adequate food) and to make clear the version of the international instrument referred to (if, for example, an earlier version of an international instrument did not cover the food-related issue in the terms intended to be had regard to in preparing the national good food nation plan, the version intended to be referred to, which was in operation at a specific date, could be specified in regulations).
17.A definition of “international instrument” is contained in section 25 and includes any treaty, convention, international legislative instrument or guidance issued by an organisation governed by international law. It includes any provision of such an instrument, so for example it would be possible to specify one article of an international treaty to which the Scottish Ministers must have regard.
