THE Holyrood administration must not hit Scotland’s vital food and drink sector with “punitive” policies, industry leaders have insisted.

In a manifesto published ahead of May’s scheduled Scottish Parliament elections, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland called for a “moratorium on policy and regulation changes that will negatively impact our industry”.

It said the sector – which employs some 47,000 people and has a turnover of £11 billion – needed time to “recover from the devastating impacts of Covid-19 and the changes brought about by Brexit”.

FDF Scotland chief executive David Thomson said the pandemic, coupled with the impact of the UK quitting the European Union, meant it had been a “challenging time for our food and drink businesses”.

He said: “Businesses need stable ground to recover and grow. We ask the next Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government not to put in place punitive policies and legislation that will harm the food and drink industry.

“Instead, we want to work in partnership with parliamentarians to support Scotland’s food and drink manufacturers to get back on their feet now and thrive into the future.”