Legislative changes to improve the status of foreign berry pickers sent out for comments

In May 2024, the Government outlined that the picking of wild berries is an activity based primarily on seasonal work in an employment relationship. The aim is to safeguard a sufficient level of income for foreign pickers and to improve monitoring to ensure the rights of pickers are realised. The sector will be brought into line with other sectors requiring seasonal labour.

In Finland, the picking of wild berries is strongly dependent on foreign labour, especially pickers invited and recruited from Thailand. Until 2023, pickers came to Finland with a Schengen tourist visa, which allowed them to stay and pick berries in Finland for a maximum of three months. There have been problems in the wild berry sector related to the working conditions and earnings of foreign pickers, exploitation as well as suspicions and charges of human trafficking. 

In future, picking will not be equated with tourism. Instead, companies must employ pickers in a contractual employment relationship to enable them to enter the country. This would guarantee the pickers a minimum income. It would also be easier to monitor that the rights of pickers are realised already during the application process for a residence permit and after their entry into the country. In other words, wild berry pickers would enter Finland under at same conditions as those picking garden berries, for example.

The Seasonal Workers Act and Decree would be amended accordingly. The proposal will be circulated for comments from 26 June to 21 August 2024. The amendments are scheduled to come into force on 1 April 2025 so that companies can use the new procedure for recruiting labour for the harvest season of summer 2025.

Improving the status of berry pickers is part of the Government’s Action plan for combating and preventing work-related exploitation. 

New entry conditions to come into force this summer

Due to the problems in the berry sector, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs suspended the reception of visa applications of wild berry pickers from Thailand in March 2024.  During the harvest season of 2024, berry companies can recruit pickers from abroad for work carried out in a contractual employment relationship. Accordingly, the pickers can apply for a residence permit for an employed person to come to Finland. The entry into Finland as a seasonal worker, which is now under preparation, would correspond with the entry into the country of workers in other sectors in need of seasonal labour and would have a lower permit fee than a residence permit for an employed person.

The changes currently under preparation will not affect the right of Finnish people or persons already residing in Finland to pick wild berries and sell them to a party of their choice.

Inquiries: 
Ariann Grandell, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 047 236 (until 28 June and after 5 August)
Katri Niskanen, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 047 373 (until 5 July)