Foreign citizens picking natural products are subject to the Act on the Legal Status of Foreigners Picking Natural Products (‘Berry Act’, 487/2021) when they are not in an employment relationship.

The Berry Act applies to pickers who are not in an employment relationship and who are in Finland at the berry company’s invitation or for whom the berry company organises accommodation and catering, with the purpose of buying the natural products that they pick. The Berry Act also applies to a company that is an operator under said Act. The Act also applies to the picking of mushrooms and other natural products.

Guide: Wild berry picker’s rights
The guide is also available in swedish, finnish, thai, ukrainian and russian.

The rights and obligations of operators in the natural product sector are explained here.

If the characteristics of an employment relationship are met, the work does not take place under the Berry Act and the Act does not apply. Read more on at Characteristics of an employment relationship and Seasonal agricultural work and picking of natural products.

The Berry Act, i.e. the Act on the Legal Status of Pickers

The objective of the Act is to improve the legal status of foreigners picking natural products and to balance the competitive opportunities of companies in the natural products sector. The Act applies to the natural products in section 89 of the Income Tax Act, which are free to pick under everyone’s rights without the landowner’s consent.

The Act applies to foreigners who pick natural products in such a way that they are not in an employment relationship but, for example, have accommodation and meals provided by an operator in the natural product picking sector.

The occupational safety and health authority supervises compliance with the Berry Act to the extent that the supervision is not the responsibility of another competent authority. For example, supervision of accommodation is the responsibility of the municipal health protection authority and supervision of the berry pickers’ right to stay in the country is a police responsibility.

The Act on the Legal Status of Foreigners Picking Natural Products does not contain provisions on entry and residence or the right to work of foreigners. They apply the Schengen Visa Code and the provisions of the Aliens Act (301/2004).

KEHA Centre assesses the reliability of the operator

The operator must be reliable. An operator who is not reliable cannot act as a natural product collection operator within the meaning laid down in the Act and invite pickers to Finland or provide accommodation and collection equipment to them for the purpose of buying natural products from them.

KEHA Centre assesses whether the operator is reliable in the manner referred to in the Act. The assessment of reliability depends on whether the operator has complied with provisions of the Act in their business activities. In addition, it is ensured that the operator has properly managed taxes and other statutory payments and that the operator has the financial capacity to operate. The evaluation shall be made at the request of the operator for one year at a time.

The operator must keep the documents and provide them to the authority upon request

Notwithstanding secrecy provisions, the occupational safety and health authority has the right to obtain from the operator information and documents that are necessary for the performance of the monitoring and supervision laid down in this Act.

The operator must keep the information related to the fulfilment of the obligations laid down in this Act in such a way that these can be easily checked by the occupational safety and health authority if necessary. The operator must keep the data for a period of two years from the end of the year of collection.

The contact authority advises pickers and operators

The Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland's Division of Occupational Safety and Health is the contact authority for the Berry Act. It provides general advice on the applicable legislation and if necessary, provides information on how to contact the correct authority. Advice is provided to pickers and natural product collection sector operators.

Please send any question you may have to [email protected].

Note! The occupational safety and health authority does not provide employment services in the natural products sector or any other sector. If you want to apply for a seasonal job or other vacancies, you can find available vacancies at Job Market Finland by KEHA Centre. Please note that Job Market Finland only includes adverts for work carried out in an employment relationship.