The watchdog will keep a register of labour providers for the first time
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Licensing for gangmasters, in response to the Morecambe Bay tragedy in which 23 cockle pickers died, should be in place by April, the government says.
All key provisions in the Licensing Act were now in force, junior minister Lord Bach told the House of Lords.
The Gangmasters Licensing Authority had begun work and aimed to have the system in place from April 2006, he said.
The authority will for the first time regulate those who supply workers to agricultural and shellfish businesses.
Labour register
It will set licensing conditions and keep a register of labour providers.
Anyone who acts as a gangmaster without a licence and companies who use an unlicensed gangmaster will be breaking the law.
Offenders face up to 10 years in jail.
Labour peer Lord Carter told the Lords a government report had indicated that between 420,000 and 611,000 temporary workers were employed on farms and in farm factories over the course of a year.
He asked Lord Bach how many of those would be working for licensed gangmasters.
Lord Bach said he would try to find out.
A number of people are currently on trial over the 2004 drownings of the cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire.
The 23 Chinese immigrants died when they were caught by fast-rising tides.
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