People who supply agriculture labourers will require a licence

Measures to protect workers include forcing anyone who supplies workers to the packing, food processing or farming industries to have a licence.

Anyone found to be operating without a valid licence will be fined up to �5,000 or imprisoned for up to 10 years.

The licensing announcement follows a government consultation over the way gangmasters operate.

We are acting to protect everyone involved in picking, processing, preparing or packing produce if they are supplied by gangmasters Defra

Licensing will start on 6 April for the majority of gangmasters supplying workers to the agriculture, horticulture and fish processing industries. It will become mandatory on 1 October.

Licences for shellfish gathering have a separate timescale: issuing will begin on 1 October, and become mandatory on 1 April 2007.

From 1 December it will be illegal to hire workers from an unlicensed gangmaster.

The 600,000 workers expected to benefit include many foreign nationals.

Gangmasters will be charged between �250 and �4,000 for each licence - depending on their turnover - in a system administered by the Gangmaster Licensing Authority (GLA).

'Best solution'

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Minister Jim Knight said: "We are acting to protect everyone involved in picking, processing, preparing or packing produce if they are supplied by gangmasters.

"We consulted with industry, employers and unions to come up with what we are certain is the best solution."

The system was welcomed by the Transport and General Workers' Union as "the right move for agriculture and the food industry and its workers across the country".

"Importantly, it serves notice on the rogues and scoundrels who plague this industry," deputy general secretary Jack Dromey said.

"Those who rip off and exploit their workers and clients, wherever they may be in the food chain, will not be tolerated or rewarded with a contract to supply labour."

The new system, which will also help keep track of the number of UK gangmasters, will be reviewed after one year.

Operators supplying workers to the catering, retail and wholesale sectors will not require a licence.