The UK's Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) was set up to curb the use and exploitation ofillegal workers in the agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering and associated processing and packaging industries.From 1 December it will be illegal to supply workers to the agriculture and food processing and packaging sectors without a GLA licence.
Anybody who uses an unlicensed labour provider operating in farming and food processing sectors after that date will be committing a criminal offence and face penalties of up to six months imprisonment, a £5,000 fine, or both.
Up to 600,000 workers will be protected from exploitation by rogue employers with theintroduction of gangmaster licensing, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has previously stated in announcing the new regulatory requirement.
Gangmasters, those who supply temporary or sub-contracted labour to businesses, were required to be registered with the GLA from 1 October this year. A GLA spokesperson told FoodProductionDaily.com that the regulator has received 1,107 applications and has issued 852 licenses so far.
Mike Wilson, the GLA's chief executive, saidthe new regulator is now starting to deal with the illegal operators still trading in the sector.
Powers provided under the Gangmasters Licensing Act will be used to investigate, gather information, interview, arrest and prosecutethose operating in the sector without a licence, and those using unlicensed labour providers, hesaid.
"It takes two to exploit labour - the provider and the user," he said. "We haveintroduced the GLA licensing scheme to bring providers up to the mark. It is now time to look at the other side of the relationship -the labour user."
He said the GLA has already opened a number of investigations and the authority expects to takeearly action against suspected culprits.
"By using unlicensed labour providers, labour users become complicit in this exploitation,"he said. "This is illegal and risky. Risky, because buyers and retailers understand perfectly the damage to theirbusiness that could be caused through association with illegal and exploitative practices and will simply stop using sources that aretainted in this way."
Those affected includes those processing and packaging any product containing an agricultural component.This includes fresh and processed products but does not include non-food items such as cosmetics.
Also affected are those processing and packaging any drink that contains an agricultural component,such as sugar, hops and fruit, any animal product that will enter the food chain , shellfish, fish or products derived from shellfish or fish,plants, flowers, bulbs, pet and animal feed and the gathering of shellfish.
Those in the retail sector, wholesale market, distribution warehouse and catering are amongst thesectors exempted from the law.
The GLA keeps a public register of all labour providers who have successfully applied for a licence.Businesses can check whether a labour provider has applied for, or been granted a licence by accessing the register onlineat www.gla.gov.uk or by telephoning 0845 602 5020.
Plant managers will also need to work with their labour providers to help them retain their licenceby having an agreement with them in writing and by co-operating with them to ensure the site of work complies withUK health and safety legislation.
Defra has published guidance that sets out the steps that a labour user can take to ensure a provider is licensed.
"By taking these steps a labour user can establish a defence in court to show they took all reasonable steps to check that the labour provider waslicensed," Defra stated.
Defra's guidance is available at www.defra.gov.uk/farm/working/gangmasters/pdf/labourusers.pdf.
Victoria Brown, a spokesperson for the Food and Drink Federation, has previously toldFoodProductionDaily.com that the processing industry welcomes the licensing system.
"The industry uses outside labour to support the seasonal fluctuations in ourproduction," she said. "We always work with licensed legitimate suppliers of labourand we will continue to do so."
The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) was one of the lobby groups campaigning to bring gangmastersunder regulation. The push came after the tragedy at Morecambe Bay on 5 February 2004, when 23Chinese migrant workers drowned picking cockles.