A Bill designed to protect agricultural workers from exploitation by gangmasters in the UK has become law.

The Gangmasters Licensing Act was passed on 8 July, and establishes such measures as a licensing authority for registering licensed gangmasters; new offences, such as making using an unlicensed gangmaster illegal, and provides a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for offenders.

The issue of gangmasters came to national and international prominence in February, when 21 Chinese migrant workers were drowned in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire while picking cockles, also bringing to light the problem of forced labour in the United Kingdom.

Sixteen survivors told police how gangmasters -- people who supply labour quickly and on a temporary basis -- forced them to work in all weather conditions and had failed to give them proper equipment or training. The gangmasters took most of their wages for accommodation, food and transportation, leaving them only £1 per day for over nine hours of work.

The Gangmasters Licensing Bill was introduced by Jim Sheridan MP as a Private Members Bill on 7 January 2004.

The law is an important step forward. However, it is crucial that the Government takes steps to protect all migrants' human rights, as they are particularly at risk of exploitation and trafficking.

One way this can be done is by signing the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families (1990), which states migrants should have protection against the confiscation of their identity documents. The removal of migrants' documents is frequently used to pressure workers to accept bad pay and conditions, neither the UK nor any other major receiving country, has ratified the Convention.