The government Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with supermarket chain Sainsbury's in a novel partnership aimed to train Sainsbury's staff and suppliers to recognise signs of abuse in the food supply chain.

Under the scheme, GLA said Sainsbury's suppliers will receive training to identify whether hidden exploitative practices exist at the farms, pack houses, processing plants and factories around the world which supply the supermarket, one of the UK's 'Big Four'.

The scheme is part of a raft of measures introduced in October intended to allow suppliers and retailers to share information and intelligence with GLA if they have suspicions that exploitation is taking place.

Sainsbury's and the GLA are piloting their training programme this week.

Commenting on the pilots, GLA Chief Executive Paul Broadbent said, "We are delighted to have forged this industry leading agreement and to work alongside Sainsbury’s in this way. There is a real commitment and desire on both sides to identify any practice that subjects workers to exploitation.

"Such activity, by its very nature, is kept hidden by its perpetrators as far as possible and is difficult to detect but there are indicators to look out for and these are what we will be teaching Sainsbury’s product suppliers to spot.

"By raising awareness through training, Sainsbury’s is showing a determination to identify any issues of concern. I applaud them for this and will continue to work alongside them to tackle it."

Sainsbury's Brand Director Judith Batchelaradded, "We’re proud to have carried out the first pilot training for our suppliers in partnership with GLA, we hope this takes us a step further in tackling hidden labour exploitation.

"Modern slavery within global supply chains is a serious issue and it is a priority of ours to work with our suppliers to address it."