WELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealand will allow up to 5,000 Pacific islands workers a year to take temporary jobs in its farm sector as it grapples with a labor shortage, senior officials said Wednesday.

From April 2007 employers will be able to hire Pacific workers once they have shown they can't hire enough local workers, said Social Development Minister David Benson-Pope and Immigration Minister David Cunliffe.

Pacific workers will be able to stay in New Zealand for seven months a year and while they can transfer between registered employers, they will not be able to apply for other work permits.

Under the scheme, employers will have to pay half a worker's travel costs, pay market rates and agree to meet the costs of removing any workers who overstay, the ministers said.

Benson-Pope said the policy would help the horticulture and viticulture industries meet a labor shortfall of about 10,000 workers.

Cunliffe said employers will be able to hire from all 16 Pacific Island Forum nations.

New Zealand initially will help Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu to kick start the scheme.

New Zealand was prioritizing Pacific employment mobility because of its special relationship with, and commitment to, the Pacific region, he said.

"This policy has been designed to further contribute to Pacific development and New Zealand's objectives for economic success and stability in the region," Cunliffe said.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said with the lowest unemployment in the OECD "New Zealand can't get in its own horticulture and viticulture crops with local labor." Currently New Zealand unemployment is 3.6 percent.

"There's an opportunity here to kill two birds with one stone - meet the needs of our industries but also help meet the desperate needs of Pacific countries for work for their people," she told National Radio.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the plan would help build wealth in the Pacific without eroding island nations' viability.

Cunliffe said while there were no guarantees migrant workers on the scheme would not breach immigration laws, employers would help police the rules as they faced financial penalties and possible cancellation of their status as a recognized employer.

Currently about 20,000 illegal over-stayers are in the country, he said.