Last week, a meeting of National Cabinet, announced New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory had agreed on a national code for agricultural workers, to help them move between states.

The code would help seasonal workers and other agricultural workers, such as shearers, move between the states quickly to complete harvest and other associated jobs.

However, Tasmania did not sign up to the partnership agreement because it didn't meet the state's strict border control measures.

Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the new code would be implemented over the next fortnight.

"The farmers and agricultural workers need to be able to move across borders so they can continue putting food on our tables and clothes on our back," he said.

"To those states that have not agreed, I am pleased they will watch their counterparts before they consider implementation."

Tasmanian Primary Industries Minister Guy Barnett said the state had its program in place and would prioritise Tasmanians over interstate or international workers to complete the harvest.

However, Labor spokesman David O'Byrne has criticised the approach, saying the government needed to do "more than a marketing campaign" to give certainty to the industry.

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"The health and safety of Tasmanians must come first, and the proposed national agricultural code did not align with our strong border polices," Mr Barnett said.

"However, the Tasmanian Government has formally expressed interest to the federal government to opt into a restart of the seasonal worker program."

Mr Barnett said the details around quarantine requirements for any interstate or international seasonal worker needed working through, and the government was actively engaged with Public Health to facilitate the safe movement of people in a COVID-safe way.

He would not be drawn on who would pay for the quarantine, but said it it was require; the details would resolve through industry collaboration.

Mr O'Byrne said a seasonal worker shortage was a "massive challenge" for the horticulture industry and more was needed.

He called on the government to work with the federal government to ensure the JobSeeker program would not adversely impact Tasmanian who signed up for a seasonal job.

"This is a collective responsibility of the industry and the government. The consequences of not supporting the industry and not getting the product to market are more jobs being lost," he said.

Harvest for Tasmania's fruit industry is about a month away, and farmers have raised concerns over a lack of interest from locals for the jobs, despite the roll out of the state government's program.