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The Committee addressed a direct request to the Government concerning the following matters:

- the prohibition of foreigners from holding trade union office;

- the right to organise of workers in small agricultural and stock-raising enterprises, who are excluded from the scope of the Labour Code.

Article 60 of the Constitution indeed prohibits foreigners from holding trade union office. Furthermore, under the terms of section 14(c) of the Labour Code, agricultural or stock-raising enterprises which employ permanently not more than five employees are excluded from its scope.

The Committee notes the Government's statements concerning the prohibition of foreigners from holding office or exercising authority in unions (article 60(2) of the Constitution). This restriction disappears when the foreigner acquires Costa Rican citizenship. According to the Government, in the case of Spanish Americans, citizenship can be acquired after only two years of residence in the country while in other cases there is a minimum period of five years.

While taking due note of these indications, the Committee considers that greater flexibility should be given to the legislation in order to make it possible for organisations to elect freely their leaders without interference and for foreign workers to have access to trade union functions, at least once a certain period of residence has been completed in the host country (see paragraph 160 of the 1983 General Survey of the Committee of Experts on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining).

With regard to the right to organise of workers in small agricultural and stock-raising enterprises, who are excluded from the scope of the Labour Code by virtue of section 14(c), the Committee notes with interest the Government's statements to the effect that in the draft integral reform of the Labour Code this provision of the current Labour Code has been completely suppressed and that the only restriction on forming a trade union is obtaining the minimum number of 20 workers, which may be circumvented by combining with workers from other agricultural enterprises.

The Committee requests the Government to inform it of the measures that have been adopted on these two points in order to bring them into complete conformity with the Convention and to transmit the text of the new Labour Code as soon as possible.