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With reference also to its observation under the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to supply information on the following points.

1. The Committee notes sections 469 to 505 of the 1996 Labour Code which set forth the functions and prerogatives of the labour inspectorate as well as sections 224 to 238 which lay down its functions in regard to occupational health and safety. The Committee notes however that the occupational health and safety conditions (section 224), the health and safety committee (section 232), occupational health services (section 243), labour administration (section 470) and the status of labour inspectors and supervisors (section 471) are fixed by decree. The Committee requests the Government to send with its next report the texts or draft texts of these decrees.

2. The Committee notes that whereas section 224(3) of the 1996 Labour Code provides that measures with immediate executory force may be taken by the labour inspectorate in the event of imminent danger, section 236(3), qualifies this danger not only as imminent, as provided in Article 13, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention, but also as serious. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the application in practice of the provisions of section 224(3) and 236(3) of the Labour Code.

3. Article 3, paragraph 2. The Committee notes that section 476(2) authorizes the intervention of the labour inspector in cases not specifically prescribed by the law to conciliate the view points of employers and workers for the purpose of preventing conflicts or facilitating their settlement and that subparagraph 3 of the same article also provides that the labour inspector may act to reconcile individual and collective disputes submitted to him. The Committee hopes that the Government will supply information on the measures taken or envisaged to avoid these functions interfering with the discharge of their primary duties of inspection.

4. Article 6. The Committee notes that section 471 provides that the labour inspectorate is composed of labour inspectors and supervisors whose special status is fixed by decree. Noting that, according to the Government's previous report, a draft status was under study, the Committee requests the Government to supply information on the progress made with a view to adopting this status.

5. Article 14. The Committee notes that the labour inspectorate may be informed of industrial accidents and occupational diseases in two ways: first by the authorization of dismissal which, for a worker who suffers from an industrial accident or occupational disease, may be delivered only with the prior permission of the labour inspector (section 122); secondly, through the medical service of the enterprise of which the inspector checks the registers (section 243) and the health and safety committee which receives an anonymous copy of all declarations of industrial accidents and occupational diseases sent to the National Social Security Fund (section 233). The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the measures taken or envisaged to allow the labour inspection services to be informed of industrial accidents and cases of occupational diseases, in accordance with the requirements of the Convention.

6. Article 15(b). The Committee notes that, whereas section 489 provides that labour inspectors and supervisors may not have any direct or indirect interest in the undertakings under their supervision, as provided by Article 15(a) of the Convention, no provision of the Code mentions their obligation not to reveal, even after leaving the service, any manufacturing or commercial secrets or working processes. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged for the application of this provision of the Convention.

7. Articles 20 and 21. The Committee once again expresses the hope that the Government will supply copies of recent inspection reports on the subjects listed in Article 21 of the Convention, and within the time-limits laid down in Article 20.