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The Committee notes the Government's first report for the period ending 31 July 1998. It requests the Government to provide further detailed information on the application of the following provisions of the Convention:

Article 2. Please clarify whether the Regulations of the Tripartite National Council of Employers, State and Trade Unions, ratified on 12 July 1996 and the law on the technical supervision of dangerous equipment", of 23 February 1995, are still effective or whether they have been superseded respectively by the Regulations of the National Tripartite Cooperation Council, of 30 October 1998, and by the law of the Republic of Latvia on the technical supervision of dangerous equipment", of 24 September 1998; and whether collective agreements are enforceable by the State Labour Inspectorate and, if so, in virtue of which provisions of national laws or regulations.

Article 5, paragraph 1. Please clarify whether the provisions of the Convention are applied to the persons participating in a collective economic enterprise, such as the members of a cooperative specified in Article 5(1)(b).

Article 5, paragraph 3. The Committee asks the Government to provide information as to what extent effect has been given or is proposed to be given to the provisions of the Convention in respect of tenants who do not engage outside help, sharecroppers and similar categories of agricultural workers.

Article 8, paragraph 1. Please indicate the grounds for termination of employment of inspectors depending on their status as public servants or not.

Article 8, paragraph 2. Please indicate whether and in what manner officials or representatives of occupational organizations have been included in the system of labour inspection and give details of their status, their conditions of service and the powers granted to them in the exercise of their functions.

Article 11. The Committee asks the Government to provide details in respect of the manner in which technical experts and specialists are associated in the work of labour inspection in agriculture.

Article 12, paragraph 1. Please indicate whether the government services and public or approved institutions engaged in activities similar to those of the labour inspection in agriculture, cooperate with the inspection services in agriculture and provide details on the forms of such cooperation.

Article 12, paragraph 2. Please indicate whether the competent authority has taken measures to apply this provision.

Article 13. Please indicate the particular forms of collaboration between officials of the labour inspection in agriculture and employers and workers, or their organizations.

Article 14. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the number of labour inspectors performing their functions in agriculture and their distribution by categories, including in particular the number of inspectors assigned functions of a technical or specialized character.

Article 15, paragraph 1(b). Please provide information on the transport facilities made available to regional State Labour Inspectorates other than those mentioned in the report under Convention No. 81.

Article 16, paragraphs 2 and 3. Please indicate the legal provisions giving effect to these provisions of the Convention and the manner in which they are applied in practice.

Article 18, paragraph 4. Please indicate in what manner effect is given to this provision of the Convention.

Article 19, paragraph 1. The Committee asks the Government to clarify whether employers are obliged to notify the State Labour Inspectorate of cases of occupational disease; and to indicate specific provisions in the national laws which establish the duty of the consultative commission of physicians of the Centre of Occupational and Radiation Medicine of Pauls Stradins teaching and research hospital of the Latvian Medical Academy to inform the State Labour Inspectorate of cases of occupational disease.

Article 19, paragraph 2. Please provide information on whether labour inspectors in agriculture are associated with inquiries on the spot into the causes of occupational diseases.

Article 21. Please provide detailed information on the criteria applied for determining the frequency of inspections of agricultural workplaces.

Article 27(c). Please provide separate statistics of agricultural undertakings liable to inspection and the number of persons working therein.

Part V of the report form. Please clarify whether the "report on the application of the Convention" mentioned under Part V of the report form is different from the report submitted to the ILO under article 22 of the Constitution of the ILO.

The Committee also asks the Government to provide a copy of the text of the Civil Service Act of 21 April 1994.