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The Committee notes with regret that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes the Government's report and the annual labour inspection report for 1997 that was sent subsequently. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee would ask the Government to provide information on the following points.

1. Article 4 of the Convention. The Government refers to the creation by Order No. 3 of 1995 of a new post for a supervisor general of inspection, a provision in Order No. 174 of 1995 providing for the appointment of 10 inspection supervisors for the central authority under the direct control of the supervisor general of inspection, and two labour inspection directives setting out the procedure for monitoring by the various competent bodies. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supplement this information by providing with its next report copies of the aforementioned texts and by giving indications as to any progress resulting from efforts made with a view to strengthening the organization of the inspection system and establishing a centralized system for gathering and processing labour inspection data. The Committee hopes that these efforts will also result in improved presentation and more regular publication and transmission to the ILO of the annual labour inspection report referred to in Article 20 of the Convention.

2. Article 21. Noting the information contained in the annual inspection report for 1997, the Committee emphasizes once again that, under the terms of this provision, information on all the subjects listed under points (a) to (g) and on any other relevant subjects should be given in the annual report in so far as they are under the control of the central inspection authority. With reference in particular to its general observation with regard to the frequent absence of statistical information on industrial accidents and occupational diseases (subparagraphs (f) and (g)), the Committee emphasizes the need for statistics on these matters to allow the development of an effective strategy of prevention of occupational hazards and requests the Government to include such information in its future annual inspection reports, where necessary following the guidelines given in Part IV of Recommendation No. 81, which supplements the Convention.

3. Status and conditions of recruitment and service of labour inspection staff. With reference to its previous comments in which the Committee asked the Government for further information on the difference in status between labour inspectors, employment inspectors and municipal inspectors, the Committee takes note of the information according to which a basic qualification required of inspectors is a degree and often a specialist qualification in law. The Committee also notes the information that, since the creation of the central labour authority in 1992, 227 inspectors have undergone intensive training and refresher courses on employment legislation, the civil service, social security and occupational safety and health. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supplement this information by providing copies of all the legislative texts concerning the status and conditions of employment and recruitment of labour inspectors, the means used to determine their qualifications and the texts under the terms of which they are regarded as judicial officers.