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The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending on 31 May 2001, and the annexes attached thereto. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee again draws the Government’s attention to the following points.

1. Right of labour inspectors to enter freely any workplace liable to inspection (Article 12, paragraph 1, of the Convention). The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain the information requested concerning the measures taken or envisaged to enable inspectors legally to enter at any hour of the day or night any workplace liable to inspection (1(a)) and to enter by day any premises which they may have reasonable cause to believe to be liable to inspection (1(b)). The Committee again stresses the importance of allowing inspectors to enter freely establishments employing workers covered by the labour legislation in order to carry out checks, particularly regarding illegal work and the state of machinery and plant even outside the working hours of the establishments concerned. It therefore hopes that the Government will take the necessary steps to overcome this serious shortcoming in the legislation in the light of the Convention’s objectives, and that it will supply information in this regard in its next report.

2. Scope of supervisory powers (Article 12, paragraph 1(c)(iv)). Referring to paragraphs 176 and 177 of its General Survey on labour inspection of 1985, the Committee hopes that the Government will provide information on measures taken to ensure that labour inspectors have the authority to take or remove for purposes of analysis samples of materials and substances used or handled, subject to the employer or his representative being notified of any samples or substances taken or removed for such purpose.

3. Prosecution of offences and imposition of penalties (Article 18). The Committee refers again to the conclusions of a report drawn up in 1991 by the Inter-American Labor Administration Center showing that fines are usually negligible, and notes that the Government mentions no measures to remedy the ineffectiveness of the labour inspection system in this regard. It therefore asks the Government once again to specify the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that in practice sufficiently dissuasive and effective sanctions are applied for violations of the legal provisions covered by the Convention and for obstructing labour inspectors in the performance of their duties.

The Committee is addressing a direct request to the Government in which it raises other matters.