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The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to previous comments. It must therefore repeat its previous observation which read as follows:

The Committee had recalled that the minimum age of 16 years was specified under Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention as regards Azerbaijan. It had noted with regret that the new Labour Code in section 42(3), allows a person who has reached the age of 15 to be part of an employment contract; section 249(1) of the same Code specifies that "persons who are under the age of 15 shall not be employed under any circumstances". Moreover, the Individual Contracts of Employment Agreement Act, section 12(2), sets the minimum age for concluding an employment contract at 14 years. The Committee once again points out that the Convention allows and encourages the raising of the minimum age but does not permit lowering of the minimum age once specified. Therefore, the Committee once again asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged, pursuant to its declaration under Article 2 of the Convention, to ensure that access to employment of children of 14 and 15 years of age may be allowed exceptionally, only for work that meets the criteria set out in Article 7 of the Convention.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.