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The Committee notes the information communicated by the Government in response to its previous comments. The Committee profoundly regrets to note that the Government has not yet taken appropriate measures to apply in particular Articles 2, 3, 5 and 7 of the Convention, despite repeated requests formulated by the Committee for 25 years and, especially in 1998 and 2002, in which the Committee deplores the absence of any laws or regulations, despite the Government’s declaration made on several occasions, indicating the intention of adopting general regulations to implement the Act on occupational safety and health and welfare, to give effect to the provisions of the Convention.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Health and Sports have signed an agreement on 8 May 2003 to initiate accompanying actions to the Government’s measures to accelerate the economy. The Government explains that this bi-ministerial agreement put into effect the Voluntary Plan on the Adaptation of Work (Plan Voluntario de Adecuación Laboral (VALORA)) representing a legal-technical instrument to provide technical guidance, free of charge, to those enterprises which adhere voluntarily to the above Plan in order to minimize occupational risks inherent in its productive process. The Plan is also designed to improve both the procedures on occupational safety and health, as well as the work quality in the enterprises. The benefits offered by the Plan are: the decrease of accidents and occupational diseases; the increase of efficiency and work quality; the decrease of production costs, as well as the decrease of social conflicts; the increase of worker motivation, on the one hand, and the commitment of the enterprises, on the other; and finally acknowledgement by society for healthy enterprises. The Government further specifies that the analysis and evaluation of the results obtained from this Plan will serve as a basis for the elaboration of legal standards, which will also incorporate the recommendations and observations provided by the Committee on this Convention. The Committee, taking due note of this information, requests the Government to indicate the time frame in which legislative or regulatory measures will be taken on the basis of the results obtained from the VALORA Plan. With regard to the time elapsed during which the Government has not taken any measures to introduce regulations requiring medical examination for fitness for employment of young persons under 18 years of age, the Committee expresses its firm hope that the VALORA Plan will soon provide results which will enable the Government to draft and adopt laws or regulations giving effect to the provisions of the Convention. In this context, the Committee recalls to the Government that the laws or regulations shall provide for the specific obligation for young persons under the age of 18 years to undergo medical examinations before admission to employment (Article 2), the frequency of such examinations (Article 3), the frequency of medical examinations until the age of 21 for young persons in occupations which involve high health risks (Article 4), the requirement that such examinations be free of charge (Article 5), the special measures to be taken where the young person is found by medical examination to be unsuited to work (Article 6), and the requirement to file and keep available to labour inspectors the medical certificate for fitness for employment or the workbook (Article 7).

The Committee urges the Government to take the appropriate measures in the very near future. It requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any progress achieved in the matter.

[The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 92nd Session and to reply in detail to the present comments in 2004.]