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The Committee notes the Government’s reports, the replies to its previous comments and the attached documentation. With reference to its previous comments on the absence of statistics on cases of occupational disease in the last annual inspection report, the Committee notes with satisfaction the inclusion of these data in the annual reports for 2000 and 2001. Further to its previous comments on the observations made by the Confederation of Portuguese Industry (CIP) and the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP), the Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply.

The CIP states that it is satisfied with the development of the results of the inspection activities, in particular in the area of child labour; it nevertheless recommends that the inspection activities be directed towards less repressive, and more instructive and informative actions. The CGTP on the other hand considers that the main obstacle to more efficient inspection services is the lack of human and material resources. While commending the significant progress in inspection activities, in particular in the area of child labour, it nevertheless considers that the relevant statistics and inspection reports do not reflect the real situation. Many infringements go unpunished and the number of employment accidents and cases of occupational disease is still high. The CGTP deems that, in order to achieve the desired dissuasive effect, the sanctions imposed should be in proportion to the seriousness of the infringement of the legislation supervised by the labour inspectorate and that by increasing the number of labour inspectors, even during targeted inspection campaigns, it would be possible to avoid leaving totally unsupervised the areas of labour law and the geographical regions not included in these campaigns.

1. Labour inspection and child labour. The Committee notes with interest the intensification of inspection activities to combat child labour in collaboration with other institutions and organizations, such as the "surprise" inspections carried out since 1997 in enterprises considered at risk due to the branch of activity, the number of workers and the economic and social circumstances. It notes that the total number of "surprise" inspections considerably increased, from 1,462 in 1997 to 7,100 in 2001, and that the number of children in an illicit situation per 1,000 inspections decreased from 114.2 in 1997 to 22.4 in 2000. A consultation with the social partners is envisaged with a view to revising the legislation in order to provide that young jobseekers under 18 years of age shall have completed the period of compulsory schooling and shall receive vocational training during the period covered by the employment contract.

2. Human resources, working conditions and inspection activities (Articles 10, 11 and 16 of the Convention). The Committee notes that the increase in the number of inspectors is being accomplished through training, internal competitions and recruitment (a training session to recruit 66 new inspectors beginning in September 2001, the creation of an internal competition for 45 posts to train for the career of senior inspector and the exceptional recruitment of 80 new labour inspectors, according to the Government’s report). The number of inspections increased from 32,665 in 1999 to 40,231 in 2001, but the total number of workplaces inspected decreased from 43,589 in 1997 to 29,908 in 2001, although there were significantly more health and safety inspections. The Government also alludes to the renovation and refurbishing with equipment of regional offices to improve the inspectors’ working conditions and the user reception service. A database for the exchange of information between the regional and central services of the General Labour Inspectorate (IGT), and between the IGT and the Institute for the Improvement of the Inspection of Working Conditions (IDICT), has been created. The Government also mentions that a large part of this Institute’s parking area is made available to labour inspectors for their occupational needs, and a small amount is allocated to cover travel expenses incurred in the use of personal vehicles for occupational purposes, and travel vouchers and per diems are provided for the labour inspectors’ incidental expenses when away from their place of residence.

3. The advisory and informative role of labour inspection (Article 3, paragraph 1(b)). According to the Government, the labour inspection activities are not limited to enforcement but also include providing technical information and advice, as reflected in the annual inspection reports, indicating a decrease in these services between 1994 and 1999, followed by a slight increase between 1999 and 2001, mainly on the initiative of the inspection services. Furthermore, the information activities have been carried out through the collaboration of the IGT with the activities of the "Citizen’s House" in Lisbon, Porto, Viseu, Setúbal, Braga and Aveiro as an integrated response to the information needs of citizens and enterprises, and through the creation of a working group responsible for the formulation of a project to reorganize the labour inspection information system.

4. Cooperation with other government services and public or private institutions and employers’ and workers’ organizations (Article 5(a) and (b)). According to the Government, the IGT carries out inspection activities in collaboration with other services, including the inspection services for social security, finances, immigration and border control, and, in the context of the occupational safety policy, the Government mentions the signing in February 2001, with the social partners, of an agreement on working conditions, occupational health and safety and occupational risk control. In the context of this agreement, an action plan to reduce the number of employment accidents and cases of occupational disease in the most vulnerable sectors is envisaged, as well as a national action plan for prevention; the reactivation of the National Occupational Health and Safety Board; the creation of a prevention observatory, the reinforcement of collaboration between the Centre for Prevention of Occupational Risks and other bodies concerned; the revision of the national lists of incapacities resulting from employment accidents and of cases of occupational disease; the adoption or amendment of specific occupational safety legislation in the sectors most prone to employment accidents; the restructuring of the statistical system for recording occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease and the measures for effective follow-up of cases of occupational disease.

5. Status and conditions of service of labour inspectors (Article 6). The Committee notes with interest the adoption of Legislative Decree No. 102/2000 of 2 June 2000 on the status of the General Labour Inspectorate; Regional Regulatory Decree No. 14/2001/A of 22 October 2001 on the status of Regional Labour Inspectorate of the autonomous region of the Azores; and Regulatory Decree No. 32/2002/A of 19 November 2002 on the definition and structure of the careers of the technical inspection personnel of the autonomous region of the Azores.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on any change in the labour inspection situation and a copy of any relevant texts, including the text which affords the basis in law for granting travel vouchers and per diems to inspectors on mission away from their place of residence, and the agreements signed between the IGT and other organizations and institutions mentioned in the report.

The Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government on another point.