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The Committee has taken note of the information contained in the Government’s report received in September 2005.

1. Labour inspection audit. The Committee has taken due note of the report of the tripartite mission for the audit of the labour inspection system in Latvia which was undertaken with the technical support of the ILO in October 2005. The Committee observes that several recommendations contained in the report relate directly to the application of the Convention. It notes, in particular, the recommendations concerning the need to strengthen enforcement of the legal provisions, for example by imposing tougher penalties and by submitting cases of repeated violations to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as well as the recommendations relating to the conditions of work for inspectors, calling amongst other things for an increase of the inspectors’ remuneration. The Committee looks forward to receiving from the Government detailed information on the progress achieved in implementing the recommendations of this tripartite audit on the labour inspection system.

2. Legislation. The Committee has taken note of the adoption, between 2003 and 2005, of a number of regulations, by-laws, orders and amendments, which provisions have an effect on the implementation of the Convention. The Committee notes, in particular, with interest the Amendments to the Criminal Law of 12 February 2004, which adds new sanctions in case of breaches of the requirements governing labour protection, Regulation No. 284 on labour protection requirements for safeguarding of employees against risks caused by vibration in work environment of 13 April 2004 and Regulation No. 852 on labour protection requirements in work with asbestos of 12 October 2004, the implementation of which will be controlled by the State Labour Inspection. The Committee further notes that the Government refers to certain legislative texts, in particular the Amendments to the Administrative Offences Code of Latvia of 25 March 2004, the Amendments to the State Labour Inspection Law of 7 October 2004, the Amendments to the Labour Protection Law of 16 December 2004, Regulation No. 99 regarding the types of entrepreneurship where the employer shall involve a competent institution and Regulation No. 101 regarding requirements towards the competent institutions and competent specialists in labour protection matters and procedure for assessment of the competence, both of 8 February 2005. As these texts were not enclosed with the Government’s report and as compliance with some of these regulations will have to be controlled by the State Labour Inspection or add additional rights to the labour inspectors, the Committee would be grateful if the Government could provide a copy of the said texts in order for it to evaluate their effect in light of the requirements of the Convention.

3. Publication of an annual report. The Committee notes the Government’s indication according to which the annual report of the State Labour Inspection for the year 2004 was sent to the ILO in May 2005. As it appears that the Office never received this report, the Committee trusts that the Government will ensure that an annual report on all the issues mentioned under Article 21 will be published and communicated to the ILO within a reasonable period, as prescribed by Article 20 of the Convention.