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Further to its observation, the Committee hopes that the Government's report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. The Committee notes the information provided in response to its previous direct request, and in particular the adoption of relevant new legislation (Decree No. 87648 of 24 September 1982 respecting Regulations for Maritime Traffic; Instruction (Portaría) No. 485 of 24 March 1983, and Instruction (Portomarinst) No. 107406-A of 15 June 1983).

2. Article 5, paragraph 2, of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government's statement to the effect that the instrument of ratification (Decree No. 67341 of 5 October 1970) complies with the Convention's requirement that a certificated mate be carried on all fishing vessels of over 100 gross registered tons which are engaged in operations and areas to be defined by national laws or regulations. It also notes the Government's reiteration of the statement that the requirement of Article 5, paragraph 2, of the Convention is met implicitly by subparagraph 6.2 of Instruction No. 12352.3-A and by Notice No. I-221/77 of the Ministry of Labour. Pointing out that the manning requirements for fishing vessels contained in the national legislation do not include certificated mates (Decree No. 87.648, sections 51 and 134; Instruction No. 107406-A, section 4), and that the legislation does not appear to define the fishing vessels to which such requirements would apply, the Committee once again expresses the hope that an explicit provision may be adopted in order to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention. In this regard, the Committee also draws the Government's attention to the provisions of Article 5, paragraph 5, of the Convention, which permit fishing vessels to put to sea without the full complement of certificated personnel, but only in individual cases and subject to certain conditions.

3. Article 9. The Committee welcomes the information supplied by the Government concerning the progress reported in extending the length of experience required for first engineers (conductor motorista) and engineers (motoristas), as reflected in the Maritime Vocational Training Programme (PREPOM/79), which according to the Government requires a minimum of three years on board for first engineers and one-and-a-half years on board for engineers. The Committee points out, however, that the legislation in force requires only two years' experience on board for first engineers and fails to fix any minimum period of experience for engineers (Instruction No. 485, sections 10(a), (b); Instruction No. 107406-A, sections 3.7 and 3.8). The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures it envisages to bring the legislation into conformity with this Article of the Convention, which requires a minimum of three years' experience at sea for first engineers and a minimum period of service at sea of 12 months for engineers serving on smaller fishing vessels.

The Committee also notes the comments submitted by the National Confederation of Land Transport (CNTT) and the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) in September and October 1987, respectively, concerning the application of this Convention, which were transmitted to the Government for its comments. The Committee hopes that the Government will supply appropriate information on these matters.