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With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government's brief report which refers to measures taken for streamlining and redirecting the activities of the labour inspection service, and to information supplied in its previous report concerning the application of all articles of the Convention. The Committee asks the Government to indicate in detail how the measures taken or envisaged relating to the functioning of the inspection system ensure or will ensure that full effect is given to the provisions of the Convention, taking acccount in particular of the points raised in the above-mentioned comments. In this connection it asks the Government to submit comments on the observations of the "Gaucha" Association of Labour Inspectors (AGITRA), the Association of Labour Inspectors of Minas Gerais (AAIT/MG) and the National Union of Labour Inspectors (SINAIT) on the application of the Convention, and on the points raised previously by AGITRA. The latter refers to difficulties encountered by the labour inspection service with regard to conditions of work and the staff needed to carry out inspection activities, and their respective consequences on the number of serious violations of labour laws and on the fight against the most serious cases such as forced labour (including child labour), as well as the withholding of wages and other benefits due to employees (such as adequate food and accommodation).

The Committee once again reminds the Government of the Convention's requirements concerning the function of labour inspectors in securing the enforcement of legal provisions relating to the conditions of work and workers' protection, such as provisions on hours of work, wages, health and welfare, and the employment of young persons (Article 3(1)(a)); the need for inspection staff to enjoy legal status and conditions of service that assure them of stability of employment and independence (Article 6); the need to associate specialists in medicine and engineering and other experts with the work of inspection (Article 9); and the need to ensure that the number of labour inspectors and the practical conditions of their work are sufficient to ensure that workplaces are inspected as often and as thoroughly as necessary to ensure the effective application of the relevant legal provisions (Articles 10, 11 and 16).

The Committee also notes the observations made by the Union of Workers of the Triunfo Chemical and Petrochemical Industries (SINDIPOLO) referring, in particular, to the application of Convention No. 148. It would be grateful if the Government would submit any comments it deems appropriate on these observations, taking account of Article 5(b) of the present Convention which calls for cooperation between labour inspectors and employers and workers or their organizations.

The Committee again raises other matters in a direct request.

[The Government is asked to report in detail for the period ending 30 June 1994.]