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With reference to its previous direct requests, the Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report, particularly the adoption of Act No. 11/92 of 22 December 1992 issuing the new Labour Code.

1. The Committee notes the Government's statement that although section 104 of the new Labour Code (which stipulates that "where there are equal working conditions, professional qualifications and output, the salary shall be equal for all workers no matter what their origin, sex, age or status under the conditions laid down in this part of the Code") does not reproduce the formulation proposed in the ILO's technical comments on the draft Code, it nonetheless reflects their intent, since in practice when a woman's work is different from that of a man but of equal value, she receives the same treatment.

With reference to Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention under which the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value may be applied: (a) either by the national legislation; (b) or by a wage-fixing system established by law; (c) or by collective agreements between employers and workers; (d) or by a combination of these methods, the Committee asks the Government to indicate in its next report the measures taken or envisaged to include in the implementing decrees and regulations provided for in the new Labour Code, pending the forthcoming review of the Code, or in the relevant collective agreements, a provision expressly establishing the principle of equal pay for work of equal value and not for the same work. Please provide copies of such decrees and collective agreements as soon as they have been adopted.

2. The Committee notes with interest that the Government's 1994 activities programme provides for a national job-classification system to be established and that the Government will request ILO assistance in this matter in due course. The Committee confirms that the ILO is ready to provide technical assistance in this area if so requested. It asks the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the implementation of the above programme and the progress made in setting up an objective job evaluation system so that the value of the various tasks can be compared, as recommended in Article 3 of the Convention. Please refer in this connection to paragraphs 138 to 152 of the Committee's General Survey of 1986 on equal remuneration, in which it describes methods for evaluating jobs and the results obtained by applying these methods in various countries.

3. With reference to paragraph 3 of its previous direct request, the Committee asks the Government to endeavour, with the cooperation of the employers' and workers' organizations, to compile statistics on earnings and related factors and to analyse them, so as to understand better the exact nature and extent of existing inequalities and devise measures to eliminate them, as recommended in paragraph 248 of the General Survey.

4. Noting from the report that the labour inspection services are responsible for regular supervision of the effective application of the principle of the Convention, and that, to date, they have recorded no infringements, the Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to ensure supervision of the provisions of laws and agreements concerning equal remuneration and, in particular, on the activities of the labour inspectorate (infringements recorded, sanctions imposed) and on court decisions relating to the Convention.