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The Committee notes the Government's brief report.

1. The Committee notes that the Government reports that a new Labour Code should be adopted very shortly and it asks the Government to provide a copy of the Code once it has been promulgated.

2. Further to its previous comments, the Committee recalls that section 4 of the Public Service Regulations (No. 1, 1988) provides that the Council of Ministers is empowered to establish a job classification plan for the entire public service and that section 5 requires each distinct service to establish an objective appraisal of its posts (describing the obligations and duties of such posts, and the qualifications and experience required to hold them). While noting the Government's statement in its report that each ministry or public establishment has its own regulations pursuant to the Public Service Regulations, the Committee again asks the Government to indicate in its next report the methods and criteria used by the Council of Minsters in establishing job classification plans and by the various departments in conducting an objective appraisal of posts, and to provide copies of the regulations in force.

3. The Committee notes the Government's general statement that the Labour Code makes no distinction between men's and women's wages. The Committee points out that it has no information enabling it to ascertain how the principle of equal remuneration laid down in the national legislation is applied in practice. The Committee therefore urges the Government to provide recent information in its next report, concerning:

(i) the salaries and indemnities paid in the public service (under the provisions of Chapter V of the Public Service Regulations), with an indication of the percentage of men and women employed at different levels;

(ii) the texts of collective, or other, agreements fixing wage levels in the various sectors of activity, if possible, with an indication of the percentage of women covered by these agreements and the percentage of men and women employed at different levels;

(iii) statistics of the minimum wage rates and actual average earnings of men and women, if possible broken down by occupation, branch of activity, seniority and skill level, and information on the percentage of women in the various occupations and sectors;

(iv) information on the measures taken to ensure supervision of the application of the provisions governing equal pay, and particularly on the activities of the labour inspectorate (infringements recorded, penalties imposed) and on relevant court decisions.