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The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government.

Introduction into the national legislation of the standards set forth in ratified Conventions

In its previous comments, the Committee drew the Government's attention to the need to adopt measures in laws or regulations to give effect to the provisions contained in the Convention. It notes that the Government reiterates its statement that, under the Constitution of 4 January 1995, international agreements, treaties and conventions that are duly ratified by the Republic have the force of national law.

The Committee recalls that the incorporation into national legislation of the provisions of ratified Conventions, from the mere fact of their ratification, is not sufficient to give effect to them at the national level in all cases in which the provisions are not self-executing, that is where they require special measures for their application, which is the case, at least, for Part I of the Convention. Furthermore, special measures are also needed to establish penalties for non-observance of the standards set forth in the instrument, which is the case of Article 3(c) of the Convention.

The Committee once again draws the Government's attention to Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention, in accordance with which each Member which ratifies the Convention undertakes that it will maintain in force laws or regulations which ensure the application of the General Rules set forth in Parts II to IV of the Convention. In this respect, the Committee recalls that draft texts were prepared following the direct contacts which took place in 1978 and 1980 with the Government services responsible. The Committee is bound to express the firm hope that the relevant texts will be adopted in the very near future.

Statistics of accidents (Article 6 of the Convention)

For a number of years, the Committee has been noting the absence, in the Government's reports, of statistical information relating to the number and classification of accidents occurring in the building sector. In its last report, the Government states that the Labour Department does not currently have at its disposal reliable statistics in this field.

The Committee recalls that, under this Article of the Convention, each Member which ratifies the Convention undertakes to communicate the latest statistical information indicating the number and classification of accidents in an enterprise or sector. The Committee once again hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to indicate the measures which have been taken to give effect to the Convention on this point and to supply the appropriate statistical information.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 1998.]