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The Committee notes that from 1994 to 1996 the Ministry of Labour and Social Security carried out 413 inspection visits in enterprises in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry, stockbreeding, etc.) which, according to the Government, accounts for 2.8 per cent of total enterprises in the sector, and that the most serious infringements were in the area of wages among others.

The Committee recalls the importance of properly functioning inspection machinery to ensure the application of the provisions of the Convention. In this case, it considers that the percentage of enterprises inspected over a two-year period is too low to meet the obligations of Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention. At the above rate, it would take more than 70 years to inspect all enterprises in the sector.

The Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to report that measures appropriate to the conditions pertaining to agriculture in the country have been taken, particularly in the area of supervision and inspection, to ensure that wages are not paid at less than the minimum rate in force. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in accordance with Article 5 and point V of the report form.