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The Committee notes with regret that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Article 3, paragraph 2, and Article 16, of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government's report does not contain a reply to its previous comments relating to the fact that when labour inspectors act as arbitrators in respect of individual and collective disputes it has an influence on their principal functions. In reply to its earlier request for full information on the frequency of inspection visits to workplaces liable to inspection, the Government repeats the fact of the unavailability of such statistics but that it will not fail to take the necessary measures in this respect. The Committee trusts that such measures will be taken soon to ensure that workplaces are inspected as often and as thoroughly as necessary, and that the Government will be in a position to provide the detailed information requested with its next report.

Article 6. The Committee notes that the draft Decree conferring special status on labour inspectors and supervisors, to which the Government has been referring for several years, has not yet been adopted due to the severe financial difficulties currently faced by the country. It trusts the draft will be enacted shortly and a copy provided as soon as it is adopted.

Article 9. The Committee notes that the Government's report does not contain a reply to its previous comments regarding its difficulties in recruiting specialists (physicians and technical experts) for the labour inspectorate, but it notes that the austerity measures dictated by the prevailing economic situation in the country appear to continue to be in effect. It again wishes to draw the Government's attention to the fact that, under this Article of the Convention, the association of technical experts and specialists in the work of inspection does not require the labour inspectorate to recruit duly qualified persons. The application of the provisions of the Article of the Convention can be ensured by other methods, which are "deemed most appropriate under national conditions" (e.g. cooperation between the labour inspection service and competent institutions in various fields: hospitals, universities, institutes, etc.). Please describe any developments in this respect.

Articles 20 and 21. The Committee again notes with regret that no report on the work of the inspection services has yet been transmitted to the International Labour Office. It trusts that the Government will not fail to take the necessary steps to ensure that annual inspection reports containing all the information required under Article 21 are published and transmitted to the International Labour Office within the period established in Article 20.