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The Committee notes the Government’s report. It notes that the report does not indicate any progress in the application of the provisions of the Convention on which it has been commenting for many years. Under these circumstances, the Committee hopes the Government will supply additional information on the following points.

Article 8 of the Convention.  The Committee recalls that in its previous report the Government undertook to begin a process of amending the rules and internal provisions of the Equadorean Social Security Institute (IESS), which are currently preventing the application of a dual-list system of occupational diseases and work involving exposure to the corresponding risks. In its last report, the Government does not provide any information on the progress achieved in this reform, but refers to the provisions of the Labour Code and particularly sections 369 and 370, which cover occupational diseases. It adds that the presumption in favour of the worker concerning the occupational origin of the disease is taken into account in the decisions of the Risk Verification Commission under the terms of section 370 of the Labour Code. According to the Government, these decisions, which are intended to allow diseases which are not mentioned in the legislation to be recognized as occupational, exempt the worker from the burden of proof, thereby waiving in practice the interpretation of section 5 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance. The Committee takes due note of this information. It therefore hopes that, with a view to avoiding any ambiguity, the Government will have no difficulty in taking the necessary measures to amend as soon as possible, as it had undertaken to do, sections 4 and 5 of the above General Regulations, so as to introduce into the legislation the presumption of the occupational origin of the disease in favour of workers suffering from a disease enumerated in Schedule I of the Convention when they are engaged in the types of work mentioned in the above Schedule. Furthermore, it requests the Government to provide copies of relevant decisions adopted under section 370 of the Labour Code. (The Committee refers in this respect to its comments in its previous direct request under Article 8 of the Convention.)

Article 9.  In its previous comments, the Committee emphasized the need to take the necessary measures to amend sections 12 and 19 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance so that workers suffering from occupational diseases, whether acute or chronic, are entitled to the benefits envisaged by the Convention irrespective of the period during which they have paid contributions. In its report, the Government states once again that, in cases where workers have not paid the six contributions envisaged by the General Regulations respecting Employment Injury Insurance (sections 12 and 19), section 14 of the above Regulations is applied, under the terms of which acute occupational diseases are considered to be employment accidents, so that the insured person is entitled to benefits in the form of both medical assistance and financial benefits. The Committee is well aware of the text of section 14 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance. However, it wishes to emphasize that the provisions of the Convention, and particularly Article 9, which sets out that eligibility for benefits may not be made subject to the length of employment, to the duration of insurance or to the payment of contributions, are applicable to both employment accidents and acute occupational diseases (the latter, as is the case in Ecuador, are very often assimilated to employment accidents), as well as chronic occupational diseases. In these conditions, the Committee is bound to urge the Government once again to take the necessary measures to amend sections 12 and 19 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance so that all workers suffering from occupational diseases, including chronic diseases, are eligible to the benefits envisaged by the Convention, irrespective of the period of contribution.

Articles 13, 14 and 18 (in conjunction with Articles 19 and 20) (amount of periodical payments due in the event of temporary or permanent incapacity or the death of the family breadwinner). The Government indicates in its report that it is still not in a position to indicate whether it intends to avail itself of the provisions of Article 19 or Article 20 of the Convention. It adds that, once the restructuring of the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute has been completed, which should occur during the course of 2000, every effort will be made to reach a decision on this matter and that it intends to request the expertise of the ILO’s Regional Office in this respect.

The Committee notes this information with interest. It trusts that, with the above technical assistance, the Government will be in a position to provide all the statistical information requested by the report form under Article 19 or 20, whichever it decides to have recourse to. The Committee recalls in this respect the importance that it attaches to the provision of this information, which is necessary for it to determine whether the level of benefits due in the event of temporary or permanent incapacity or death attains the rate prescribed by the Convention for a standard beneficiary.

Article 21.  The Government states once again that the National Wage Council determines and reviews the wages of workers in the country as a function of the minimum wage for various activities and occupations. It adds that the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute calculates the benefits due to workers on the basis of the above minimum wages; wage increases are automatically reflected in old-age and invalidity pensions, as well as those due in the event of employment accidents, in accordance with the provisions of Article 21.

The Committee notes this information and the statistics provided with the Government’s report. However, the Committee notes that this information does not include statistics on changes made in the rate of benefits in relation to fluctuations in the cost-of-living index, as requested in the report form under Article 21. The Committee therefore hopes that, following the reorganization of the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute, the Government will be able, if it so wishes with the assistance of the ILO, to provide with its next report all the statistical data requested in the report form, which are necessary for the Committee to assess the real impact of increases in pensions decided upon by the IESS in relation to fluctuations in the cost of living.

[The Government is requested to report in detail in 2001.]