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The Committee noted in its previous comments that the minimum age for employment was lowered to 15 years of age from the previous 16, by virtue of federal Act No. 182-FZ of 24 November 1995. It pointed out that the minimum age for admission to employment or work of 16 years had been specified at the time of ratification in accordance with Article 2(1) of the Convention, and that the lowering of the existing minimum age is contrary to the principle of the Convention, which is to raise progressively the minimum age as provided in Articles 1 and 2(2).

The Committee notes the indication in the Government’s report that in a draft of a new Labour Code which at present is under consideration at the State Duma, it is envisaged to restore the minimum age for admission to employment at the level of 16 years of age. It requests the Government to indicate any progress made in this regard, and also measures taken, pending the amendment of law, to ensure that the engagement in employment or work of children under 16 years of age is limited to the exceptions provided for in the Convention.

The Committee notes the indication in the Government’s report that in violation of section 175 of the Labour Code which prescribes work for which use of labour of persons younger than 18 years of age is prohibited, persons under age were often engaged in work under harmful and hazardous working conditions, and that state inspectors carried out in 1999 more than 2,300 targeted inspections to ensure the observance of the labour rights of persons under age, which identified and eliminated 8,000 cases of violations. It further notes that the Government states in its second periodic report submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in 1998, that the number of juveniles in unregulated employment, in which their working rights and guarantees for the protection of health and morality are not always observed, is on the increase in the towns, in connection with the development of the non-state sector of the economy, especially small private businesses (paragraph 451 of CRC/C/65/Add.5).

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken or envisaged to prevent children from working under harmful and hazardous conditions, and to continue to supply information on the practical application of the national legislation giving effect to the Convention, in particular in the non-state sector, including, for example, extracts from official reports, statistical data and the number and nature of the contravention reported (Part V of the report form).