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The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government. It draws the Government’s attention to the following points.

Article 12(2) and (3), of the Convention. The Committee notes that, in its report, the Government states that section 37(1)(b) of the Labour Code does not specify the maximum amount of advances which may be made to workers by the employer because in the tripartite committee which drafted the legislation, the workers took the view that this matter should be left to agreements concluded between workers and employers. The Government further states that it will draw the attention of the committee revising the Labour Code to this matter. The Committee hopes that the Government will take the necessary steps to bring this provision of the Labour Code into conformity with the Convention.

The Committee again observes that the Government has not replied to the other issues raised by the Committee in its previous comment. It is therefore bound to reiterate its request concerning any advances in excess of the prescribed amount which should be legally irrecoverable, in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article of the Convention. With regard to Article 15(2) and (3), the Committee recalls that it took note of the provisions of section 21 of the Labour Code of 1997 concerning the conditions of employment of young persons. It notes in particular that section 21(3) of the Code provides that "it shall be forbidden to employ young persons under the age of 12 years except in: (a) the State’s training schools; (b) not-for-profit training workshops; (c) jobs supervised by family members in establishments which employ no non-family members; (d) work performed under apprenticeship contracts". The Committee also notes that pursuant to the Labour Code of 1997 the Minister, his delegate or the competent authority may, in certain circumstances, be required or authorized to adopt regulations on the conditions of employment of young people. The Committee asks the Government to indicate: (i) the prescribed school-leaving age; and (ii) to what extent measures have been taken to prohibit the employment during school hours of young people who have not reached the prescribed school-leaving age in areas where education facilities are sufficient to accommodate the majority of children of school age. The Committee asks the Government to provide with its next report a copy of any regulations adopted on the conditions of employment of young people.