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1. The Committee notes that the Government’s report due in 2000 has not been received. It trusts that the Government will provide full information in the report due in 2002 on the issues raised in its 1999 observation.

2. The Committee notes the observations of the Scheme Workers’ Alliance, supported by the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union, received in September 1999, as well as the reply of the Government. The Scheme Workers’ Alliance has alleged that the employment Action Plan violates the requirement of freedom of choice in employment established in Article 1 of the Convention by requiring people in receipt of unemployment benefits for more than 12 months to either accept work or participate in a training programme. The Committee recalls that requiring persons in receipt of unemployment benefit for more than six months to accept either training or a job offer, as a means of facilitating re-entry of the long-term unemployed into the labour market, is not inconsistent with the objective of promoting full, productive and freely chosen employment.