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The Committee notes the Government’s report. It requests the Government to supply additional information on the following points.

Article 2, paragraphs 2 and 4, of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government refers in its report to two categories of workers excluded from the scope of the Convention, namely persons employed in domestic work and those employed in individual agricultural enterprises. The Government is requested: (i) to specify whether the organizations of employers and employed persons directly concerned were consulted previously, as required by the Convention; and (ii) to indicate in future reports any progress that may have been made with a view to the application of the Convention to these categories of persons.

Article 6. The Committee notes that, under the terms of section 31(1) of the Wages Act, it is prohibited to limit the freedom of workers to dispose freely of their wages, except in the cases envisaged in the legislation. The Government is requested to indicate the cases in which the freedom of workers to dispose of their wages in full freedom may be restrained and recalls that such constraints cannot in any event be imposed by the employer.

Article 7. The Committee notes that neither the new Wages Act of 14 February 2002, nor the Government’s report, provide any of the replies requested with regard to works stores. It therefore once again requests the Government to indicate the measures which have been taken or are envisaged to ensure that: (i) workers are free from any coercion to make use of such stores or services; (ii) goods are sold and services are provided at fair and reasonable prices; and (iii) stores are established not for securing profit but for the benefit of the workers concerned.

Article 17, paragraph 3. The Committee notes that the Government recalls the information provided in its first report to the effect that, in accordance with the possibility left open by this Article of the Convention, the provisions of the Convention do not cover certain regions of the country, such as Dubasari, Camenca, Ribnita, Grigoriopol and Slobozia, which constitute the "Transnistrian Moldovan Republic" and issue their own legislation in the field of wages. The Committee recalls that, under the terms of paragraph 3 of this Article of the Convention, the member State having recourse to this faculty is under the obligation to reconsider at intervals not exceeding three years, and in consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, the practicability of extending the application of the Convention to the areas exempted. The Committee therefore requests the Government, firstly, to supply copies of the legislative texts respecting wages to which it refers and, secondly, to indicate any measures which have been taken or are envisaged with a view to extending the application of the Convention to the regions indicated by the Government.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2003.]