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The Committee notes the Government’s partial responses to its previous comments, and the documentation provided in annex.

It notes in particular the merger, under the terms of Act No. 790 of 2002, of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the Ministry of Health into a single ministry called the Ministry of Social Protection, the objectives, structure and functions of which are determined by Decree No. 205 of 3 February 2003. The Committee notes with interest that, under resolution No. 0004283, of 23 December 2003, determining the new jurisdiction of labour inspection offices, the jurisdictions of the labour inspectorates are redistributed so as to extend the coverage of the inspection services to the whole of the national territory and to improve their operation, as well as distributing resources on the basis of certain criteria, such as: the political and administrative divisions of the country; the number of municipalities per department; the size of the department; the total population, the working-age population and the economically active population; the unemployment rate; the underemployment rate; the number of enterprises; the distances between municipal areas; and the communication and transport facilities and workload.

The Committee notes that the labour inspection system is placed under the central authority of the new Ministry, that it is structured at the central level into the Special Inspection, Surveillance and Control Unit; at the regional level, into 32 territorial directorates distributed among the main towns of the department, with the possibility of creating special offices by ministerial decision on the basis of the political, economic and social needs in a specific region, and at the local level in municipal labour inspection offices, the headquarters and jurisdiction of which are to be determined by the Minister. According to the Government, in technical terms, the regional and local structures are under the responsibility of the Deputy Minister of Industrial Relations and, in administrative terms, the Special Inspection, Surveillance and Control Unit.

The Government is requested to provide information on the impact of the recent reorganization of the labour administration on the effectiveness of the activities of the labour inspectorate, together with copies of resolutions Nos. 002 and 0951 of 2003 of the Minister of Social Protection, which were referred to in the Government’s report, and of any other text adopted under Decree No. 205 relating to the subjects covered by the Convention.

The Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government on certain points.