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The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It must therefore repeat its previous observation which read as follows:

The Committee notes the Government’s report. It regrets that despite its repeated comments made in the past ten years, the Government has not as yet been in a position to issue the decree fixing the minimum hourly wage rate as referred to in section 211 of the Labour Code. The Committee has been requesting for some time past additional information particularly as regards the full consultation and equal participation of employers’ and workers’ organizations in the operation of the minimum wage fixing machinery provided for in the Labour Code. In its reply, the Government merely states that there is no guaranteed interoccupational minimum wage (SMIG) and that the statutory instrument in the implementation of section 211 of the Labour Code is still under examination. The Committee notes therefore with concern that the provisions of the Convention are no longer given effect in practice as the Government fails to determine minimum wage rates for the workers employed in those trades in which no arrangements exist for the effective regulation of wages by collective agreement and wages are exceptionally low. It urges once again the Government to take the necessary action to fulfil its obligations arising out of the ratification of this Convention and to communicate information on the measures taken to this end. Finally, the Committee reminds the Government that it may have recourse to the technical assistance of the Office on these matters.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.

[The Government is asked to report in detail in 2005.]