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Also referring to its request regarding the application of Convention No. 81, the Committee requests the Government to supply further details on the following points.

Articles 12 and 13 of the Convention. Cooperation between the social legislation inspection service in agriculture and government services, on the one hand, and employers and workers or their organizations, on the other. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to promote this collaboration in an effective manner and give specific examples.

Articles 14 and 21. Number of inspectors in agriculture and of inspections. Noting a decrease in the number of inspections in agricultural undertakings, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the voluntary retirement programme for public officials which was conducted in 2005 also had an impact on the number of labour inspectors in agriculture and state the measures taken to strengthen staff numbers.

Article 22. Prosecution of contraventions of occupational safety and health legislation. The Committee notes that the number of observations made by inspectors in this area doubled between 2005 and 2006 (2,542 in 2006 compared with 1,121 in 2005) while the number of reports drawn up has undergone an almost fourfold reduction (11 in 2005 compared to three in 2006). While re-emphasizing the principle of inspectors’ freedom to decide whether proceedings should be instituted or recommended, as laid down by Article 22, paragraph 2, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide explanations of the reasons for this inversion in trends relating to labour inspection in agriculture.

Articles 26 and 27. Annual report on the work of the inspection services in agriculture. The Committee notes the statistics reflecting the working of the labour inspectorate in agriculture. Nevertheless, it once again draws the Government’s attention to the obligation on the part of the central inspection authority to publish an annual report on the work of the inspection services in agriculture, either in the form of a separate report or as part of the annual general report on the work of all the inspection services containing the information required by Article 27(a)–(g). It requests the Government to take the necessary measures to this end and hopes that such a report will soon be sent to the ILO.