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The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report. It notes in particular the new social security agreements concluded by the Government of Uruguay with the Governments of Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal and Costa Rica.

Article 5 of the Convention (branch (g)) (in conjunction with Article 10). Employment injury benefit. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to specify whether the benefits paid to an agent in Uruguay, under the terms of section 33(1) of Act No. 16074 of 1989, are freely transferable by the agent to beneficiaries abroad. In its report, the Government indicates that the State Insurance Bank only checks credentials with a view to ensuring the payment in due form to the agent, following which, in accordance with the clauses of the agreement between the parties, the benefits can be transferred to beneficiaries resident abroad. The Committee notes this information. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures that the State Insurance Bank has or is envisaging adopting to ensure, in accordance with Article 5 of the Convention, the direct payment of benefits to beneficiaries who are unable to designate an agent. It also requests additional information on the application of bilateral agreements and on the number of beneficiaries residing abroad who are not covered by a bilateral agreement.

The Committee drew attention to the incompatibility with Article 5 of the Convention of the residence requirement set out in the last subsection of section 33 of the above Act, under which the dependants of workers who have died as a result of an employment accident or occupational disease, who were living abroad at the time of the accident or the disease, are entitled to receive the benefits only on the date on which they settle in Uruguay and only for the period during which they reside there. In its report, the Government indicates that retirement benefits are provided by Uruguay in any State in which the beneficiary is residing. In the case of survivors’ benefit, where a beneficiary is resident in a country with which there is no social security agreement, the benefit will be provided for a period of one year. While it takes due note of this information, the Committee reminds the Government that, under the terms of Article 5 of the Convention, the provision of survivors’ benefits shall be guaranteed to beneficiaries, when they are resident abroad, under the same conditions and for the same period of time as prescribed in sections 25 and 26 of Act No. 16713 of 3 September 1995 establishing the social insurance system. The Committee trusts that the Bill referred to in the previous report will be adopted in the near future and that, as the Government indicated, it will bring the national legislation into conformity with Article 5 of the Convention.

Article 6. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the adoption of Decree No. 316/999 of 6 October 1999, issuing rules relating to family allowances, as envisaged in section 2 of Legislative Decree No. 15084. It also noted that, in the same way as the Legislative Decree, section 6(3) of Decree No. 316 makes the provision of family allowances by the Social Insurance Bank conditional upon compliance with compulsory school attendance by the children in public or private teaching establishments authorized by the competent body. The Committee recalled that, in accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, each Member which has accepted the obligations in respect of family benefit shall guarantee the grant of family allowances both to its own nationals and to the nationals of any other Member which has accepted the obligations of the Convention for branch (i), as well as to refugees and stateless persons, in respect of children who reside on the territory of any such member State, on conditions and within limits to be agreed upon by the Members concerned.

In reply to these comments, the Government reports the adoption of Act No. 17758, under which the coverage of Legislative Decree No. 15084 and of Act No. 17139 is extended to households with income of any nature that is lower than three national minimum wages. With regard to the progress achieved in the conclusion of bilateral and multilateral social security agreements, the Government reiterates that three bills are currently undergoing the process of obtaining Parliamentary approval. In particular, with regard to the possibility of concluding an agreement with France, the Government indicates that no progress has been made in this respect as the Government of France is of the opinion that the number of Uruguayan nationals resident in France does not merit the conclusion of a bilateral agreement with Uruguay. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the progress achieved in the adoption of the three bills that are currently undergoing the process of obtaining parliamentary approval. It hopes that the Government will continue to adopt measures with a view to ensuring that full effect is given to Article 6 of the Convention.