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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:

Article 7 of the Convention. Statistical information. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s brief report to the effect that statistics on cases of morbidity and mortality due to lead poisoning among working painters are not available at the Social Security Office, the body responsible for dealing with occupational diseases. The Government indicates that this situation is due, firstly, to the fact that occupational diseases are not declared by the employers or workers concerned and, secondly, to the lack of studies in this very complex sector of activity, in which workers do not make the connection between their work and the disease, which, if necessary, may be declared several years after they have stopped working. However, the Government refers to just one case of work-related asthma developed by a working painter as a result of his employment recorded by the Social Security Office. The Committee would like to remind the Government once again that it has been asking it to supply statistical information since 1981. The Committee requests the Government to take all appropriate steps to develop a system for the collection of statistical information enabling, among other things, the identification of cases of morbidity and mortality due to lead poisoning among working painters in order to give full effect to Article 7 of the Convention.

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