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The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report. It notes the adoption on 30 November 2001 of the new Social Security Act. It asks the Government to indicate whether the new Act has come into force and, if so, to please provide detailed information on the extent to which the new legislation gives effect to each of the provisions of the Convention, as well as the information requested in the report form, including statistics. The Committee also requests the Government to supply any regulations that have been adopted to apply the new Act.

The Committee hopes that the next report will also contain information on the measures adopted to give effect to the following provisions, on which the Committee has been commenting for many years.

Article 8 of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the internal rules and regulations of the Ecuadorean Social Security Institute (IESS) which were preventing the application of a dual-list system of occupational diseases and work have been amended. In its last report, the Government referred to the provisions of the Labour Code, particularly sections 369 and 370, that deal with occupational diseases. The Government added that the presumption in favour of the worker regarding the occupational origin of the disease is taken into account in the decisions of the Risk Verification Commission pursuant to section 370 of the Labour Code. According to the Government, these decisions, which are intended to allow diseases not mentioned in the legislation to be recognized as occupational, exempt the worker from the burden of proof, thus in effect precluding interpretation of section 5 of the General Regulations on employment injury insurance. The Committee hopes that, in order to avoid any ambiguity, the Government will be able to take the necessary measures to amend as soon as possible, as it undertook to do, sections 4 and 5 of the above General Regulations, so as to establish in the legislation the presumption of the occupational origin of the disease in favour of workers suffering from a disease enumerated in Schedule I of the Convention when they are engaged in the types of work mentioned in the Schedule. It also asks the Government to provide copies of relevant decisions taken pursuant to section 370 of the Labour Code (the Committee refers the Government to its comments in its direct request of 1996, under Article 8).

Article 9. In its previous comments, the Committee emphasized the need for measures to be taken to amend sections 12 and 19 of the General Regulations on employment injury insurance in order to give workers suffering from occupational diseases, whether acute or chronic, entitlement to the benefits envisaged by the Convention, irrespective of the period for which they have paid contributions. In its previous report, the Government indicated once again that, in cases where workers have been unable to pay the six contributions envisaged in the General Regulations on insurance (work) (sections 12 and 19), section 14 of the above Regulations is applied, under which acute occupational diseases are treated as employment accidents, so that the insured person is entitled to benefits in the form both of medical assistance and financial compensation. As it has said before, the Committee is well aware of the substance of section 14 of the General Regulations on employment injury insurance. It nonetheless wishes to emphasize that the provisions of the Convention, and particularly Article 9, which specifies that eligibility for benefits may not be subjected to length of employment, duration of insurance or payment of contributions, apply to both employment accidents and to acute occupational diseases (the latter, as is the case in Ecuador, are very often treated as employment accidents), as well as to chronic occupational diseases. In these circumstances, the Committee is bound to urge the Government once more to take the necessary steps to amend sections 12 and 19 of the General Regulations on employment injury insurance so that all workers suffering from occupational diseases, including chronic diseases, are eligible for the benefits envisaged by the Convention, irrespective of the period of contribution.

Articles 13, 14 and 18 (in conjunction with Articles 19 and 20). Amount of periodical payments due in the event of the temporary or permanent incapacity or death of the family breadwinner. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report. Taking as a basis the provisions of the new Social Security Act, please provide all the information required by the report form under Article 19 or Article 20, depending on which of these two provisions the Government has recourse. The Committee recalls the importance it attaches to the provision of such information, which it needs in order to determine whether the level of benefits due in the event of temporary or permanent incapacity or death attains the rate prescribed by the Convention for a standard beneficiary.

Article 21. In its previous report, the Government indicated that the National Wage Council determines and reviews the wages of workers in the country in the light of the minimum wage set for various activities and occupations. It also stated that the IESS calculates the benefits payable to workers on the basis of these minimum wages; wage increases are automatically reflected in old-age and invalidity pensions, and in benefits payable for employment accidents, in accordance with the provisions of Article 21. In view of the fact that the Government has not provided the information needed to assess the real impact of increases in pensions decided upon by the IESS in relation to fluctuations in the cost of living, the Committee requests it to provide the information required by the report form under Article 21. The Government may wish to avail itself of the Office’s technical assistance for this purpose.

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The Committee notes the Government’s report. It notes that the report does not indicate any progress in the application of the provisions of the Convention on which it has been commenting for many years. Under these circumstances, the Committee hopes the Government will supply additional information on the following points.

Article 8 of the Convention.  The Committee recalls that in its previous report the Government undertook to begin a process of amending the rules and internal provisions of the Equadorean Social Security Institute (IESS), which are currently preventing the application of a dual-list system of occupational diseases and work involving exposure to the corresponding risks. In its last report, the Government does not provide any information on the progress achieved in this reform, but refers to the provisions of the Labour Code and particularly sections 369 and 370, which cover occupational diseases. It adds that the presumption in favour of the worker concerning the occupational origin of the disease is taken into account in the decisions of the Risk Verification Commission under the terms of section 370 of the Labour Code. According to the Government, these decisions, which are intended to allow diseases which are not mentioned in the legislation to be recognized as occupational, exempt the worker from the burden of proof, thereby waiving in practice the interpretation of section 5 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance. The Committee takes due note of this information. It therefore hopes that, with a view to avoiding any ambiguity, the Government will have no difficulty in taking the necessary measures to amend as soon as possible, as it had undertaken to do, sections 4 and 5 of the above General Regulations, so as to introduce into the legislation the presumption of the occupational origin of the disease in favour of workers suffering from a disease enumerated in Schedule I of the Convention when they are engaged in the types of work mentioned in the above Schedule. Furthermore, it requests the Government to provide copies of relevant decisions adopted under section 370 of the Labour Code. (The Committee refers in this respect to its comments in its previous direct request under Article 8 of the Convention.)

Article 9.  In its previous comments, the Committee emphasized the need to take the necessary measures to amend sections 12 and 19 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance so that workers suffering from occupational diseases, whether acute or chronic, are entitled to the benefits envisaged by the Convention irrespective of the period during which they have paid contributions. In its report, the Government states once again that, in cases where workers have not paid the six contributions envisaged by the General Regulations respecting Employment Injury Insurance (sections 12 and 19), section 14 of the above Regulations is applied, under the terms of which acute occupational diseases are considered to be employment accidents, so that the insured person is entitled to benefits in the form of both medical assistance and financial benefits. The Committee is well aware of the text of section 14 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance. However, it wishes to emphasize that the provisions of the Convention, and particularly Article 9, which sets out that eligibility for benefits may not be made subject to the length of employment, to the duration of insurance or to the payment of contributions, are applicable to both employment accidents and acute occupational diseases (the latter, as is the case in Ecuador, are very often assimilated to employment accidents), as well as chronic occupational diseases. In these conditions, the Committee is bound to urge the Government once again to take the necessary measures to amend sections 12 and 19 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance so that all workers suffering from occupational diseases, including chronic diseases, are eligible to the benefits envisaged by the Convention, irrespective of the period of contribution.

Articles 13, 14 and 18 (in conjunction with Articles 19 and 20) (amount of periodical payments due in the event of temporary or permanent incapacity or the death of the family breadwinner). The Government indicates in its report that it is still not in a position to indicate whether it intends to avail itself of the provisions of Article 19 or Article 20 of the Convention. It adds that, once the restructuring of the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute has been completed, which should occur during the course of 2000, every effort will be made to reach a decision on this matter and that it intends to request the expertise of the ILO’s Regional Office in this respect.

The Committee notes this information with interest. It trusts that, with the above technical assistance, the Government will be in a position to provide all the statistical information requested by the report form under Article 19 or 20, whichever it decides to have recourse to. The Committee recalls in this respect the importance that it attaches to the provision of this information, which is necessary for it to determine whether the level of benefits due in the event of temporary or permanent incapacity or death attains the rate prescribed by the Convention for a standard beneficiary.

Article 21.  The Government states once again that the National Wage Council determines and reviews the wages of workers in the country as a function of the minimum wage for various activities and occupations. It adds that the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute calculates the benefits due to workers on the basis of the above minimum wages; wage increases are automatically reflected in old-age and invalidity pensions, as well as those due in the event of employment accidents, in accordance with the provisions of Article 21.

The Committee notes this information and the statistics provided with the Government’s report. However, the Committee notes that this information does not include statistics on changes made in the rate of benefits in relation to fluctuations in the cost-of-living index, as requested in the report form under Article 21. The Committee therefore hopes that, following the reorganization of the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute, the Government will be able, if it so wishes with the assistance of the ILO, to provide with its next report all the statistical data requested in the report form, which are necessary for the Committee to assess the real impact of increases in pensions decided upon by the IESS in relation to fluctuations in the cost of living.

[The Government is requested to report in detail in 2001.]

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The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report. The Committee trusts that in its next report the Government will be in a position to supply information on the measures adopted to resolve the following points raised in previous comments:

Article 8 of the Convention. In its report, the Government indicates that a commitment has been given to begin the process to amend the rules and internal provisions of the Equadorian Social Security Institute (ESSI) which make it impossible for the moment to apply the double-list system. The Committee recalls that in its previous comments it raised the following points:

(a) Under section 5 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance, it is necessary to prove, in all cases, the causal relationship between work and the disease, whereas the double-list system used in Schedule 1 to the Convention is intended to establish a presumption in favour of the worker as regards the occupational origin of the disease, thus exempting him or her from the burden of proof; the text of section 5 of the Regulations should therefore be completed in this sense.

(b) The statement in section 5 of the 1990 Regulations concerning work involving exposure to the risk of contracting anthrax infection (bacillus anthrax - No. 27, section 4) should be completed so as to indicate the activities giving rise to the presumptions of the occupational origin of this disease, as they appear in the right hand column of item 15 of Schedule 1 to the Convention.

(c) No. 19, section 4, of the 1990 Regulations should be amended to read as follows: "Chloride derivatives of hydrocarbons ...".

The Committee trusts that these amendments will be made to current legislation as soon as possible in order to ensure conformity of national legislation and practices with the Convention.

Article 9, paragraphs 1 and 2. The Government indicates that if workers have not paid the six monthly contributions required in the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance (sections 12 and 19), the provision in section 14 is applied, namely that acute occupational diseases are considered to be occupational accidents and therefore the insured person has the right to both medical assistance and financial benefits. On this matter, the Committee again points out that sections 12 and 19 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance of 1990 which grant benefits for occupational diseases only to insured persons who have paid at least six monthly contributions, are not in conformity with the Convention which provides that eligibility for benefits - both medical and cash - in cases of occupational diseases may not be made subject to the payment of contributions. Consequently, the Committee hopes that in its next report the Government will be in a position to indicate the measures adopted to amend section 12 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance so that workers who are affected by acute or chronic occupational diseases are entitled to the benefits provided in the Convention, regardless of the period during which contributions have been made.

Articles 13, 14 and 18 (in conjunction with Articles 19 and 20) (amount of periodical benefits paid in the event of temporary incapacity, permanent incapacity and also the death of the family breadwinner). The Committee notes that the Government is still unable to determine which of Articles 19 or 20 it intends to have recourse and that the report does not contain the information requested in the report form that is needed to determine whether the amount of the benefits payable to standard beneficiaries in cases of temporary incapacity, permanent incapacity or death, reaches the level set out by the Convention. The Government refers to the possibility of requesting technical assistance from the ILO to resolve this matter. The Committee trusts that this technical assistance will result in ensuring that the level of benefits provided under sections 32 to 35 of the 1990 Regulations meets the levels of benefits required by the Convention.

Article 21. The Government indicates in its report that the ESSI revises all pensions, annually making increases which compensate to some degree for monetary inflation. Similarly, the Government has added a statistical table on payments made by the ESSI at national level for pensions for invalidity, old age, death and occupational risks during the years 1989, 1990 and 1991. The Committee welcomes these indications but, in order to be able to appreciate the real impact of the increases, it again asks the Government to send in its next report all the statistical information requested by the report form under this Article of the Convention.

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For several years, the Committee has been raising a number of issues concerning the application of Article 8 (list of occupational diseases), Article 9, paragraphs 1 and 2 (prohibition on conditioning payment of benefit on payment of contribution), Articles 13, 14 and 18 (in conjunction with Articles 19 and 20) (amount of periodical benefits paid in the event of temporary incapacity, permanent incapacity or death of breadwinner), and Article 21 (review of cash benefit currently payable). In light of the fact that the Government's report does not indicate progress, the Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government concerning these issues.

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The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report, and in particular the information concerning the application of Article 5 of the Convention.

Article 8. The Committee notes that the new list of occupational diseases contained in sections 4-6 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance of 1990, although incorporating a number of the details suggested by the Committee in its previous comments, has not, in accordance with the Convention, taken into account the following points:

(a) Under section 5 of the Regulations it is necessary to prove, in all cases, the causal relationship between work and the disease, whereas the double-list system used in Schedule I to the Convention is intended to establish a presumption in favour of the worker as regards the occupational origin of the disease, thus exempting him or her from the burden of proof; the text of section 5 of the Regulations should therefore be completed in this sense.

(b) The statement in section 5 of the new Regulations concerning work involving exposure to the risk of contracting anthrax infection (bacillus anthrax - No. 27, section 4) should be completed so as to indicate the activities giving rise to the presumption of the occupational origin of this disease, as they appear in the right-hand column of item 15 of Schedule I to the Convention.

(c) No. 19, section 4 of the new Regulations should be amended to read as follows: "Chloride derivatives of hydrocarbons ...".

Article 9, paragraphs 1 and 2. The Committee notes that under sections 12 and 19 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance of 1990, benefits due in the event of occupational disease are provided to insured persons who have paid at least six monthly contributions. In view of the fact that, under the terms of the Convention, eligibility for benefits, both medical and cash, in the event of occupational disease, may not be made subject to the payment of contributions, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which, in accordance with the Convention, the provision of benefits is guaranteed in the case of occupational disease suffered by workers who have not made the six contributions set out in the above Regulations.

Articles 13, 14 and 18 (in conjunction with Articles 19 and 20) (amount of periodical benefits paid in the event of temporary incapacity, permanent incapacity and also the death of the family breadwinner). The Committee notes the levels of the minimum pensions. However, it notes that the Government has not been able to determine whether it intends to have recourse to Article 19 or Article 20 of the Convention and that the report does not contain the information that is necessary to determine whether the amount of the benefits payable in cases of temporary incapacity, permanent incapacity or death for standard beneficiaries reaches the level set out by the Convention. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will be able to supply in its next report the information requested in the report form adopted by the Governing Body with regard to Articles 19 or 20, according to whether it has had recourse to the former or the latter. If the Government selects Article 19, please supply information with particular regard to the maximum amount of periodical benefits paid in respect of each of the three above contingencies and the wage of a skilled manual male employee selected in accordance with paragraph 6 or 7 of Article 19. If the Government selects Article 20, please indicate the minimum amount of periodical benefits paid in respect of each of the above contingencies, and the wage of an ordinary adult male labourer selected in accordance with paragraph 4 or 5 of Article 20.

Article 21. The Committee notes the information concerning the increase in the level of pensions. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply information on any new adjustment of pensions in line with fluctuations in the cost of living, in accordance with Article 21 of the Convention. Moreover, so that it can assess the real impact of these increases, the Committee once again requests the Government to supply in its next report all the statistics requested in the report form under this Article of the Convention.

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The Committee notes with satisfaction that on 10 December 1990 the new General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance were adopted which, among other reforms, include an updated list of occupational diseases. The Committee notes that the new list of occupational diseases contained in sections 4-6 of the General Regulations on Employment Injury Insurance introduces, in accordance with Article 8 of the Convention, a series of pathologies and the substances and work involving exposure to the risk, in line with its previous comments. The Committee nevertheless draws the Government's attention to the fact that a direct request concerns a number of points which were not taken into account in the new list of occupational diseases.

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The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Article 5 of the Convention. The Government's report contains statistics with regard to the number of employees insured under the "occupational injuries" branch of social security. While noting this information, the Committee wishes to point out that, in order to be in a position to assess whether the requirements of this provision of the Convention are fulfilled, it is also necessary to know the number of employees in industrial undertakings. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government can supply with its next report statistics not only concerning the total number of employees protected, but also the number of employees in industrial undertakings, as defined in Article 1(c).

Article 8. The Government states that the Higher Council of the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS) is currently preparing new draft regulations on employment injuries insurance which, among other reforms, include an up-to-date list of occupational diseases. It adds that it has taken note of the Committee's comments in this respect and has transmitted them, with its recommendations, to the competent authorities. The Committee takes due note of this information. It therefore hopes that the draft regulations will be adopted in the near future and that they will contain a list of occupational diseases and the activities liable to cause them in accordance with Schedule I annexed to the Convention. (In this connection, the Committee refers to the comments made in its previous direct request with regard to sections 4, 5 and 6 of the draft regulations on occupational injuries insurance, which was transmitted with the previous report of the Government.)

Articles 13, 14 and 18 (in conjunction with Articles 19 and 20) (amount of periodical benefits paid in the event of temporary incapacity, permanent incapacity and the death of the family breadwinner). The Committee notes that the information supplied by the Government does not enable it to assess the way in which effect is given to these Articles of the Convention. It would therefore be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report whether it intends to have recourse to Article 19 or Article 20 for the purposes of comparing the amount of the periodical benefits prescribed under national legislation with the minimum level required by the Convention. It also requests the Government to supply the statistical information called for by the report form under Articles 19 or 20 of the Convention. If the Government intends to have recourse to Article 19, please supply information with particular regard to the maximum amount of periodical benefits paid in respect of each of the three above contingencies and the wage of a skilled manual male employee selected in accordance with paragraph 6 or 7 of Article 19. If the Government intends to have recourse to Article 20, please indicate the minimum amount of periodical benefits paid in respect of each of the above contingencies, and the wage of an ordinary adult male labourer selected in accordance with paragraph 4 or 5 of Article 20. Please also supply information concerning, if this is the case, the amount of family allowances paid during employment and during the contingency.

Article 21. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would supply in its future reports the information called for under this Article of the Convention by the report form adopted by the Governing Body concerning the adjustment of the benefits prescribed in Articles 14 and 18 of the Convention, as a result of substantial changes in the cost of living.