Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

The Committee notes the Government’s reports provided on 28 September 2004 and 11 October 2005 and the summary reports of the activities of regional labour inspectorates for 2003 and 2004. It also notes Act No. 2004/017 of 2004 issuing the Labour Code, and the observations on the application of the Convention communicated to the ILO by the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) on 29 August 2005 and forwarded to the Government on 4 October 2005. The Committee further notes the proposals made by the ILO fact-finding mission to Mauritania (May 2006), undertaken following the discussion held in the Committee on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference in June 2005 (93rd Session) on the application of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29).

1. Situation of the labour inspection system. According to the WCL, the current situation of labour inspection in the country cannot in any manner respond to the strict minimum level of need. It reports that the inspection services do not have either the resources or the structure to enable labour controllers and inspectors to discharge their functions. Very few inspection services are distributed throughout the country. The sole inspector appointed to cover five regions in the centre and east of the country does not have transport facilities, and the possibilities of communication with workers are therefore very limited. According to the WCL, no training has been undertaken for inspectors and no inspection officials recruited. The WCL considers that the low level of action by the inspection services is at the origins of enormous problems for workers and the poor management of labour disputes.

Further to its previous observation, the Committee also notes with concern the information contained in the report of the ILO fact-finding mission to Mauritania and the summary reports of regional inspection services referred to above describing an embryonic labour inspection system both in terms of human resources and financial, material and logistical resources. The reports of the regional inspection services also show that, due to the critical lack of inspection staff and administrative officials, it is impossible to guarantee the required confidentiality in relations with users and that the most elementary facilities are lacking, such as decent sanitation, electricity, water, telephone lines, furniture (chairs and cupboards), electronic office equipment and transport facilities. The conditions of service of inspection officials are such that they have no hesitation in leaving the service to take up employment in the private sector in view of the benefits on offer. The Committee notes the suggestion made by the ILO mission to update an earlier audit of the labour inspectorate (to which the Government refers in its report provided in September 2004, the recommendations of which were not given effect, due to lack of resources) and to call on other interested United Nations agencies and donors to mobilize the necessary resources to strengthen the labour inspectorate. The Committee hopes that this appeal will be heeded rapidly and that the Government will soon be in a position to provide information on the outcome of the action taken in this respect.

2. Specific status of labour inspectors. Further to its previous comments on this subject and the conclusions of the discussion in the Committee on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference in June 2000, the Committee notes that, according to information posted by the Government on its web site, the specific status of labour inspectors was approved by the Council of Ministers on 11 October 2006. According to the Government, this status should substantially improve the conditions of service of labour inspectors and controllers. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide a copy of the definitive text when it has been published.

3. Article 7 of the Convention. Training of labour inspection personnel. The Committee notes with interest that labour inspectors and controllers benefit from further training at the National School of Administration (ENA) at Nouakchott and the African Regional Centre for Labour Administration (CRADAT) in Yaoundé through seminars and workshops organized by the ILO, the Arab Labour Organization and UNICEF. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide precise and detailed information on the contents of the training activities and their duration, and on the personnel concerned.

4. Articles 20 and 21. Annual inspection report. As no annual inspection report has been provided to the ILO since 1987, the Committee hopes that the Government will rapidly take measures to establish conditions in which the central labour inspection authority can collect data on the activities on the services under its control with a view to the preparation of a report. The level of detail of the information that the report should contain so that it can be used as an instrument for the evaluation of the labour inspection system, is indicated in Part III of the Labour Inspection Recommendation, 1947 (No. 81).

5. Labour inspection and child labour. Noting with interest the indication that a study on child labour was conducted with the cooperation of UNICEF, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the conclusions of the study and indicate the role that will be entrusted to labour inspectors and controllers in combating child labour in the enterprises covered by the Convention.

The Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government on certain matters.