Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2009, publiée 99ème session CIT (2010)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not refer to any positive developments with regard to the application of the Convention.

The Committee’s previous request referred to the question of training of labour inspectors in agriculture (Article 9 of the Convention), the material resources available for the performance of their duties, especially office and transport facilities and the reimbursement of labour inspectors’ travel costs related to their work in agriculture (Article 15), and preventive controls in agricultural undertakings, as envisaged in Article 17.

In an observation to the Government in 1999, the Committee drew attention to the fact that no annual report on the work of the labour inspection services had been sent to the ILO.

In its 2002 report relating to the application of the Convention, the Government announced, however, in relation to Articles 14 and 15, that since 2001 the training of labour inspectors working in agricultural areas had resumed at the National School of Administration in Abidjan and that additional staff were expected, namely seven labour administrators, ten labour attachés and 12 labour controllers. In its observation of 2003, the Committee requested the Government to supply information on any steps taken towards the establishment of an inspection system in agriculture and on any progress made, and it also requested the Government to supply documentation and information of a practical nature on inspection activities undertaken in the area of combating child labour.

The Government’s report received in 2004 indicated that there were still no specialist labour inspectors in agriculture. Not only were there insufficient material resources to meet the professional requirements of inspectors working in agricultural areas, but also the inadequately equipped labour inspection offices were located without taking into consideration the geographical distribution of agricultural enterprises.

With reference to the report made in relation to the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), received in 2008, in which reference is made to a substantial reinforcement of labour inspection staff and structures, the Committee notes with concern that, according to repeated statements by the Government in 2006 and 2009, no progress has been made in the application of the present Convention. It is therefore bound to remind the Government that, in ratifying the Convention, it undertook to take the necessary steps to implement it in law and in practice, particularly by establishing, in accordance with Article 6(1), a system of labour inspection whose functions would be: (a) to secure the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of agricultural workers while engaged in their work; (b) to supply technical information and advice to employers and workers concerning the most effective means of complying with the legal provisions; and (c) to bring to the notice of the competent authority defects or abuses not specifically covered by existing legal provisions and to submit to it proposals on the improvement of laws and regulations. In view of the large numbers of workers occupied in the agricultural sector in the country (men, women and children), especially in coffee, cotton, banana, oil palm and cocoa plantations and other agricultural undertakings, and also in view of the specific occupational risks to which these persons are exposed because of pesticides and other toxic substances handled and used in their environment, the Committee considers that there is an urgent need for the Government to meet its commitments deriving from the ratification of this Convention. In its General Survey of 2006 on labour inspection, the Committee emphasized in its final remarks that the priority nature of labour inspection should be reflected in the level of resources allocated and that a strong and effective labour inspectorate provides not only better protection, but also better prevention and productivity at work, to the benefit of everyone (paragraphs 371–374).

The Committee urges the Government to take all necessary steps to ensure the application of this Convention, particularly through the training of sufficient numbers of qualified inspection staff in the area of the occupational safety and health of agricultural workers, and equipping these staff with sufficient resources to meet the requirements of inspection in agricultural undertakings (appropriate office and transport facilities, technical equipment needed for the analysis of products and substances handled and used, etc.).

The Committee also requests the Government to ensure that information on inspection activities in agricultural undertakings included periodic reports which are sent to the central authority so that the latter can include the information in an annual report which is published and a copy of which is sent to the ILO, as provided for in Articles 26 and 27. Until such time as the conditions exist for the publication of such a report, the Committee urges the Government to keep the Office informed of the inspection activities carried out in agricultural undertakings and the results achieved during the period covered by the next report.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.