Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) - Malta (Ratification: 1988)

The Committee notes the information provided in reply to its previous comments and the unofficial translation of the Factories Ordinance, 1940, as revised in 1979, and the copy of the Occupational Health and Safety (Promotion) Act, 1994.

1. Applicable legislation. The Committee notes that section 18 of the 1994 Act explicitly repeals the above Ordinance. According to the Government's report for 1994, the new Act was being implemented in stages and would eventually replace the Factories Ordinance. The Government states, however, in its report for 1999 that the inspectors exercise their powers in relation to occupational safety and health at work under the Act of 1994. The Committee is not certain that it has understood the meaning of these indications. It therefore requests the Government to provide detailed indications on the legal situation of these two texts.

2. Presence and role of women labour inspectors in the agricultural sector. The Committee notes with interest that no distinction is made on grounds of sex in the recruitment and assignment of labour inspectors. However, it requests the Government to indicate the proportion of women in the staff of the labour inspectorate and to provide information on how effect may be given to Article 10 of the Convention concerning the possibility of assigning special duties to women inspectors.

3. Right of labour inspectors to enter agricultural establishments freely. The Committee notes that, under section 10 of the above Act of 1994, labour inspectors may enter freely any workplace "at all reasonable times". However, it recalls that, under Article 16(a) of the Convention, this right must be accorded to inspectors at any hour of the day or night. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the right of labour inspectors to enter workplaces freely also applies to inspectors of workplaces covering matters other than safety and health. It would be grateful if the Government would take appropriate measures to ensure that this right is not confined to reasonable times, but can be exercised, as envisaged by the Convention, at any hour of the day or night.

4. Principle of the confidentiality of the sources of complaints. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide a copy of the text or texts ensuring compliance by labour inspectors with the principle of the confidentiality of the sources of complaints, as envisaged in Article 20(c).

5. Articles 21, 26 and 27. The Committee notes that the Government does not provide information on the application of Article 21, which provides that agricultural undertakings shall be inspected as often and as thoroughly as is necessary to ensure the effective application of the relevant legal provisions. It notes that no annual report on the work of the inspection services in agriculture has been transmitted. It recalls that such reports, containing information on the subjects enumerated in Article 27, should be published and transmitted to the ILO in accordance with the provisions of Article 26. The Committee notes that the information contained in the annual inspection reports transmitted under Convention No. 81 is not presented by sector of activity and cannot therefore serve as a basis for the proper evaluation of the present Convention. The Committee would therefore be grateful if the Government would take the necessary measures as soon as possible to give full effect to Articles 26 and 27.