Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Syrian Arab Republic (Ratification: 1960)

Content of the information sent in response to the Committee’s comments. Legal aspects and practical scope. While noting the information on the process under way to adopt a new Labour Code concerning health supervision in enterprises, and certain information on the policy to prevent discrimination, prohibit human trafficking and protect domestic workers, the Committee notes that the Government has not replied to its previous comments, particularly those on the effect given in law and in practice to the provisions of the Convention.

It further notes that despite the Government’s stated intention, no annual inspection report has reached the Office. It points out that this is an obligation deriving not only from Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention, but also from section 41 of the regulations governing the bodies competent for health and safety. Furthermore, as the Government observes, labour inspection is high on the list of priorities in the Decent Work Country Programme agreed with the social partners in 2008 and publication of an inspection report has been recognized as essential, as the Committee has pointed out consistently since 2001.

The Committee is therefore bound to ask the Government in its next report to provide more than merely general or theoretical information on the manner in which effect is given to the Convention. It reiterates its previous request for the Government to provide copies of all the implementing texts adopted in the areas covered by the Convention, particularly regarding the establishment and operation in practice of occupational safety and health committees, and to send information to the Office, including relevant figures, on the impact of these measures in terms of the inspections carried out and trends in the occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease recorded.

Noting that the Government’s report does not reply to the Committee’s request for specific information on the role attributed to labour inspectors in the implementation of projects for international cooperation in the area of labour migration, and says nothing of the role they are called on to play in the context of the widespread shift towards enterprise privatization, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide this information together with statistics and any other relevant documentation.

The Committee also once again asks the Government to ensure, in accordance with Article 20, that an annual report on the work of the inspectorate containing the information requested under Article 21(a)–(g) is actually published by the central inspection authority and that a copy is sent to the ILO as soon as it is published. Compliance with this obligation is doubly essential: first, for the Committee and the other ILO supervisory bodies in performing their functions with respect to this Convention; and, secondly, for the need for the central labour inspection authority, other competent authorities and the social partners to be informed about the work of the labour inspectorate in law and in practice, with a view to contributing to its improvement.

Lastly, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would keep the ILO informed of any developments in the functioning of the labour inspectorate in the context of implementation of the Decent Work County Programme.