Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) - Egypt (Ratification: 2003)

Articles 6(1)(a), 26 and 27 of the Convention. Scope of labour inspection services. Publication and communication to the ILO of an annual report on labour inspection activities in agriculture. Following its previous comments, in which the Committee had noted that it would examine the annual labour inspection report for 2008 at its current session even though it did not seem to be a published document, the Committee notes that this annual report does not refer to any inspection activity in agricultural enteprises. No reference is made to the provision of any specific training to inspectors in order to improve their skills in specific types of control especially in relation to the products and substances used in agriculture. Moreover, refering to the Government’s indication that there is no judicial decision which relates to the questions covered by the Convention, the Commission concludes that the analysis appearing in the 2008 annual report on the convictions and releases pronounced does not relate to labour inspection activity in agricultural enterprises. The Committee is therefore not in a position to evaluate the level and quality of the functioning of the labour inspection system in agriculture with regard to the provisions of the Convention. Refering to its previous comments in which it had noted the Government’s statement on the possibility of revising the Labour Code in order to include within its scope agricultural activities and safety and health standards for each type of activity, the Committee notes that the Government insists in its report that agriculture is not excluded from the general scope of the text. The Committee notes, however, that the Government does not provide relevant information on the application of this text in practice. Consequently, the Committee urges the Government to take measures aimed at giving full effect to Articles 26 and 27 of the Convention and ensuring that an annual report on labour inspection activities in agricultural enterprises is published in the very near future either as a separate report or as part of the general report of the central labour inspection authority.

Labour inspection activities directed at child labour in agricultural enterprises. The Committee notes the Ministerial Orders Nos 118 of 2003 and 1454 of 2001 relative to the prohibition of child labour in certain agricultural activities. It also takes note of the statistical tables relative to inspection controls directed at child labour in 2009. It notes that these tables relate to the distribution by administrative direction of various types of visits (routine, verification campaigns) and to their results (certificate of conformity, formal notice, statement of offence), the number of workers covered (by gender) and – only as far as campaigns are concerned – the legal areas targeted by the controls: working time, rest periods, weekly rest. The Committee notes however that no information is given on the control of the application of the abovementioned Ministerial Orders. Noting that the above statistics do not make a distinction between the various sectors covered by inspections, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would take measures to ensure that in future all documents relating to labour inspection specify this information so that they can be used as a basis for reinforcing the inspection services in relation to specific inspection needs. The Government is requested to provide to the ILO information on such measures or, where applicable, on any difficulty which prevents their implementation.

Referring to the Government’s indication that there is no judicial decision relative to the questions covered by the Convention but also noting that a certain number of statements of offence have been issued by labour inspectors in 2009, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the judicial or administrative treatment of these statements against offending employers during the period covered by its next report, and to specify the cases where violations were found in agricultural enterprises.