Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) - Malawi (Ratification: 1971)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to its previous comments. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous observation, which read as follows:

Repetition

The Committee draws the Government’s attention to its observation under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), and asks it to provide the ILO with information relating to the points raised as far as they also concern the present Convention.

Article 7 of the Convention. Need to re-establish a central authority entrusted with control and supervisory powers over the labour inspection system in agriculture. With reference in particular to the indication by the Government that the budgeting and funding of labour inspection is decentralized in such manner that officers with motorcycles or motor vehicles take care of the fuel and maintenance, and the Ministry only receives reports on the activities performed, the Committee would like to emphasize the overall crucial importance for labour inspectors to have at their disposal appropriate transport facilities to be in a position to perform their duties in most undertakings liable to labour inspection. Taking into consideration that agriculture is the major economic sector of the country, the Committee notes with concern, according to the description by the Government of the way that decentralization operates, that it is not the obligation of the Government to provide for appropriate conditions of work for labour inspectors in agriculture, as this is left to the discretion of each district authority. As emphasized in the observation under Convention No. 81, the allocation to the labour inspectorates of material means and financial resources should not be determined by decentralized labour administration authorities, but by taking into account nationwide labour inspection priorities and national economic and financial possibilities. Only if the central labour inspection authority is entrusted with the powers laid down in the Convention can the Government fulfil its commitments, including the obligation to ensure the publication of an annual inspection report containing the information required by Article 27 in order to give the central authority the necessary basis for the identification of the priority actions to be undertaken. The Committee also draws the Government’s attention to the specific recommendation made by the ILO technical assistance mission which visited the country in 2006 concerning the need to strengthen the labour inspection system in agricultural undertakings with a view to securing decent work in the most attractive sector in the country for foreign investments.

The Committee is bound to urge the Government, in the light of the above: to provide details of the progress achieved in the implementation of the measures announced in its report to follow up the recommendations of the ILO technical mission, in so far as they relate to labour inspection in agriculture; to provide copies of all relevant texts or documents and to adopt all measures that are essential to secure a labour inspection system in agriculture under the supervision and control of the central authority that is provided with human resources and material conditions of work adapted to the specific needs of the agricultural sector (Articles 8, 9, 14 and 15); and to keep the ILO informed of any developments in this regard. It also urges the Government to send a copy of any relevant legal texts and documents.

The Committee notes with concern that the statistics of inspection visits covering all sectors of the economy published in the Labour Statistics Yearbook show a significant decrease (from 3,043 in 2006 to 1,088 in 2007). The Committee recalls in this respect the requirements for the publication and communication to the ILO of an annual report on labour inspection activities, as provided for in Article 26, containing information on each of the topics listed in Article 27 relating to labour inspection in agricultural undertakings. The Committee observes that the above statistics do not allow any appraisal of the extent to which the decrease in inspection visits affects the application of the Convention. The Committee therefore asks the Government to provide any available statistics on the types of agricultural undertakings and legal areas targeted by the inspections and the results achieved during the period covered by the next report.

Labour inspection activities targeting child labour. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, instead of the target of 1,500, a total of 3,000 children were removed from employment in the framework of the ILO–IPEC programme. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the role played by labour inspectors in this regard.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.