Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

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

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report and the information replying to its previous comments.

1. Articles 22, 23 and 24 of the Convention. Awareness-raising among magistrates regarding the prosecution of offenders. In its previous comments, the Committee noted with interest that a provision had been inserted in the Labour Code requiring the State Prosecutor to submit the labour inspectors’ report directly to the judge within one month. It expressed the hope that this progress in the legislation would be accompanied by measures to make the judiciary more aware of the value of treating cases relating to the protection of workers with the necessary seriousness and of making appropriate decisions in each case on the basis of the degree of gravity of the circumstances. The Committee refers the Government to its 2006 General Survey on labour inspection, in which it pointed out that the effectiveness of the sanctions available to the labour inspectorate depends to a large extent on the way in which the judicial authorities deal with the case files referred to them by, or on the recommendation of, the labour inspectors, and notes with satisfaction that the Labour Directorate and magistrates in charge of social matters now attend quarterly work sessions on interpreting and applying the Labour Code, the aim being to prevent labour inspectors’ reports of offences from being shelved.

2. Article 15. Resources needed for labour inspection in agriculture. The Committee notes from the information sent by the Government that, despite economic difficulties, funds have been found to build new premises for labour inspectors and to repair and refurbish others. It further indicates that the interregional directorates have been given vehicles and that their budgets provide for the purchase of fuel. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the material resources, and particularly transport facilities, available to labour inspectors for the performance of their duties, bearing in mind the distance they have to travel as agricultural undertakings are widely dispersed.

3. Articles 25, 26 and 27. Periodic and annual reports on the activities of labour inspectors. The Committee notes with interest that inspection visit forms have been designed and sent to outside offices in order to collect information on the activities of the labour inspection services and prepare the reports required by the abovementioned Articles of the Convention. It notes the Government’s indication that the annual report is not yet available. The Government nonetheless provides data on the agricultural undertakings liable to inspection and the visits for the province of Antananarivo (first half of 2007). The Committee stresses how useful such reports are in assessing the working of the labour inspectorate and determining the resources needed to improve it by making the necessary budgetary provisions. It reminds the Government that the publishing and sending of an annual report is an obligation, the purpose of which is to elicit the views of the social partners in the country and any proposals they may have for improvement of the operation of the system, and also, at international level, to enable the ILO supervisory bodies to ascertain the extent to which the Convention is applied in law and in practice and to offer relevant guidance. The Committee requests the Government to send with its next report a copy of the standard inspection visit form for agricultural undertakings and, as soon as it is prepared and published, a copy of the annual report on the activities carried out by the labour inspection services in agriculture. It hopes that information on the impact of the quarterly work sessions will be reflected, in the report, in statistics on judicial decisions penalizing the offences reported by labour inspectors.

4. Labour inspection and child labour. The Committee notes from the information in the Government’s report on the application of the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), that the most recent statistics available on child labour are from 1999 but that according to the first estimates of a national survey on child labour conducted by the National Statistics Institute with cooperation from the ILO/IPEC programme, the proportion of children in work has risen from 1 in 7 to 1 in 3. The final results of the survey should be available in early 2008. In its report on the application of the present Convention, the Government specifies that labour inspectors have already been trained to combat child labour but that they are having difficulty in carrying out controls in remote agricultural undertakings. However, according to the Government, with the recent establishment of regional observatories on child labour (ORTEs) and the launching of an institutional support programme, in the process of being approved by the ILO, it should be possible to build the capacity of labour inspectors and the local authorities to further the combating of child labour. The Committee notes that in 1999 child labour in rural areas reached very worrying proportions: 22 per cent in the 6 to 9 age group and 36 per cent in the 10 to 14 age group. It accordingly hopes that, under the abovementioned programme, a special effort will be made for children working in agricultural undertakings. In view of the limited resources of the inspectorate and the difficulty of getting to remote farms, the Committee strongly encourages the Government to promote effective cooperation between the labour inspection services and other players involved in combating child labour (Articles 12 and 13 of the Convention, and Paragraphs 1 and 2(d) of Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Recommendation, 1969 (No. 133)), particularly the social partners, the relevant local authorities and public institutions, and schools. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would keep the Office duly informed of any measures implemented or envisaged to these ends and to continue to provide information on the activities carried out by labour inspectors to combat child labour in the agricultural sector in particular, and on the results thereof.

The Committee is addressing a request concerning other matters directly to the Government.