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

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

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

With reference to its direct request under Convention No. 81, the Committee requests the Government to provide, in its report under the present Convention, the information sought in that direct request, in so far as it specifically concerns labour inspection in agricultural undertakings. The Government is also requested to provide additional information on the following points.

1. Training of labour inspectors, collaboration of technical experts and specialists. The Committee notes that inspectors covering agricultural undertakings are not specially trained for that purpose. It once again draws the Government’s attention to the requirements of the Convention in this respect and requests it to take the necessary measures to give full effect to Article 9 of the Convention, and particularly paragraph 3, under which labour inspectors in agriculture shall be adequately trained for the performance of their duties and measures shall be taken to give them appropriate further training in the course of their employment. The Committee urges the Government to take measures to ensure that duly qualified technical experts are associated in the work of labour inspection in agriculture in such manner as may be deemed most appropriate so as to help to solve problems demanding technical knowledge, in accordance with Article 11. The Committee hopes that relevant information will be provided by the Government in its next report.

2. Article 6, paragraph 1(b), of the Convention. Provision of technical information and advice to employers and workers. The Committee notes with interest that one of the factors in the significant fall in occupational accidents in agriculture between 2000 and 2002 is the organization of reporting and awareness campaigns in the agricultural sector. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information that is as detailed as possible on the campaigns organized in the agricultural sector (contents, means of communication used, duration, categories of undertakings and workers covered, etc.), and on the role played by labour inspectors in this respect.

3. Articles 26 and 27. General inspection report. The Committee notes that the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training shall publish an annual report on the work of the inspection services in agriculture as part of its annual general report, and that it will contain all the information required in Article 27 of the Convention. The Committee expresses the firm hope that the Government will soon communicate such a report to the ILO and that its publication will enable the representative organizations of employers and workers to express their viewpoints on the functioning of labour inspection in the agricultural sector and on the means of improving its effectiveness.