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

Minimum Age (Fishermen) Convention, 1959 (No. 112) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1961)

Article 2 of the Convention and Part V of the report form. Minimum age of admission to work in the fishing industry – Practical application. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s reference in its report to Government Agreement No. 250-1006 of 18 May 2006 on the application of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), which lists the types of work forbidden to those under 18 years of age – either because they are dangerous by nature or on account of the conditions under which they take place. It notes the Government’s statement that if a task on board a fishing vessel fulfils one of these conditions, it is banned for young persons under 18 years of age, and that subsequently there is no reason to amend the Government Agreement. The Committee recalls, however, that the need to amend this text with a view to including fishing in the list of hazardous work had been raised at the national level by the technical and legal advisory service of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. In this respect, it draws the Government’s attention to the ILO report entitled Children in hazardous work: What we know, what we need to do, published in 2011, which specifically lists the hazards involved in various types of work carried out on board fishing vessels. The Committee also notes the data in the report “Child labour in Guatemala; an in-depth study on the enquiry into living conditions carried out by ENCOVI in 2006”, published jointly in 2008 by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the National Statistics Institute. It notes in particular that, in 2006, according to the findings of this survey, nearly 1 million children under 18 years of age were carrying out an economic activity, of which more than half were under the age of 15 years. It notes also that, according to the same survey, work in agriculture, livestock farming, hunting, forestry and the fishing sector accounted for 55.5 per cent of the work of those under 18 years of age. In the light of these considerations and the risks involved in many tasks carried out on board fishing vessels, the Committee hopes that the Government will envisage the possibility of including these types of work in the list of hazardous work established under Government Agreement No. 250-1006. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision that might be taken in this respect.

The Committee also recalls the formalities previously undertaken by the Government with a view to declaring that Article 3 of the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) – which establishes the minimum age for hazardous work – is applicable to maritime fishing. It recalls that such a declaration would entail the automatic denunciation of Convention No. 112. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether it still intends making this formal declaration and, as the case may be, to keep the Office informed of any decision it might take in this respect.

The Committee also draws the Government’s attention to the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188), which revises in an integrated manner most of the existing ILO fishing instruments. The Committee requests the Government to consider favourably the ratification of Convention No. 188, in particular, Article 9 of Convention No. 188 raises the minimum age for work on board a fishing vessel from 15 to 16 years, provides that the competent authority may authorize a minimum age of 15 for persons who are no longer subject to compulsory schooling and who are engaged in vocational training in fishing, and prohibits the night work of fishers under the age of 18 and to keep the Office informed of any decision it might take on this matter.

Finally, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice. In view of the preceding information on the prevalence of child labour in the country, including in the fishing sector, the Government is requested to submit all available statistical data at its disposal concerning work carried out by children under 15 years of age on board a fishing vessel, and to communicate extracts from reports of the labour inspection services indicating the number and nature of infringements to the provisions implementing the Convention, as well as any corrective measures taken.