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6 JULY 1997. - Approval Act of Convention No. 129 on Labour Inspection in Agriculture, adopted at Geneva on 25 June 1969 by the International Labour Conference at its fifty-third session (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77, paragraph 1, 6, of the Constitution.
Art. 2. Convention No. 129 concerning the Inspection of Labour in Agriculture, adopted at Geneva on 25 June 1969 by the International Labour Conference at its fifty-third session, will come out its full and full effect.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 6 July 1997.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
E. DERYCKE
Minister of Employment and Labour,
Ms. M. SMET
Seen and sealed the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
S. DE CLERCK

Labour Inspection Convention in Agriculture
The General Conference of the International Labour Organization,
Convened in Geneva by the Board of Directors of the International Labour Office and met on 4 June 1969 at its fifty-third session;
Noting the terms of existing international labour conventions relating to labour inspection, such as the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947, which applies to industry and trade, and the Plantation Convention, 1958, which applies to a particular type of agricultural enterprises;
Considering that it is desirable now to adopt international standards on the inspection of work in agriculture in general;
Having decided to adopt various proposals for the inspection of work in agriculture, which constitutes the fourth item on the agenda of the session;
After deciding that these proposals would take the form of an international convention,
adopts this twenty-fifth day of June nine hundred and sixty-nine, the following convention, to be called the Labour Inspection Convention (Agriculture), 1969:
Article 1
1. For the purposes of this Agreement, the terms "agricultural enterprise" refer to enterprises or parts of enterprises that are intended for cultivation, livestock, forestry, horticulture, the primary processing of agricultural products by the operator, or any other form of agricultural activity.
2. When necessary, the competent authority will determine, after consultation with the most representative organizations of employers and interested workers, if any, the demarcation line between agriculture, on the one hand, and industry and trade, on the other hand, so that no agricultural enterprise escapes the national labour inspection system.
3. In any case where it does not appear to be certain that the agreement applies to a business or part of a business, the matter will be decided by the competent authority.
Article 2
In this Agreement, the terms "legal provisions" include, in addition to legislation, arbitral awards and collective contracts that are legally binding and whose labour inspectors are responsible for ensuring enforcement.
Article 3
Any Member of the International Labour Organization for which this Convention is in force must have a labour inspection system in agriculture.
Article 4
The agricultural labour inspection system will apply to agricultural enterprises in which employees or apprentices are employed, regardless of their method of remuneration and the type, form or duration of their contract.
Article 5
1. Any Member who ratifies this Convention may, by declaration accompanying its ratification, undertake to extend its labour inspection system in agriculture to one or more of the following categories of persons working in agricultural enterprises:
(a) farmers using external labour, metayers and similar categories of agricultural workers;
(b) persons associated with the management of a collective undertaking, such as members of a cooperative;
(c) family members of the operator as defined by national legislation.
2. Any Member who has ratified this Convention may subsequently communicate to the Director General of the International Labour Office a declaration by which he undertakes to extend his labour inspection system in agriculture to one or more of the categories of persons listed in the preceding paragraph that have not already been mentioned in a previous declaration.
3. Any Member who has ratified this Convention shall indicate, in the reports that it is required to submit under Article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organization, the extent to which it has acted or proposes to follow up on the provisions of the Convention with respect to those of the categories of persons listed in paragraph 1 above that would not have been the subject of such declarations.
Article 6
1. The Agricultural Labour Inspection System will be responsible for:
(a) ensure the application of the legal provisions relating to working conditions and the protection of workers in the exercise of their profession, such as the provisions concerning the duration of work, wages, weekly rest and leave, safety, hygiene and well-being, employment of women, children and adolescents, and other related materials, to the extent that the labour inspectors are responsible for the enforcement of the provisions;
(b) provide technical information and advice to employers and workers on the most effective means of complying with legal provisions;
(c) to bring to the attention of the competent authority the defects or abuses that are not specifically covered by the existing legal provisions and to submit proposals to it on the improvement of the legislation.
2. National legislation may entrust labour inspectors in agriculture with assistance or control functions relating to the application of legal provisions relating to the living conditions of workers and their families.
3. If other duties are entrusted to the labour inspectors in agriculture, they shall not hinder the exercise of their principal duties or in any way prejudice the authority or impartiality necessary to the inspectors in their relations with employers and workers.
Article 7
1. As long as it is comptible with the administrative practice of the Member, the inspection of labour in agriculture will be placed under the supervision and control of a central organ.
2. If it is a federative state, the term "central organ" may designate a central organ established either at the federal level or at the level of a federated constituent entity.
3. Inspection of work in agriculture can be ensured for example:
(a) by a single labour inspection body competent for all branches of economic activity;
(b) by a single labour inspection body, with a functional specialization provided by adequate training of inspectors responsible for performing their functions in agriculture;
(c) by a single labour inspection body, comprising an institutional specialization provided by the creation of a technically qualified service whose officers would perform their duties in agriculture;
(d) by a specialized inspection, which is responsible for carrying out its functions in agriculture, but whose activity would be under the supervision of a central organ with the same prerogatives, in the field of labour inspection, in other branches of economic activity, such as industry, transport and trade.
Article 8
1. Labour inspection staff in agriculture must be composed of public officials whose status and conditions of service provide them with stability in their employment and make them independent of any change in Government and of any undue external influence.
2. Where this is consistent with national legislation or practice, Members have the capacity to include in their labour inspection system in agriculture officials or representatives of professional organizations, whose action would complement that of public officials; these agents or representatives must be guaranteed the stability of their functions and be protected from undue external influence.
Article 9
1. Subject to the conditions under which national legislation would submit the recruitment of public servants, the labour inspectors in agriculture will be recruited solely on the basis of the ability of candidates to perform the tasks they have to perform.
2. The means to verify this ability shall be determined by the competent authority.
3. Labour inspectors in agriculture must receive an adequate format for the performance of their duties, and steps will be taken to ensure, in an appropriate manner, their further development during employment.
Article 10
Women, as well as men, may be designated as members of labour inspection services in agriculture; where necessary, special tasks may be assigned to inspectors or inspectors, respectively.
Article 11
Each Member must take the necessary steps to ensure that qualified experts and technicians who can assist in the solution of problems requiring technical knowledge are involved in the operation of the labour inspection in agriculture, according to the methods deemed most appropriate to national conditions.
Article 12
1. The competent authority shall take appropriate measures to promote effective cooperation between the labour inspection services in agriculture and the government or public or accredited institutions that may be required to carry out similar activities.
2. If circumstances so require, the competent authority may assign, as an auxiliary, certain inspection functions, at the regional or local level, to appropriate government departments or public institutions, or may associate with such functions of such services or institutions, provided that the application of the principles provided for in this Convention is not affected.
Article 13
The competent authority shall take appropriate measures to promote collaboration between labour inspection officials in agriculture, employers and workers, or their organizations, if any.
Article 14
Arrangements must be made to ensure that the number of labour inspectors in agriculture is sufficient to ensure the effective performance of the duties of the inspection service and is determined taking into account:
(a) the importance of the tasks to be performed, including:
(i) the number, nature, importance and status of agricultural enterprises subject to inspection control;
(ii) the number and diversity of the categories of persons occupied in these enterprises;
(iii) the number and complexity of the legal provisions to be implemented;
(b) the material means of enforcement available to inspectors;
(c) the practical conditions under which visits must be conducted to be effective.
Article 15
1. The competent authority shall take the necessary measures to make available to the labour inspectors in agriculture:
(a) local inspection offices appropriately fitted to the needs of the service, accessible, to the extent possible, to all concerned, and located in locations selected according to the geographical location of agricultural enterprises and existing communications facilities;
(b) transportation facilities required for the performance of their functions where appropriate public transport facilities are not available.
2. The competent authority shall take the necessary measures to reimburse the labour inspectors in agriculture for all travel and incidental expenses necessary for the performance of their duties.
Article 16
1. Labour inspectors in agriculture, with supporting documentation of their functions, shall be authorized:
(a) to enter freely, without prior warning, at any time of day and night, at work places subject to inspection control;
(b) to enter all premises on a day-to-day basis that they may have reasonable grounds to assume that they are subject to inspection control;
(c) conduct any examinations, inspections or investigations deemed necessary to ensure that legal provisions are effectively observed, including:
(i) to question, either alone or in the presence of witnesses, the employer, the company staff or any other person in the operation, on all matters relating to the application of the legal provisions;
(ii) to request, in terms that may be defined by national legislation, the communication of all books, registers and other documents that are prescribed by the legislation relating to working and living conditions, with a view to verifying compliance with the legal provisions and copying or preparing extracts thereof;
(iii) to take and take away for the purpose of testing samples of the products, materials and substances used or handled, provided that the employer or its representative is advised that products, materials or substances have been taken and taken for that purpose.
2. Inspectors may not enter, under subparagraphs (a) or (b) of the preceding paragraph, into the private dwelling of the operator of an agricultural enterprise unless they have obtained their agreement or are provided with a special authorization issued by the competent authority.
3. The inspectors must, on the occasion of an inspection visit, inform the employer or its representative, as well as the workers or their representatives, of their presence, unless they feel that such notice may prejudice the effectiveness of the control.
Article 17
Labour Inspection Services in Agriculture shall be associated, in the cases and under the conditions provided by the competent authority, with the preventive control of new facilities, new substances and new processes for the handling or processing of products, which may constitute a threat to health or safety.
Article 18
1. Labour inspectors in agriculture must be allowed to take measures to eliminate defects found in a facility, development or working methods in agricultural enterprises, including the use of hazardous substances, and may have a reasonable ground to consider as a threat to health or safety.
2. In order to be able to take such measures, inspectors shall be entitled, subject to any judicial or administrative remedy that may be provided for in national legislation, to order or order:
(a) that facilities, premises, equipment or appliances are made, within a specified time frame, the necessary modifications to ensure the strict application of the legal provisions concerning health and safety;
(b) that immediate and enforceable measures, which can go to work stop, are taken in cases of imminent danger to health and safety.
3. if the procedure referred to in paragraph 2 above is not consistent with the administrative and judicial practice of the Member, the inspectors shall have the right to apply to the competent authority to make injunctions or to take immediate enforceable measures.
4. Defects identified by the inspector during the visit of a business, as well as measures ordered under paragraph 2 or requested under paragraph 3, must be brought immediately to the attention of the employer and workers' representatives.
Article 19
1. Inspection of work in agriculture must be informed of occupational accidents and cases of occupational disease occurring in the agricultural sector, in the manner prescribed by national legislation.
2. To the extent possible, labour inspectors must be involved in any on-site investigation of the causes of the most serious occupational accidents or illnesses, including accidents or diseases that lead to death or cause a number of victims.
Rule 20
Subject to exceptions that national legislation may provide, labour inspectors in agriculture:
(a) shall not have the right to have any direct or indirect interest in enterprises under their control;
(b) shall be required, under penalty of criminal sanctions or appropriate disciplinary measures, not to reveal, even after leaving the service, the secrets of manufacture or trade or the operating procedures of which they may have known in the performance of their duties;
(c) must treat as absolutely confidential the source of any complaint indicating a defect, danger in the work processes or an offence under the legal provisions, and must intensify to disclose to the employer or his representative that an inspection visit was made following a complaint.
Article 21
Agricultural companies must be inspected as often and as carefully as it is necessary to ensure the effective application of the relevant legal provisions.
Article 22
1. Persons who violate or neglect to observe legal provisions whose application is subject to the control of labour inspectors in agriculture are liable to immediate judicial or administrative proceedings, without prior notice. However, national legislation may provide for exceptions in cases where a prior warning must be given in order to remedy the situation or preventative measures taken.
2. It is left to the free decision of the labour inspectors to give warnings or advice instead of initiating or recommending prosecutions.
Article 23
If the labour inspectors in agriculture are not themselves authorized to sue, they have the right to file directly with the authority vested with the power to sue them, minutes of violation of the legal provisions.
Article 24
Appropriate penalties for violation of legal provisions whose application is subject to the control of labour inspectors in agriculture and for obstruction of such inspectors in the performance of their duties will be provided by national legislation and effectively enforced.
Rule 25
1. Work inspectors or local inspection offices, as the case may be, will be required to submit to the Central Inspection Authority periodic reports on the results of their activities in agriculture.
2. These reports will be prepared in accordance with the manner prescribed by the Central Inspection Authority and will deal with the subjects identified from time to time by that authority; they will be subjected at least as frequently as the said will prescribe and, in all cases, at least once a year.
Rule 26
1. The Central Inspection Authority will publish an annual report on the activity of inspection services in agriculture, either as a separate report or as part of its general annual report.
2. These annual reports will be issued within a reasonable period of time, no longer than 12 months, from the end of the year to which they relate.
3. Copies of annual reports will be provided to the Director General of the International Labour Office within three months of their issuance.
Rule 27
The annual reports issued by the Central Inspection Authority will include the following topics, provided that these subjects are under the control of that authority:
(a) laws and regulations within the competence of the labour inspection in agriculture;
(b) labour inspection personnel in agriculture;
(c) statistics of agricultural enterprises subject to inspection control and number of persons occupied in these enterprises;
(d) inspection vitites statistics;
(e) statistics on offences and penalties imposed;
(f) statistics on occupational accidents and their causes;
(g) statistics on occupational diseases and their causes.
Rule 28
The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office and recorded by him.
Rule 29
1. This Convention shall be binding only on Members of the International Labour Organization whose ratification has been registered by the Director General.
2. It will enter into force twelve months after the ratifications of two Members have been registered by the Director-General.
3. Subsequently, this agreement will come into force for each Member twelve months after the date of its ratification.
Rule 30
1. Any Member who has ratified this Convention may denounce it at the expiry of a period of ten years after the date of the initial entry into force of the Convention, by an act communicated to the Director General of the International Labour Office and registered to it. The denunciation will only take effect one year after being registered.
2; Any Member who has ratified this Convention that, within one year after the expiration of the ten-year period referred to in the previous practitioner, shall not make use of the denunciation faculty provided for in this Article shall be bound for a further ten-year period and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiry of each ten-year period under the conditions set out in this Article.
Rule 31
1. The Director General of the International Labour Office will notify all Members of the International Labour Organization of the registration of all ratifications and denunciations that will be communicated to it by the Members of the Organization.
2. In notifying the Members of the Organization the registration of the second ratification that has been communicated to it, the Director-General will draw the attention of the Members of the Organization to the date on which this Agreement will enter into force.
Rule 32
The Director-General of the International Labour Office will provide the Secretary-General of the United Nations, for registration, in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, with full information on all ratifications and denunciations registered in accordance with the preceding articles.
Rule 33
Each time it deems necessary, the Board of Directors of the International Labour Office will present to the General Conference a report on the application of this Convention and will consider whether it is necessary to include in the agenda of the Conference the question of its total or partial revision.
Rule 34
1. In the event that the Conference adopts a new Convention for the full or partial revision of this Convention, and unless the new Convention otherwise provides:
(a) the ratification by a Member of the new revision convention would entail full right, notwithstanding article 30 above, immediate denunciation of this Convention, subject to the entry into force of the new revision convention;
(b) from the date of the entry into force of the new revision convention, this Convention would cease to be open to ratification by Members.
2. This Convention remained in any case in its form and content for those Members who have ratified it and who would not ratify the Review Convention.
Rule 35
The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally authentic.
The above text is the authentic text of the Convention duly adopted by the General Conference of the International Labour Organization at its fifty-third session, held in Geneva and declared closed on 25 June 1969.
In faith of what their signatures were, this fifth day of June 1969.
The President of the Conference,
J. MÖRI
Director General of the International Labour Office,
DAVID A. MORSE
The instrument of ratification of Belgium was exchanged in Geneva on 8 September 1997. In accordance with Article 29, § 3, the Agreement will enter into force on 8 September 1998.
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(1) Session 1995-1996:
Senate:
Documents. - Bill tabled on 25 April 1996, No. 1-317/1. - Report, no. 1-317/2. - Text adopted in Committee No. 1-317/3.
Session 1996-1997:
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion and voting. Session of 7 November 1996.
House of Representatives:
Documents. - Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 768/1.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion and voting. Session of 8 January 1997.