Reference.
pa 031/11.
36A
031
31/11
RECE
STRY
DEC 1993
CISTRY
Mr Bunten HKD
HONG KONG: INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION KILO CONVENTIONS 98 AND 151
1.
In accordance with Article 23 of the ILO Constitution and in line with agreed procedures under ILO Convention 144, copies of Article 22 reports are sent to the CBI and TUC for comments before they are despatched to the ILO.
The only comments made on this year's Hong Kong reports were by the TUC in respect of Conventions 98 and 151 (copies attached). I should be grateful if you would forward them to the Hong Kong authorities for their consideration.
2.
The ILO Experts will be examining all Hong Kong's reports next February. The Experts will consider the TUC comments at the same time. It is therefore likely that, following their examination, the Experts will issue an observation on these Conventions which may be critical and will ask the Hong Kong Government for further information or clarification in the light of the TUC's comments.
3.
Although it is unlikely that Hong Kong will need to respond formally to the ILO until 1995, when asked to complete reports on these Conventions, there is a chance that these matters could be selected for discussion at next year's ILO Conference. In that event we would need to ensure that we were well prepared to respond.
The Hong Kong Government may alternatively prefer to try to pre-empt any observations or direct requests from the ILO Experts and provide a response to the points raised by the TUC as soon as possible before the ILO Experts meet in February.
4.
5.
भ
I should be grateful if you would ask the Hong Kong authorities which course they would prefer to adopt. If the former, there is no particular degree of urgency though it would probably be helpful if a provisional response could be prepared by mid-February. This response should defend Hong Kong's position, demonstrating that the allegations are unfounded and that Hong Kong remains in compliance with the Convention. The Department of Employment (DE) would then prepare defensive briefing for use should the Experts issue observations. We would need to check again with Hong Kong whether any updating is necessary if we considered that the issues might be raised at the 1994 ILO Conference. If the latter approach is preferred, a response to the TUC comments should be provided by mid-January at the latest so that DE can send it to reach the Experts before their examination of the reports.
Bunten13.12
CODE 18-77