European Union Statement 

112th International Labour Conference

Committee on Application of Standards

Kazakhstan

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) and Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129)

Geneva, 12 June 2024

Thank you, Chair.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro* and Albania*, and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

1. The EU and its Member States are committed to the respect, protection and fulfilment of human rights, including labour rights. We actively promote universal ratification and effective implementation of fundamental ILO Conventions and support the ILO in developing and promoting international labour standards and supervising their application.
2. The EU and Kazakhstan signed an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement in 2020, advancing and strengthening cooperation with the country in key policy areas such as trade and investment, sustainable development, economic cooperation and employment and social affairs.
3. We note with concern that the moratorium on labour inspections for private and state-owned small and micro-enterprises introduced in January 2020 was further extended until January 2024. We deplore that based on information from national trade unions none of the complaints related to violations of labour rights in agriculture were inspected due to the moratorium. While we acknowledge that according to the recently submitted information by the Government the moratorium ended in January 2024, and that since then around 2,300 inspections have been conducted, we would be interested to know the reasons leading to the Government introducing this moratorium, which is a serious violation of the ratified labour inspections Conventions Nos 81 and 129. We also call on the Government to ensure that inspectors can conduct labour inspections as often and as thoroughly as necessary.
4. We note that the Entrepreneur Code prescribes prior registration of inspections with the Public Prosecutor’s office, which can refuse registrations. Moreover, the Entrepreneur Code contains provisions that limit the free initiative of inspectors and their ability to conduct inspections without prior notice. We echo the Committee of Experts’ call on the Government to take the necessary legislative measures to ensure that inspectors can undertake inspections without prior notice and conduct any examination they deem necessary. Moreover, following the revocation of section 197 of the Labour Code, we request the Government to indicate to the ILO whether inspectors are entitled to conduct inspections at any time of the day and night.   
5. Concerning the frequency of labour inspections, we note that according to ITUC, there is no minimum frequency of inspections established for low-risk employers, who are therefore not covered by scheduled monitoring activities. In line with the Committee of Experts, we urge the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that risk assessment criteria do not limit the powers of labour inspectors.
6. We remark that section 151 of the Entrepreneur code stipulates that labour inspectors are not allowed to undertake inspections on elements that are not included in the inspection checklist, and that according to section 156, inspections are considered invalid in the absence of a prior notification to the concerned workplaces. Based on information from the Government, a draft law on safe labour conditions that would permit unannounced inspections is under consideration. However, we note that this provision would only apply to dangerous production facilities. As requested by the Committee of Experts, we ask the Government to revise the previously mentioned sections in line with Conventions No. 81 and No. 129.
7. We also note that according to the Entrepreneur Code, in cases where violations are detected during preventive inspections, labour inspectors are obliged to issue a warning and cannot initiate proceedings, and that rapid response measures can only be adopted in the cases identified by the law and for violations of items included in the inspection checklist. In line with the Committee of Experts, we request the Government to take the necessary measures to allow inspectors to initiate legal proceedings without previous warning, and to provide information on the changes made on this matter.
8. Recalling that the Entrepreneur Code allows for employers to refuse inspections, we request the Government to take measures to ensure that the work of labour inspectors is not unduly obstructed.
9. We are concerned that no annual reports on the activities of the labour inspectorate has been received by the ILO since the ratification of both Conventions. We therefore welcome the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Labour is preparing a comprehensive annual report on the work undertaken by labour inspectors in 2023. We encourage the Government to make this a regular practice and to transmit the reports to the ILO.
10. The EU stands ready to support Kazakhstan with the aim to strengthen the Government’s capacity to address the issues raised and in meeting its obligations under the ratified Conventions.

Thank you Chair.

*North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.