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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Panama (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and the numerous documents attached. It also notes the Bill on the protection of children and young persons supplied by the Government, which will be discussed in the Cabinet Council and the Legislative Assembly with a view to its adoption. The Committee hopes that the Bill will be adopted in the near future and that it will take into account the comments made below. It requests the Government to provide information once the Bill has been adopted.

Article 1 of the Convention and Part V of the report form. National policy and application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, according to the statistics contained in the national report concerning the child labour survey undertaken by the Directorate of Statistics and Census and the Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC) and published by ILO/IPEC in March 2003, the number of children between the ages of 5 and 17 years engaged in child labour was 47,976. According to the report, 25,273 minors worked in agriculture. Furthermore, according to the report published in 2002 by IPEC entitled “Rapid evaluation of the situation of children in domestic work in Panama”, 57 per cent of child workers between the ages of 10 and 17 years were engaged in agriculture, 11 per cent in domestic work and 14 per cent in commercial activities. The Committee observed that the above statistics showed that the application of the regulations on child labour appeared to be difficult in practice and that child labour was a problem in the country. It requested the Government to provide information on the measures adopted or envisaged to harmonize progressively the de facto situation and the law.

The Committee takes due note of the detailed information provided by the Government in its report. According to the Government, although these activities expose them to major risk factors, in Panama children and young persons work in the streets, packing in supermarkets, as rubbish collectors, car washers, in agricultural activities (coffee and tomato plantations and watermelon fields), other informal sector activities such as the sale of flowers and fruit or engage in begging with a view to survival. The Government however indicates that it is taking a large number of measures to eliminate child labour and its worst forms. In this respect, the Committee notes the Government is implementing a number of programmes of action in collaboration with ILO/IPEC concerning, among others, child domestic work, agricultural work, hazardous types of work and work by indigenous children. The Committee further notes the information provided by the Government on the consultations held by the safety and health service to combat child labour in hazardous and unhealthy activities, including public awareness-raising activities on child labour in collaboration with the actors concerned by hazardous forms of child labour. It further notes with interest the new National Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour and the Protection of Young Workers (2007–11). The Committee greatly appreciates the measures taken by the Government to abolish child labour, and considers these measures to be an affirmation of the political will to develop strategies to combat these problem. It therefore strongly encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to combat child labour and requests it to provide information on the implementation of the projects and the new National Plan referred to above, as well as the results obtained in terms of the progressive abolition of child labour.

Article 2, paragraph 2. Raising the minimum age for admission to employment or work initially specified. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Bill for the protection of children and young persons contains a provision raising the minimum age for admission to employment or work from 14 to 15 years. In this respect, it once again draws the Government’s attention to the fact that Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention envisages the possibility, for a State which decides to raise the minimum age for admission to employment or work initially specified, to notify the Director-General of the International Labour Office by a further declaration. In this way, the age determined by the national legislation can be harmonized with that envisaged at the international level. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the raising of the minimum age for admission to employment or work.

Article 2, paragraph 3. Age of completion of compulsory schooling. The Committee notes the adoption of Executive Decree No. 302 of 30 April 2004 issuing the Education Act No. 47 of 1946. It notes that, under the terms of section 75 of Executive Decree No. 302 of 30 April 2004, no child under 15 years of age may perform work or any activity whatsoever which would prevent her or him from attending school regularly.

Article 3, paragraph 3. Authorization to employ young persons from the age of 16 years on hazardous types of work. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, under the terms of section 118 of the Labour Code and section 510 of the Family Code, hazardous work was prohibited for young persons under 18 years of age, in accordance with Article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention. However, it also noted that, under section 118(2) of the Labour Code and section 510(2) of the Family Code, this prohibition does not apply to work performed by minors in training establishments when the work is approved and supervised by the competent authority in the following activities: the transport of passengers and goods by road, rail, air and inland waterways and work on quays and vessels and in warehouses; work related to the production, processing and supply of energy; the handling of explosive and inflammable substances; and underground work in mines, quarries, tunnels or sewers. On the one hand, the Committee reminded the Government of the provisions of Article 6 of the Convention concerning vocational training and education and those of Article 3, paragraph 3, of the Convention, respecting work by young persons as from 16 years of age in hazardous activities. It requested the Government to provide information on the measures adopted or envisaged to ensure that no one under 16 years of age working in a training establishment may be authorized, under section 118(2) of the Labour Code and section 510(2) of the Family Code to perform a hazardous activity.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the low percentage of children who, according to the statistics contained in the survey on child labour carried out in 2000 by the Directorate of Statistics and Census and SIMPOC and published by ILO/IPEC in March 2003, who are in the situation of performing hazardous types of work in a training context. The Committee notes with interest the adoption of Executive Decree No. 19 of 12 June 2006 approving the list of hazardous types of child labour, in the context of the worst forms of child labour. It further notes that section 97 of the Bill on the protection of children and young persons contains a list of hazardous types of work prohibited for young persons under 18 years of age. The Committee observes that neither Executive Decree No. 19 of 12 June 2006 nor the Bill to protect children and young persons envisage the repeal or amendment of section 118(2) of the Labour Code and section 510(2) of the Family Code. The Committee reminds the Government that, under the terms of Article 3, paragraph 3, of the Convention, national laws or regulations or the competent authority may, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, authorize employment or work as from the age of 16 years on condition that the health, safety and morals of the young persons concerned are fully protected and that they have received adequate specific instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity. In view of the above, the Committee hopes that, in the context of the current process of regulating the rights of children, the Government will envisage the possibility of repealing or amending section 118(2) of the Labour Code and section 150(2) of the Family Code so as to bring them into conformity with the provisions of Article 3, paragraph 3, of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information in this respect.

Article 8. Artistic performances. The Committee requested the Government previously to provide copies of the regulations adopted by the National Council for the Family and Minors under section 510(1)(8) of the Family Code, which prohibits the use of minors under 18 years of age in artistic performances. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that the national legislation does not regulate this subject, but that the Ministry of Social Development, in collaboration with the Communication Directorate of the Ministry of Governance and Justice, is studying the relevant provisions and the possibility of adopting legislation that is applicable in this field. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any progress achieved in this respect.