Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 1962 (No. 118) - Mauritania (Ratification: 1968)

Articles 5 and 8 of the Convention. Payment of benefits in the event of residence abroad. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that when a beneficiary originates from a State that has signed a reciprocity agreement or international social security agreement with Mauritania, the physical presence of the beneficiary is not required for entitlement to benefit or to organize the bank transfer of the benefits. The Committee also noted that Mauritania had concluded bilateral social security agreements with Algeria, Benin, France, Mali, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia. In the event of residence in a country that is not bound to Mauritania by an international agreement, benefits may still be paid on condition that the beneficiary makes him or herself known to the Mauritanian embassies and consulates abroad. The Committee requested the Government to indicate how the beneficiaries of social security benefits were informed of this possibility for the payment of their benefits abroad when they leave the national territory for a country that is not bound to Mauritania by a social security agreement.

The Committee notes the Government’s reply, which indicates that the possibility of paying social security benefits abroad in a country that is not party to an international agreement is not covered by the regulatory framework, and that there is therefore no standard means of informing beneficiaries of their payment. The Committee recalls that under Article 5 of the Convention, each Member which has accepted the obligations of this Convention in respect of the branch or branches of social security concerned shall guarantee both to its own nationals and to the nationals of any other Member which has accepted the obligations of the Convention in respect of the branch or branches in question, when they are resident abroad, provision of invalidity benefits, old-age benefits, survivors' benefits and death grants, and employment injury pensions. The Committee notes that this obligation can be met by the conclusion of relevant multilateral or bilateral agreements under Article 8 of the Convention. However, the Committee recalls that the payment of benefits abroad provided under Article 5 of the Convention must be guaranteed even in the absence of such a multilateral or bilateral agreement with the country of residence of the beneficiary. The Committee requests the Government to supply statistical data on the number of beneficiaries who receive social security benefits paid by the Mauritanian social security system, who are resident in States that have not concluded an international agreement with Mauritania, and to specify the States concerned. The Committee also requests the Government to take the steps required to conclude multilateral or bilateral social security agreements with a view to guaranteeing the payment of benefits in the countries where the largest effective or potential beneficiaries reside, in application of Articles 5 and 8 of the Convention.