| | Ad Hoc Supervisory Mechanisms As the occasion requires, the ILO may adopt other ad hoc measures for enforcing international labour standards. Many of these measures have emerged from resolutions of the International Labour Conference and/or Governing Body decisions.
Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy
Since 1985, the Governing Body has requested information concerning the implementation of this Declaration, adopted by the Governing Body in 1977. Governments are asked to report to the Governing Body every three years on the effect given to the Declaration. The Governing Body also monitors activities of the Office designed to promote the Declaration and its implementation. Governments and, in certain circumstances, employers' or workers' organizations may ask the ILO for an interpretation of the provisions of the Declaration in the event of disputes over their application.
Ad Hoc procedures
The ILO has, from time to time, also carried out various ad hoc procedures. These include the long series of Director-General's reports on the effect given to the Declaration concerning Action Against Apartheid (no longer prepared), and on the situation of workers in the occupied Arab territories; both were, or are, submitted directly to the Conference for discussion. Other procedures, including various kinds of special studies, have been used on various occasions.
Direct contacts
Under a procedure adopted in 1964, a country may request direct contacts to discuss questions raised by the supervisory bodies. In such cases, the Director-General appoints a representative - who may be an official of the Office or an independent person - to discuss the situation with the government concerned and with the tripartite partners in the country. In such cases, the operation of the supervisory system is suspended for one year to allow a solution to the difficulty to be found.
Special Studies on Discrimination
In 1973 the Governing Body adopted a procedure for special studies on discrimination, which has not yet been used successfully. Under this procedure, a request for a special study may be submitted by a member State or by an organization of employers or of workers on specific questions which concern them. If the government concerned agrees to such a study, the Director General is to examine with it the arrangements for carrying it out. It is not confined to countries having ratified any particular ILO Conventions. | |
