Labour Advisory Board Report 2005-2006 - Chapter 6

In 1976, the International Labour Conference adopted the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention (No.144) which aims to promote tripartite consultations among governments, employers and workers on matters related to the formulation, review and implementation of international labour standards. This Convention was applied to Hong Kong with modification in 1978. In relation to the application of this Convention, the Committee on the Implementation of International Labour Standards (CIILS) was set up in the same year on the advice of the Labour Advisory Board.

The committee is established to:

• advise on appropriate declarations to be made in respect of the application of international labour Conventions in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
• advise on appropriate measures to be taken to promote the implementation of, or where appropriate, to improve the declarations in respect of, international labour Conventions with the declaration of "applied with modification";
• advise on questions arising out of the reports to be made to the International Labour Office; and
• advise on government replies to questionnaires concerning items on the agenda of the International Labour Conference and government comments on proposed texts to be discussed by the conference.

Members of the CIILS are appointed by the Permanent Secretary for Economic Development and Labour (Labour). The composition of the committee for the term 2005-2006 is as follows:

The membership list of the CIILS for the term 2005-2006 is at Appendix III.

During the 2005-2006 term, the CIILS undertook the following activities:

In accordance with Article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is required to submit reports on the application of ILCs as requested by the International Labour Office. Reports on seven and nine ILCs were submitted respectively in 2005 and 2006. The reports were communicated to committee members for comment before they were forwarded to the International Labour Office.

A list of reports on ILCs which were considered by the CIILS during the 2005-2006 term is at Appendix VII.

During the 2005-2006 term, the CIILS held a discussion on the trends in the latest development of international labour standards. These trends included promotion of fundamental Conventions, an integrated approach to the ILO's standards-related activities, consensus building, keeping standards up to date, consolidation and grouping of standards, and change of reporting mechanisms. The committee gained a deeper understanding of the developments of international labour standards and gave advice on how application of ILCs in the HKSAR could be steered towards the same direction.

As at 31 December 2006, a total of 41 Conventions were applied to the HKSAR. Among them, 28 were applied without modification (i.e. all provisions of a Convention were fully implemented) and 13 were applied with modification (i.e. a Convention was implemented with modifications in some provisions to suit local conditions).