MECHANISMS TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH ILO STANDARDS concerned. • The Committee of Experts’ analysis and findings are published as Annual Reports. Annual Reports These are published as Application: International Labour Conventions, (Report III [Part 1A]). The Annual Report has two parts: • A General Report in which the Committee of Experts reviews questions relating to international labour standards and their implementation. • A second section with Observations on individual countries arranged by Convention (according to date of adoption).53 General Surveys These are published in Report III (Part 1B), which is a summary of the reports received on un-ratified Conventions and Recommendations, and are an analysis of how these standards have been put into practice by states which have ratified and those that have not. The Committee of Experts report is adopted at the end of its November to December session, and is published in the following March in time for the spring Governing Body meeting.54 • The annual ILO Conference considers the report at its session in June, and its discussions on the Committee of Experts’ report are included in its own Conference report. • The ILO sends out requests for periodic reports to member states in February, together with any Observations or Direct Requests from the Committee of Experts. Copies of the Committee of Experts’ report should also be sent to representative national employer and trade union organizations by the government of the country concerned. As mentioned earlier, the level of compliance with this requirement varies depending on a government’s position and the level of cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. However, the purpose is to provide these organizations with an opportunity to challenge a government’s assessment, and to place additional information before the Committee of Experts, to help the Committee to fully assess the practical implications of international labour standards. Comments of employers’ and workers’ organizations Employers’ and workers’ organizations can submit reports on the application of an ILO Convention at any time, irrespective of when a report on that Convention is due, or whether they are based in the country concerned. These are known as ‘comments’. They must be made in writing, refer to a ratified Convention and indicate, as accurately as possible, how it has been contravened. All comments must be submitted directly to the ILO. The ILO forwards a copy of any comments it has received from employers’ and workers’ organizations to the government concerned so it can respond to the issues raised in the comments. It should be stressed that only ILO traditional partners, e.g. employers’ and trade union organizations, can submit these comments. All comments are given to the Committee of Experts. In its 2001 Annual Report, the Committee emphasized the vital role of employers’ and workers’ organizations in the application of standards: ‘At each session, the Committee draws the attention of governments to the role that employers’ and workers’ organizations are called upon to play in the application of Conventions and Recommendations and to the fact that numerous Conventions require consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, or their collaboration in a variety of measures … In accordance with established practice, in April 2000 the Office sent to the representative organizations of employers and workers a letter outlining the various opportunities open to them of contributing to the implementation of Conventions and Recommendations, accompanied by relevant documentary material, and a list of the reports due from their respective governments and copies of the Committee’s comments to which the governments were invited to reply in their reports.’ 55 The ILO wishes to strengthen the role of employers’ and workers’ organizations in its supervisory work and therefore welcomes their interaction in this process. Minority and indigenous organizations and other concerned NGOs can take advantage of this opening and send information on contraventions of ILO Conventions to a friendly employers’ organization or to a trade union with a request to forward this documentation to the ILO. Although comments can be provided at any time, to make sure they are considered by the Committee of Experts at its next session (November to December), they should be submitted by the end of September, if not earlier. This is a good example of how to bring a specific issue to the attention of the ILO supervisory bodies, and has been used to good effect by minority and indigenous organizations and other concerned NGOs wishing to draw attention to a specific issue. THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION: A HANDBOOK FOR MINORITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 27