E/C.12/FIN/CO/5 Page 2 B. Positive aspects 4. The Committee notes with appreciation the State party’s continuing efforts to comply with its obligations under the Covenant and the overall protection afforded to economic, social and cultural rights in the State party. 5. The Committee welcomes the information provided in the State party report on the implementation of the concluding observations adopted by the Committee with regard to the fourth periodic report of the State party. 6. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the State party has indicated its support for an Optional Protocol to the Covenant. 7. The Committee welcomes the efforts undertaken by the State party to combat discrimination, including the establishment of the Office of the Minority Ombudsman, the adoption of the Non-Discrimination Act and the amendments to the Penal Code increasing sanctions imposed for crimes related to ethnic intolerance. 8. The Committee welcomes the amendments to the Act on Equality between Men and Women, particularly the mandatory development of equality plans for companies employing more than 30 persons. The Committee also welcomes the introduction of a quota system for the representation of men and women (at least 40 per cent of each) in all State and municipal bodies. 9. The Committee welcomes the recent amendments to the Penal Code to include the crime of trafficking in human beings and aggravated trafficking in human beings in the Finnish legislation, as well as the adoption, in January 2007, of the Act on Support for Victims of Trafficking. The Committee also takes note of the recent ratification of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and the signature of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. C. Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant 10. The Committee notes the absence of any significant factors or difficulties preventing the effective implementation of the Covenant in Finland. D. Principal subjects of concern 11. The Committee is concerned that in spite of the efforts made by the State party to solve the question of the ownership and use of land in the Sámi Homeland, the prevailing legal uncertainty surrounding this issue negatively affects the right of the Sámi to maintain and develop their traditional culture and way of life, in particular reindeer herding. The Committee also notes that failure to resolve the issue of land rights in the Sámi Homeland has so far prevented Finland from ratifying the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries.