Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam needed to improve its legal framework on child labour,especially regulations on minors working in informal sectors, expertsrecommended.

Minoru Ogasawara, chiefadvisor of the project ‘Technical Support for Enhancing the National Capacityto Prevent and Reduce Child Labour in Vietnam’ (ENHANCE), said at a workshopearly this week in the northern province of Quang Ninh that Vietnam wasintegrating into the world economy through new generation free trade agreementslike the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-PacificPartnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.

“It’s very important toeliminate or reduce child labour in the supply chain of products that Vietnammakes for export,” he said.

Ogasawara said themajority of Vietnam’s child workers were in informal sectors but the country’sLabour Code did not have regulations addressing these areas.

“The legal framework isnot strict enough to protect child workers in informal sectors,” he said.

In Vietnam, the nationalsurvey of child labour in 2012 – the first one of its kind in the country -showed that there were about 1.75 million child labourers nationwide, making up9.6 percent of children aged between five and 17.

The number of childlabourers is estimated at 1.7 million, with 34 percent working over 42 hoursper week.

In chapter XI of Vietnam’sLabour Code dated 2012, there are separate provisions for minor employees- whoare defined as employees under 18 years of age.

Employment of minors isprohibited in heavy, toxic and dangerous jobs or in workplaces or jobs whichmay adversely affect their personalities, as determined in a list issued by theMinistry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in coordination with theMinistry of Health.

The working time forminors aged from full 15 to 18 years must not exceed 8 hours per day or 40hours per week. The working time for employees aged under 15 years must notexceed 4 hours per day or 20 hours per week and employers may not employ minorsto work overtime or at night.

According to theInternational Labour Organisation (ILO), Vietnam had laid the foundation foreffective and sustainable action against child labour.

Vietnam was the firstcountry in Asia and second in the world to ratify the United Nations’International Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In November 2000, theGovernment of Vietnam ratified the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999(No.182), and in 2003 the Government ratified the Minimum Age Convention, 1973(No.138).

Ratifications signalledto the international community Vietnam’s commitment and determination tourgently undertake time-bound measures for the elimination of the worst formsof child labour in the country.

In 2016, the Governmentlaunched a programme on the prevention and control of child labour from 2016 to2020.

However, Hanoi-basedLeadco Legal Counsel, after reviewing and analyzing the legal framework ofchild labour in Vietnam, found shortcomings.

The shortcomings wererepresented at a workshop in Quang Ninh together with recommendations such asthe inconsistency of ages mentioned in definitions of child, juvenile and minoremployees, the need to develop legal mechanisms to protect youngsters as wellas regulations on child labour in informal sectors.

Ha Dinh Bon, head of theLegal Affairs Department under Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs,the ministry planned to submit to the Government a draft of the revised LabourCode next month and submit it to the National Assembly in May for discussion.

The International LabourOrganisation estimates there are about 152 million child labourers in the worldat present. Working at an early age causes serious consequences, includingaffecting children’s physical and mental development and preventing theiraccess to suitable education. It also harms socio-economic development,especially the quality of future human resources.-VNS/VNA