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Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation (2002)
International Labour Conference (20 June 2002)
Recommendation 193
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CONTENTS
- Preamble
- I. Scope, Definition and Objectives
- II. Policy Framework and Role of Government
-
III. Implementation of Public Policies for the Promotion of Cooperatives
-
IV. Role of Employers' and Workers' Organisations and Cooperative
Organisations, and Relationships between them
- V. International Cooperation
- VI. Final Provision
- Annex: Statement of Cooperative Identity
- Further Information
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The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation (ILO),
Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International
Labour Office, and having met in its 90th Session on 3 June 2002, and
Recognising the importance of cooperatives in job creation, mobilising
resources, generating investment and their contribution to the economy, and
Recognising that cooperatives in their various forms promote the fullest
participation in the economic and social development of all people, and
Recognising that globalisation has created new and different pressures,
problems, challenges and opportunities for cooperatives, and that stronger
forms of human solidarity at national and international levels are required
to facilitate a more equitable distribution of the benefits of
globalisation, and
Noting the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work,
adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 86th Session (1998),
and
Noting the rights and principles embodied in international labour
Conventions and Recommendations, in particular the Forced Labour Convention,
1930; the Freedom Association and Protection of the Right to Organise
Convention, 1948; the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining
Convention, 1949; the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951; the Social
Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952; the Abolition of Forced
Labour Convention, 1957; the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation)
Convention, 1958; the Employment Policy Convention, 1964; the Minimum Age
Convention, 1973; the Rural Workers' Organisations Convention and
Recommendation, 1975; the Human Resources Development Convention and
Recommendation, 1975; the Employment Policy (Supplementary Provisions)
Recommendation, 1984; the Job Creation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Recommendation, 1998; and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999,
and
Recalling the principle embodied in the Declaration of Philadelphia that
"labour is not a commodity", and
Recalling that the realisation of decent work for workers everywhere is a
primary objective of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to the
promotion of cooperatives, which is the fourth item on the agenda of the
session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of a
Recommendation;
Adopts this twentieth day of June of the year two thousand and two the
following Recommendation, which may be cited as the Promotion of
Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002.
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1. It is recognised that cooperatives operate in all sectors of the economy.
This Recommendation applies to all types and forms of cooperatives.
2. For the purposes of this Recommendation, the term "cooperative" means an
autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common
economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through jointly owned
and democratically controlled enterprise.
3. The promotion and strengthening of the identity of cooperatives should be
encouraged on the basis of:
a) cooperative values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy,
equality, equity and solidarity; as well as ethical values of honesty,
openness, social responsibility and caring for others; and
b) cooperative principles as developed by the international cooperative
movement and referred to in the Annex hereto. These principles are:
voluntary and open membership; democratic member control; member economic
participation; autonomy and independence; education, training and
information; cooperation among cooperatives; and concern for community.
4. Measures should be adopted to promote the potential of cooperatives in
all countries, irrespective of their level of development, in order to
assist them and their membership to:
a) create and develop income-generating activities and sustainable decent
employment;
b) develop human resource capacities and knowledge of the values, advantages
and benefits of the cooperative movement through education and training;
c) develop their business potential, including entrepreneurial and
managerial capacities;
d) strengthen their competitiveness as well as gain access to markets and to
institutional finance;
e) increase savings and investment;
f) improve social and economic well-being, taking into account the need to
eliminate all forms of discrimination;
g) contribute to sustainable human development; and
h) establish and expand a viable and dynamic distinctive sector of the
economy, which includes cooperatives, that respond to the social and
economic needs of the community.
5. The adoption of special measures should be encouraged to enable
cooperatives, as enterprises and organisations inspired by solidarity, to
respond to their members' needs and the needs of society, including those of
disadvantaged groups in order to achieve their social inclusion.
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6. A balanced society necessitates the existence of strong public and
private sectors, as well as a strong cooperative, mutual and the other
social and non-governmental sector. It is in this context that Governments
should provide a supportive policy and legal framework consistent with the
nature and function of cooperatives and guided by the cooperative values and
principles set out in Paragraph 3, which would:
a) establish an institutional framework with the purpose of allowing for the
registration of cooperatives in as rapid, simple, affordable and efficient a
manner as possible;
b) promote policies aimed at allowing the creation of appropriate reserves,
part of which at least could be indivisible, and solidarity funds within
cooperatives;
c) provide for the adoption of measures for the oversight of cooperatives,
on terms appropriate to their nature and functions, which respect their
autonomy, and are in accordance with national law and practice, and which
are no less favourable than those applicable to other forms of enterprise
and social organisation;
d) facilitate the membership of cooperatives in cooperative structures
responding to the needs of cooperative members; and
e) encourage the development of cooperatives as autonomous and self-managed
enterprises, particularly in areas where cooperatives have an important role
to play or provide services that are not otherwise provided.
7.1 The promotion of cooperatives guided by the values and principles set
out in Paragraph 3 should be considered as one of the pillars of national
and international economic and social development.
7.2 Cooperatives should be treated in accordance with natural law and
practice and on terms no less favourable than those accorded to other forms
of enterprise and social organisation. Governments should introduce support
measures, where appropriate, for the activities of cooperatives that meet
specific social and public policy outcomes, such as employment promotion or
the development of activities benefiting disadvantaged groups or regions.
Such measures could include, among others and in so far as possible, tax
benefits, loans, grants, access to public works programmes, and special
procurement provisions.
7.1 Special consideration should be given to increasing women's
participation in the cooperative movement at all levels, particularly at
management and leadership levels.
8.1 National policies should notably:
a) promote the ILO Fundamental Labour Standards and the ILO Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, for all workers in cooperatives
without distinction whatsoever;
b) ensure that cooperatives are not set up for, or used for, non-compliance
with labour law or used to establish disguised employment relationships, and
combat pseudo cooperatives violating workers' rights, by ensuring that
labour legislation is applied in all enterprises;
c) promote gender equality in cooperatives and in their work;
d) promote measures to ensure that best labour practices are followed in
cooperatives, including access to relevant information;
e) develop the technical and vocational skills, entrepreneurial and
managerial abilities, knowledge of business potential, and general economic
and social policy skills, of members, workers and managers, and improve
their access to information and communication technologies;
f) promote education and training in cooperative principles and practices,
at all appropriate levels of the national education and training systems,
and in the wider society;
g) promote the adoption of measures that provide for safety and health in
the workplace;
h) provide training and other forms of assistance to improve the level of
productivity and competitiveness of cooperatives and the quality of goods
and services they produce;
i) facilitate access of cooperatives to credit;
j) facilitate access of cooperatives to markets;
k) promote the dissemination of information on cooperatives; and
l) seek to improve national statistics on cooperatives with a view to the
formulation and implementation of development policies.
10.1 Such policies should:
a) decentralise to the regional and local levels, where appropriate, the
formulation and implementation of policies and regulations regarding
cooperatives;
b) define legal obligations of cooperatives in areas such as registration,
financial and social audits, and the obtaining of licences; and
c) promote best practice on corporate governance in cooperatives.
9. Governments should promote the important role of cooperatives in
transforming what are often called marginal survival activities (sometimes
referred to as the "informal economy") into legally protected work, fully
integrated into mainstream economic life.
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10.1 Member States should adopt specific legislation and regulations on
cooperatives, which are guided by cooperative values and principles, set out
in Paragraph 3, and revise such legislation and regulations when
appropriate.
10.2 Governments should consult cooperative organisations, as well as the
employers' and workers' organisations concerned, in the formulation and
revision of legislation, policies and regulations applicable to
cooperatives.
11.1 Governments should facilitate access of cooperatives to support
services in order to strengthen them, their business viability and their
capacity to create employment and income.
11.2 These services should include, wherever possible:
a) human resource development programmes;
b) research and management consultancy services;
c) access to finance and investment;
d) accountancy and audit services;
e) management information service;
f) information and public relations services;
g) consultancy services on technology and innovations;
h) legal and taxation services;
i) support services for marketing; and
j) other support services where appropriate.
11.4 Governments should facilitate the establishment of these support
services. Cooperatives and their organisations should be encouraged to
participate in the organisation and management of these services and,
wherever feasible and appropriate, to finance them.
11.5 Governments should recognise the role of cooperatives and their
organisations by developing appropriate instruments aimed at creating and
strengthening cooperatives at national and local levels.
12. Governments should, where appropriate, adopt measures to facilitate the
access of cooperatives to investment finance and credit. Such measures
should notably:
a) allow loans and other financial facilities to be offered;
b) simplify administrative procedures, remedy any inadequate level of
cooperative assets, and reduce the cost of loan transactions;
c) facilitate an autonomous system of finance for cooperatives, including
savings and credit, banking and insurance cooperatives; and
d) include special provisions for disadvantaged groups.
13. For the promotion of the cooperative movement, governments should
encourage conditions favouring the development of technical, commercial and
financial linkages among all forms of cooperatives so as to facilitate an
exchange of experience and the sharing of risks and benefits.
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14. Employers' and workers' organisations, recognising the significance of
cooperatives for the attainment of sustainable development goals, should
seek, together with cooperative organisations, ways and means of cooperative
promotion.
15. Employers' organisations should consider, where appropriate, the
extension of membership to cooperatives wishing to join them and provide
appropriate support services on the same terms and conditions applying to
other members.
16. Workers' organisations should be encouraged:
a) advise and assist workers in cooperatives to join workers' organisations;
b) assist their members to establish cooperatives, including with the aim of
facilitating access to basic goods and services;
c) participate in committees and working groups at the local, national and
international levels that consider economic and social issues having an
impact on cooperatives;
d) assist and participate in the setting up of new cooperatives with a view
to the creation or maintenance of employment, including in cases of proposed
closures of enterprises;
e) assist and participate in programmes for cooperatives aimed at improving
their productivity;
f) promote equality of opportunity in cooperatives;
g) promote the exercise of the rights of worker-members of cooperatives; and
h) undertake any other activities for the promotion of cooperatives,
including education and training.
17 Cooperatives and organisations representing them should be encouraged to:
a) establish an active relationship with employers' and workers'
organisations and concerned governmental and non-governmental agencies with
a view to creating a favourable climate for the development of cooperatives;
a) manage their own support services and contribute to their financing;
b) provide commercial and financial services to affiliated cooperatives;
c) invest in, and further, human resource development of their members,
workers and managers;
d) further the development of and affiliation with national and
international cooperative organisations;
e) represent the national cooperative movement at the international level;
and
f) undertake any other activities for the promotion of cooperatives.
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18 International cooperation should be facilitated through:
a) exchanging information on policies and programmes that have proved to be
effective in employment creation and income generation for members of
cooperatives;
b) encouraging and promoting relationships between national and
international bodies and institutions involved in the development of
cooperatives in order to permit:
(i) the exchange of personnel and ideas, of educational and training
materials, methodologies and reference materials;
(ii) the compilation and utilisation of research material and other data on
cooperatives and their development;
(iii) the establishment of alliances and international partnerships between
cooperatives;
(iv) the promotion and protection of cooperative values and principles; and
(v) the establishment of commercial relations between cooperatives;
c) access of cooperatives to national and international data, such as market
information, legislation, training methods and techniques, technology and
product standards; and
d) developing, where it is warranted and possible, and in consultation with
cooperatives, employers' and workers' organisations concerned, common
regional and international guidelines and legislation to support
cooperatives.
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19 The present Recommendation revises and replaces the Co-operatives
(Developing Countries) Recommendation, 1966.
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Extract from the Statement on the Cooperative Identity, adopted by the
General Assembly of the International Co-operative Alliance in 1995
The cooperative principles are guidelines by which cooperatives put their
values into practice.
Voluntary and open membership
Cooperatives are voluntary organisations, open to all persons able to use
their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership,
without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.
Democratic member control
Cooperatives are democratic organisations controlled by their members, who
actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and
Women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership.
In primary cooperatives members have equal voting rights (one member, one
vote) and cooperatives at other levels are also organised in a democratic
manner.
Member economic participation
Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of
their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common
property of the cooperative.
Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed
as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of
the following purposes: developing their cooperative, possibly by setting up
reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible: benefiting members in
proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other
activities approved by the membership.
Autonomy and independence
Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organisations controlled by their
members. If they enter into agreements with other organisations, including
governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms
that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their
cooperative autonomy.
Education, training and information
Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected
representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively
to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public -
particularly young people and opinion leaders - about the nature and
benefits of cooperation.
Cooperation among cooperatives
Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the
cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional
and international structures.
Concern for community
Cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities
through policies approved by their members.
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For further information contact:
Cooperative Branch,
Job Creation and Enterprise Development Department,
International Labour Organisation,
4 route des Morillons,
CH-1211 Geneva 22,
Switzerland.
E-mail: coop@ilo.org
Website: www.ilo.org/coop