• Ratification

1. Copies of Conventions and Recommendations are sent to member States immediately after the Conference adopts them. The Governing Body Memorandum concerning the obligation to submit Conventions and Recommendations to the competent authorities is attached, together with a copy of any comments of the supervisory bodies regarding submission. Copies of the same documents are sent to the national organizations of employers and workers.

2. Within one year of adoption (or 18 months in exceptional circumstances), all member States are obligated to submit Conventions and Recommendations to the competent national authorities (generally the legislative branch but in some cases the executive or head of state). (article 19 of the ILO Constitution) The competent authority shall decide the appropriate action to be taken, e.g., ratification in the case of a Convention; implementing in domestic legislation the provisions of either a Convention or a Recommendation; or no action. If a member State has ratified the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144), the government must consult with representatives of workers' and employers' organizations before deciding what action to take.

• All member States must inform the Director General of any action taken by the competent authority (article 19 of the Constitution), and provide copies of this information to the representatives of workers' and employers' organizations (article 23, paragraph 2, of the Constitution); and they should indicate to the ILO which organizations communication has been made to (the Governing Body Memorandum, point VI). The Memorandum also asks governments to indicate any observations received from employers' or workers' organizations as to the effect given or to be given to the instruments submitted.

• Once a Convention or Recommendation has been submitted to the competent authority and the action reported to the Director General, there are no further obligations concerning the labour standard, with three exceptions.

a. Conventions concerning freedom of association or collective bargaining: the Committee on Freedom of Association may here complaints concerning non-compliance regardless of whether a member State has ratified the relevant convention or recommendation.

b. Fundamental conventions: Each year there is a global report on progress in implementing one of the topics covered by the fundamental conventions, namely Conventions Nos. 29 and 105 (forced labour), Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 (freedom of association and collective bargaining), Conventions Nos. 138 and 182 (child labour), and Conventions Nos. 100 and 111 (non-discrimination and equal pay for work of equal value). Member States that have not ratified the fundamental conventions will be required to report periodically on their progress in applying the Convention.

c. General Surveys: Each year the Governing Body selects a topic for a general survey. All states that have not ratified the relevant convention must report on the application of the provisions contained in the instrument, and identify any obstacles to ratification.

• Governments may request from the ILO information and specimen documents showing the manner in which other countries fulfill the submission obligation. Governments that are unsure about whether the provisions in their national law and practice comply with a convention it is considering ratifying may request an informal interpretation. A government may reconsider ratification at any time. Once a government has ratified a convention, it may denounce it only at periodic intervals, which vary depending on when the convention was adopted (the interval is specified in the final clauses of the convention).

• Implementation

1. All ratifications are reported to the Governing Body and are notified to member States through publication in the Official Bulletin. They are also posted on the ILO web page in APPLIS.

2. A minimum of two ratifications is required for a convention to come into force. Conventions come into force 12 months after registration of the second ratification and afterwards for each State 12 months after its ratification.

3. The obligation arising out of ratification is to "take such action as may be necessary to make effective the provisions" of a ratified Convention. (article 19, paragraph 5(d), of the Constitution). This means ensuring implementation in practice, as well as giving effect in law. Member States are required to submit periodic reports on the application of ratified conventions. Reports on priority conventions are required every two years, and reports for other conventions are due every five years. The Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations is responsible for supervising the application of ratified conventions. It submits a report each year to the Conference Committee on Labour Standards.