GB.343/LILS/4/Decision and related comments

Decision concerning the report of the Chairperson of the fourth meeting (Part I) of the Special Tripartite Committee established under the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended (19–23 April 2021)

Record of decisions | 01 November 2021

The Governing Body took note of the report of the Chairperson of the Special Tripartite Committee established under the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended (MLC, 2006), concerning its fourth meeting (Part I, 19–23 April 2021), welcomed the work conducted by the Special Tripartite Committee in relation to the review of 39 international maritime labour instruments, and decided to:

(a) appoint Mr Martin Marini (Singapore) as Chairperson of the Special Tripartite Committee for a three year period (2021–24);

(b) classify Conventions Nos 55, 56, 68, 69, 70, 75, 92, 108, 133, 134, 147, 163, 164, 165 and 178, and the Protocol of 1996 to the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976, as well as Recommendations Nos 9, 10, 28, 48, 75, 76, 78, 105, 106, 108, 138, 140, 141, 142, 155, 173, and 185 as “outdated”, and request the Office to take the necessary follow-up action;

(c) request the Office to launch an initiative to promote the ratification on a priority basis of the MLC, 2006 among those Member States still bound by outdated Conventions, namely Angola, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Czechia, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Georgia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Iraq, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Mexico, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Republic of Moldova, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States of America, Uruguay and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;

(d) request the Office to launch an initiative to promote on a priority basis the ratification of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188) among those Member States still bound by Conventions Nos 55, 56, 134, 164 and 178, namely Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, Czechia, Dominica, Egypt, Guinea, Iraq, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, North Macedonia, Peru, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United States of America and Uruguay;

(e) encourage Member States which have already ratified the MLC, 2006 or Convention No. 188 or both but remain bound by outdated Conventions with respect to non-metropolitan territories, namely China, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to extend the application of the MLC, 2006, or Convention No. 188 or both, as the case may be, to such territories;

(f) convene a tripartite meeting of experts of four days’ duration, aimed at sharing knowledge concerning the implementation of the Seafarers’ Pension Convention, 1946 (No. 71), in 2024, that would be prioritized for funding based on a composition of 8-8-8 in the Programme and Budget proposals for 2024–25;

(g) encourage Member States which are still bound by the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention, 1958 (No. 108), to ratify the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003, as amended (No. 185), and to this end, convene a tripartite meeting of experts of four days’ duration in 2023 to examine the challenges that remain for the implementation and ratification of this Convention, and decide that the cost of the meeting based on a composition of 8-8-8, be financed in the first instance from savings in Part I of the budget or, failing that, through Part II, on the understanding that, should this subsequently prove impossible, the Director-General would propose alternative methods of financing at a later stage in the 2022–23 biennium;

(h) encourage one Member State (France) which has already ratified Convention No. 185, but remains bound by Convention No. 108 for non-metropolitan territories, to extend the application of Convention No. 185 to those territories;

(i) note the Special Tripartite Committee’s recommendations concerning the withdrawal of Conventions Nos 70, 75, 165 and 178, and the Protocol of 1996 to the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976, as well as of Recommendations Nos 9, 10, 28, 48, 75, 76, 78, 105, 106, 108, 138, 140, 141, 142, 155, 173 and 185, in relation to which it will consider placing an item on the agenda of the 111th Session (2023) of the International Labour Conference (see GB.343/INS/2);

(j) note the Special Tripartite Committee’s recommendations concerning the abrogation of Convention No. 163, in relation to which it will consider placing an item on the agenda of the 111th Session (2023) of the International Labour Conference (see GB.343/INS/2);

(k) note the Special Tripartite Committee’s recommendations concerning the abrogation of Conventions Nos 22, 23, 55, 56, 58, 68, 69, 92, 133, 134, 146, 164 and 166, in relation to which it will consider placing an item on the agenda of the 118th Session (2030) of the International Labour Conference (see GB.343/INS/2);

(l) approve the establishment of a Joint ILO–IMO Tripartite Working Group to identify and address seafarers’ issues and the human element, in accordance with the resolution set out in Appendix I, with a composition of 8 Governments to be nominated by IMO, 8 Shipowners’ representatives and 8 Seafarers’ representatives, and decide that the relevant cost of the three day annual meetings for 2022 and 2023 be financed in the first instance from savings in Part I of the budget or, failing that, through Part II, on the understanding that, should this subsequently prove impossible, the Director-General would propose alternative methods of financing at a later stage in the 2022–23 biennium; the 2024 meeting would be prioritized for funding in the Programme and Budget proposals for 2024–25;

(m) request that the outcome of the Joint ILO–IMO Tripartite Working Group’s work is reported to the Governing Body and appropriate IMO body.


(GB.343/LILS/4, paragraph 15)

Comment received during the consideration of the item by correspondence

Compilation of all comments received