In the wake of the inter-national entry into force of the Maritime Labour Convention on August 20, 2013, the Commission is working at aligning the current EU directives to its requirements.
The Convention, adopted by the International Labour Organisation in February 2006, covers the minimum requirements for seafarers to work on board ships, the conditions of their employment, accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering, health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection, in order to guarantee decent working and living conditions on board ships.
The Convention aims to achieve both decent working conditions for seafarers and to secure fair competition for quality ship-owners. It also contains mechan-isms to improve supervision at all levels: the ship; the company; the flag state; the port state; and the labour supplying state.
Notably, the Convention does not apply to shipowners, ships or seafarers but it relies on implementation by countries through their national laws or other measures. For this reason and in support of this international initiative, the EU seeks to adopt legislation to ensure the enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention at a regional level.
In this vein, a Directive on Port State Control was adopted by the EU institutions in a bid to drastic-ally reduce sub-standard shipping by increasing compliance with maritime safety legislation and on-board living and working conditions on ships of all flags, establishing common criteria for ship inspection by port states, and implementing a port state control system based on inspection performed within the EU.
The responsibility for ensuring that ships comply with the provisions of the relevant instruments rests upon the owners, masters and the flag states. However, in the light of lack of proper scrutiny by flag states, port state control was established. Compliance with the Convention is therefore checked and enforced in all EU ports on ships flying any flag to ensure they maintain the Convention’s benchmark of quality in seafarers’ working conditions.
Another directive, governing the flag state responsibilities, incorpor-ates the relevant elements of the Convention, particularly those relating to the flag state audit scheme into Union law, and introduces the certification of quality of national maritime authorities, thus making these flag state obligations enforceable at regional level.
A risk-based inspection of all ships entering EU waters combined with a strengthened banning regime, including the poss-ibility of a permanent ban and increased exposure in the form of blacklisting not only of ships but also of ship operators or shipowners, contributes to a considerable reinforcement of overall flag state and industry compliance.
The Commission more recently proposed amendments to these two directives in order to strengthen the monitoring of the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention across the EU and to cater for a confidential complaints mechanism.
In order to ensure uniform conditions for its implementation, the proposal empowers the Commission to adopt implementing acts for the use of harmonised electronic reporting and follow-up of complaints by port state authorities. Close cooperation between flag state and port states can be pivotal in creating a “safety net” to catch sub-standard ships. Where a complaint related to matters covered by the Maritime Labour Convention has not been resolved at ship-board level, the port state control officer must notify the flag state immediately, seeking – within a prescribed deadline – advice and a corrective action plan.
The flag state proposal aims at requiring member states to monitor the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention by ships flying their flag. Before allowing a ship to fly their flag, member states must check that the ship complies with international rules and regulations in the domains falling within their responsibilities. Member states must ensure that appropriate checks and monitoring mechanisms are established, and that effective and adequate inspections are carried out to ensure that the working and living conditions of seafarers on ships flying their flag meet, and continue to meet, the requirements of EU legislation.
If a member state receives a complaint about a ship that flies its flag, that member state must take the steps necessary to investigate the matter and ensure that action is taken to remedy any deficiencies found. Complaints are to be dealt with confidentially. The proposal also suggests the inclusion of the requirement of the Maritime Labour Certificate and the Declar-ation of Maritime Labour Compliance, issued by the flag state, in the documents to be checked by port state inspectors.
The purpose of the proposals is to clarify the responsibilities of flag states and port states regarding an effective application of the maritime labour standards defined in the Maritime Labour Convention.
Josette Grech is an associate with Guido de Marco & Associates and heads its European Law division.