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Articles 2 and 4 of the Convention. Form and content of seafarers’ identity documents. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that the ministerial regulations provided for in sections 130(1) and 131(1) of the Shipping Act 2004, setting the form and content of seafarers’ identity cards and seafarers’ discharge books, have not so far been issued. Recalling that the Government had submitted a specimen seafarers’ card in its report communicated in 2000, the Committee requests the Government to provide a new specimen of the seafarers’ identity card currently in use. It also requests the Government to transmit a copy of any relevant regulations as soon as they are adopted.

Articles 5 and 6. Readmission and permission to enter into territory. As no relevant information was ever made available to the Office on these points, the Committee requests the Government to specify the legislative or regulatory provisions that give effect to the seafarers’ right to return (Article 5) and also to the principle of free admission for purposes of temporary shore leave, transit or transfer (Article 6).

Part V of the report form. Practical application. While noting the organizational difficulties experienced by the Office of Maritime Administration (OMA), the Committee requests the Government to collect and transmit together with its next report up-to-date information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, statistics on the number of seafarers’ identity documents issued during the reporting period, extracts from reports of the inspection services and any difficulties encountered in the application of the Convention.

Finally, the Committee takes this opportunity to recall that Convention No. 108 has been revised by the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (No. 185). Convention No. 185 aims to enhance port and border security, while at the same time facilitating the freedom of movement of seafarers, by developing a more secure and globally uniform seafarers’ identity document. The Convention was adopted by the ILO to complement action being taken within the framework of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through the adoption of the International Ship and Port-facility Security Code (ISPS), and it sets out basic parameters regarding the content and form of the documents, and provides technical guidance in the annexes in order to ensure that Members may easily adapt their systems while taking national circumstances into account. In this respect, the Committee wishes to refer to the summary of consensus achieved at the consultative meeting on Convention No. 185, held in Geneva on
23–24 September 2010, according to which “further ratifications and recognition of the seafarers’ identity document (SID) to facilitate shore leave are urgently needed, especially among port States” (see CSID/C.185/2010/4, p. 17). The Committee therefore invites the Government to examine the possibility of ratifying Convention No. 185 in the near future and to keep the Office informed of any decisions taken in this respect.