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The Committee notes Decree No. 651/990 of 18 December 1990 which creates the basic health card, as well as the information provided by the Government according to which the measures applicable to seafarers, with regard to the examinations to be undertaken and their periodicity, are being considered by the Ministry of Public Health together with the National Maritime Authority. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would specify in its next report the extent to which the legislation which guarantees the application of the Convention has been modified by the coming into force of the above Decree. It trusts that the Government will also supply information on all consultations held with the shipowners' and seafarers' organizations concerned in this respect, in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention.

In this context, the Committee also notes the Government's statement that it has approved HIV testing. The Committee would like in general and by way of information to draw the Government's attention to the Consensus Statement from the Consultation on AIDS and Seafarers, of October 1989, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the ILO in which, among other matters, it is stated that HIV infection does not in itself imply a limitation of fitness for work. The Consensus Statement endorsed the Statement from the Consultation on AIDS and the Workplace, held in June 1988 and also organized by the WHO and the ILO, in which it is indicated in particular that the confidentiality of HIV testing should be ensured. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply details on the nature of the HIV test and any indications in this respect contained in the certificate and if it would indicate whether the shipowners' and seafarers' organizations concerned have also been consulted concerning this aspect of the medical examination. Please transmit, taking into account the provisions of Article 4, and the above statements, a model of the medical certificate issued under the above Decree.

[The Government is asked to report in detail for the period ending 30 June 1993.]