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Article 4(2) of the Convention. Conditions for granting certificates of qualification for ships’ cooks. Further to its previous comments regarding the absence of any provision establishing the minimum period of service at sea as a precondition for the obtention of a certificate of qualification as ship’s cook, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to the Resolution of the General Directorate of Ports No. 0564-2003-DCG of 10 September 2003. According to the Government’s report, a minimum period of no less than two months of service is generally required for seafarers prior to the issuance of a certificate, in accordance with the Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW). The Committee recalls, however, that the STCW Convention does not contain specific provisions relating to cooks. It also recalls that Decree No. 048-DE/MPG of 9 October 1990 – to which the Government referred in previous reports – does not contain any relevant provisions either. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide additional explanations in this respect and also to transmit a copy of Resolution
No. 0564-2003-DCG.

Article 6. Recognition of certificates. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to indicate whether certificates of qualification issued by other countries were recognized. While noting the Government’s indication that the matter has been referred to the Directorate General of Ports and Coast Guard, the Committee requests the Government to supply more detailed information on this point.

Part V of the report form. Practical application. Noting that the Government has not provided for a number of years general information on the practical application of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to supply up-to-date information in this regard, including, for instance, statistical information on the number of ship’s cook certificates 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 the Convention has been revised by the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), and that its main provisions are now reflected in Regulation 3.2(3), Standard A3.2(3) and (4), and Guideline B3.2.2 of the latter instrument. The Committee therefore invites the Government to consider the possibility of ratifying the MLC, 2006, in the very near future and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken in this respect.