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Accommodation of Crews (Fishermen) Convention, 1966 (No. 126) - Greece (RATIFICATION: 1990)

Article 3(1) of the Convention. Implementing legislation. The Committee has been requesting the Government for a number of years to specify the laws or regulations which ensure the application of the provisions of Parts II, III and IV of the Convention, as required under this Article of the Convention. In successive reports, the Government has indicated that, upon ratification, any ratified Convention becomes an integral part of domestic law and there is therefore no need for adopting specific legislation to implement its provisions. The Government has also indicated that under section 2(6) of Presidential Decree No. 259/1981 on regulations on the accommodation of the master and crew of Greek merchant ships, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 236/1996, these regulations apply to fishing vessels only for matters not expressly regulated by the provisions of Convention No. 126. In its last report, the Government has stated that additional provisions on crew accommodation of fishing vessels are prescribed in Presidential Decree No. 281/1996 on minimum safety and health requirements for work on board fishing vessels. In this connection, the Committee notes that under section 13.4 of Annex I of Decree No. 281/1996, new fishing vessels engaged in international voyages must comply with the requirements of Part III of Convention No. 126, whereas vessels of more than 100 gross tons engaged in domestic voyages must comply with the requirements of parts A and C of Chapter II of Decree No. 259/1981. A similar distinction is made in section 13.3 of Annex II of Decree No. 281/1996 with respect to existing fishing vessels. The Committee recalls, however, that the Convention does not set out separate crew accommodation requirements based on the nature of the voyage (domestic or international) undertaken by the fishing vessel. Moreover, the Committee considers that the above referenced provisions, which expressly require only those fishing vessels – whether new or existing – engaged in international voyages to comply with the detailed technical standards of Part III of Convention No. 126, tend to contradict the Government’s position that the Convention does not need to be transposed in internal law and that it is fully implemented as from its ratification. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to provide more detailed explanations in this respect.

Finally, the Committee recalls that most of the provisions of this Convention have been incorporated in the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188), which aims at revising and bringing up to date in an integral manner most of the existing ILO fishing instruments. In particular, Articles 25–28 and Annex III of Convention No. 188 draw upon and further elaborate the provisions of Convention No. 126. The Committee accordingly invites the Government to give due consideration to the new global standard on fishers’ working and living conditions and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken with a view to its ratification.