Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention, 1958 (No. 108) - Ghana (Ratification: 1960)

Article 5. Readmission to territory. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a seafarer who can present a valid seafarers’ identity document and evidence of engagement with a shipping company or agent is permitted to enter the Ghanaian territory. It recalls, however, that Article 5 of the Convention requires that non-Ghanaian seafarers holding a Ghanaian seafarers’ identity document be admitted to Ghanaian territory whether or not they are presently engaged with a shipping company or agent. The same applies up to one year after expiry of their identity document. The Committee, therefore, requests the Government to indicate what measures are taken or envisaged to bring national law and practice into line with this provision of the Convention, so that non-Ghanaian seafarers holding a Ghanaian seafarers’ identity document are admitted to Ghanaian territory whether or not they are engaged with a shipping company or agent.

Finally, the Committee takes this opportunity to recall that the Convention has been revised by the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (No. 185), which was adopted by the ILO to enhance port and border security by developing a more secure and globally uniform seafarers’ identity document. In fact, Convention No. 185 complements actions taken within the framework of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through the adoption of the International Ship and Port-facility Security Code (ISPS), 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 requests the Government to communicate any information on consultations held in this regard, also in the aftermath of the Subregional Conference on the MLC, 2006, held in Accra in October 2009, and on any progress achieved towards the ratification of Convention No. 185.