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

Medical Examination (Seafarers) Convention, 1946 (No. 73) - Uruguay (Ratification: 1954)

Articles 3–5 of the Convention. Compulsory medical certificate and its period of validity. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that regulatory provisions concerning a specific health card for seafarers have not yet been adopted. It notes that, under Maritime Provision No. 38 of 14 March 1988, the seafarer’s discharge book shall indicate the period of validity of the health card. The Committee therefore understands that seafarers have only the basic health card provided for under Decree No. 651/990 of 18 December 1990. The Committee recalls that, in accordance with Article 4 of the Convention, the seafarer’s medical certificate shall attest, in particular: (a) that the hearing and sight of the person and, in the case of a person to be employed in the deck department (except for certain specialist personnel, whose fitness for the work which they are to perform is not liable to be affected by defective colour vision), colour vision of the person, are all satisfactory; and (b) that the person is not suffering from any disease likely to be aggravated by, or to render that person unfit for, service at sea or likely to endanger the health of other persons on board. Furthermore, the validity of the medical certificate may not exceed two years from the date on which it was issued or six years in the case of a medical certificate relating to colour vision. Recalling that the requirements of the Convention are included in Regulation 1.2 and Standard A1.2 of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), the Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on the medical examinations that seafarers must undergo to obtain the health card required for boarding, and to specify the period of validity of this card for seafarers. The Government is also requested to provide a copy of a health card and to keep the Office informed of any progress made in adopting a specific health card for seafarers.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide general information on the application of the Convention in practice, in particular on the number of health cards issued each year to seafarers, as well as the number of violations, if any, of the relevant provisions noted by the inspection services and the measures taken to remedy them. The Government is also requested to indicate the manner in which the competent national authorities ensure effective supervision of the practice and quality of the medical examination of foreign non-resident seafarers employed on board vessels flying the Uruguayan flag, particularly where the examination is carried out in the seafarer’s country of residence or domicile.

Finally, the Committee hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to ratify the MLC, 2006, which revises Convention No. 73, as well as 67 other international instruments applicable to seafarers, establishes a comprehensive and up-to-date framework of standards for regulating the living and working conditions of seafarers, particularly concerning medical certificates, and promotes the establishment of a level playing field for shipowners. It requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decisions taken in that regard.