Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Medical Examination (Fishermen) Convention, 1959 (No. 113) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1961)

Article 2 of the Convention. Fisher’s medical certificate. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes that the Government Order No. 9-80 of 9 May 1980 and the Regulations of 4 February 1982 issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare concerning workers’ medical certificates are still in force. It also notes the Government’s indications that there are no statistical data on the number of fishing vessels denied a navigation permit for failing to produce valid medical certificates because fishing vessels operate on an artisanal basis. It recalls, however, that in earlier reports the Government referred to the adoption of Resolution No. AMN-DM-002-DFTGM-DM-2006-FBA of 7 August 2006, which stipulates that navigation permits are only issued by the command centres on the Pacific and Caribbean coast subject to a certificate from the port authority verifying that the crew members’ certificates are valid. The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will attempt to collate and provide information on the application of this Resolution in its next report, especially data on the refusal by the command centres to grant a permit in the absence of the certificate mentioned above.

Part V of the report form. Practical application. The Committee notes that a working group on maritime fishing and work at sea, which gathers together the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Social Security Institute and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, has been set up on the initiative of the latter, with a view to bringing about improvements in this area. It requests the Government to keep the Office informed of the outcome of the deliberations of this working group. The Government is also asked to submit general information on the application of the Convention in practice, including on the number of fishers covered by the Convention, and to provide a standard medical certificate applying to fishers, as well as copies of reports of the labour inspection services giving the number and nature of the infringements of the legal provisions implementing the Convention and the corrective measures taken.

Finally, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188), which revises in an integrated manner most of the existing ILO fishing instruments. In particular, Articles 10 to 12 of Convention No. 188 essentially reproduce the provisions of the present Convention while affording greater flexibility in respect of vessels which are less than 24 metres in length and do not normally remain at sea for more than three days. The Committee invites the Government to give favourable consideration to the ratification of Convention No. 188 and to keep the Office informed of any decision taken in this regard.