Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Minimum Age (Fishermen) Convention, 1959 (No. 112) - Mauritania (Ratification: 1963)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Minimum age for admission to work on fishing vessels. The Committee notes that section 153(1) of the Labour Code sets the minimum age for admission to work at 14 years and that employment in the maritime fishing sector is excluded from the application of section 153(2), which provides that, under certain conditions, children aged 12 and over may work. It also notes that, under section 417 of the Merchant Shipping Code, children under 15 years of age may not work on board vessels; on board employment of children of 14 years of age may, however, be authorized in exceptional circumstances by the maritime authority. The Committee lastly notes that section 2 of Order No. 467 of 11 August 1998 on age requirements for employment as a seafarer and officer on board Mauritanian vessels sets the age for this employment at 17 years. In light of the fact that there are several texts, the Committee requests the Government to specify which of the provisions currently in force set the minimum age for admission to work on board fishing vessels, whether as seafarers, ship’s boys or novices.

Article 2(3). Employment of children of 14 years of age. The Committee requests the Government to provide copies of any regulatory texts adopted under section 417 of the Merchant Shipping Code, under which the maritime authority may, in exceptional circumstances, allow the on board employment of children aged 14 years when such employment is in the child’s interest, provided that a seafarers’ doctor issues a physical fitness certificate. The Government is also requested to provide copies of the permits issued by the maritime authority under this provision, as well as information on the manner in which this authority ensures that the employment in question is in the child’s interest and takes into consideration the future as well as the immediate benefits that the envisaged employment may carry for him or her.

Article 4. School-ships. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the regulations applicable to children’s work on board school-ships (minimum age, types of work permitted, monitoring of the conditions in which such work is carried out).