IMO Maritime Labour Convention Closer – Poland Ratifies

Poland ratifies the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, making it the the 26th of the necessary 30 states required for enactment

Poland is the 26th ILO member State and the seventh EU member State to have ratified the Convention. Poland has a fleet of over 180 vessels and supplies over 22,000 seafarers to international shipping while in 2011 it was the world’s sixth largest ship-building country for cargo carrying ships.

In welcoming the ratification of the MLC, 2006 by Poland, Ms. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director of the International Labour Standards Department, stated: “The ratification of the MLC, 2006 by Poland, a labour-supplying country with lengthy maritime tradition, is a major step toward bringing this landmark Convention into force. Poland joins today the group of those maritime nations whose commitment and leadership will permit the MLC, 2006 to take effect in the interest of promoting quality shipping operations and protecting all those men and women earning their living at sea and making it possible to transport 90 per cent of world trade.

The ratification by Poland adds itself to the six other ratifications already received by European Union countries in implementation of the EU Council decision of 2007 authorizing the ratification of the Convention and inviting member States to complete the ratification process before the end of 2010. I am confident that several other European countries which have just completed, or nearly completed, their preparations for the legislative implementation of the MLC, 2006 will soon follow the example of Poland.”

The ratification by Poland brings closer the fulfilment of the second condition for the entry into force of the MLC, 2006, i.e. ratification by 30 member States. It is expected that the remaining four ratifications will be registered before the end of 2012, which will enable the Convention to enter into force in 2013.