Samoa ratifies the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006)

The Government of Samoa deposited with the International Labour Office on 21 November 2013 the instrument of ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006). It joins the other Pacific Island States that have already ratified the Convention, namely, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Kiribati and Tuvalu. Samoa becomes the 53rd ILO Member State to ratify this landmark Convention, which sets out seafarers’ rights to decent working and living conditions while creating fair competition for shipowners. Samoa recently hosted the first Pacific regional meeting of Ministers for Marine Transport and began constructing a new maritime centre at its National University. 

In welcoming the ratification of the MLC, 2006 by Samoa, Ms. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director of the International Labour Standards Department, stated: “Today, Samoa joins the many other Pacific Island States in ratifying the Convention and ensuring that this region joins the global action for a solid social safety net of regulatory control for the maritime industry. With Samoa’s ratification, the MLC, 2006 already covers 80 per cent of the world gross tonnage of ships - an unprecedented level of acceptance compared to the coverage of earlier ILO maritime instruments. I am confident that Samoa, in synergy with other Pacific Island countries, will now turn proactively towards the effective implementation of the Convention with the full support of the ILO.” 

The MLC, 2006 entered into force on 20 August 2013 for the first 30 member States that had registered their ratification by 20 August 2012. The Convention will enter into force for Samoa on 21 November 2014, that is one year after its ratification.

http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/maritime-labour-convention/news/WCMS_230356/lang--en/index.htm