38 INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION 
CompuLsory MEepicaL Examination oF CHILDREN AND 
Younc Persons EMPLOYED AT SEA 
The Draft Convention concerning Compulsory Medical 
Examination of Children and Young Persons Employed at 
Sea, adopted at Geneva in 1921, stipulates that before any 
child or young person under eighteen years of age may be 
employed on-any vessel, other than those on which members 
of the same family only are employed, a medical certificate 
must be produced attesting fitness for such work and signed 
by a doctor approved by the competent authority. 
A medical examination at intervals of not more than one 
year is required in the case of the continued employment at 
sea of any child or young person under eighteen years of age, 
and after each examination a medical certificate is necessary 
if such child or young person is to remain in employment. 
In case a medical certificate expires during a voyage, it is to 
remain in force until the trip is ended. 
The competent authority may, in urgent cases, allow a 
young person below the age of eighteen years to embark 
without having undergone the medical examination required 
in this Convention, provided that such an examination is 
made at the first port at which the vessel calls. 
The term “vessel” is defined as including all ships and 
boats, of any nature whatsoever, engaged in maritime navi- 
gation, whether publicly or privately owned, but it does not 
include ships of war.! 
Action Taken by Member Nations? 
Ratification of this Convention has been registered by 
nineteen nations including most of those which have an im- 
portant merchant marine, namely, Belgium, France, Great 
Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. 
Germany and four Latin-American countries have recom- 
mended ratification. Because of the insignificance of their 
merchant marines, Austria and Czechoslovakia declined to 
ratify, as did Switzerland. Norway postponed ratification 
! International Labor Conference, Third Session, 1921, Vol. II, pp. 860-862. 
! For references to specific countries see footnotes to Table 18, Appendix I.