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.