The European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Work in Fishing Convention) Order 2018

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order declares the Work in Fishing Convention, adopted by the International Labour Organization at Geneva on 14th June 2007 (“the Convention”), to be an EU Treaty within the meaning of section 1(2) of the European Communities Act 1972.

The object of the Convention is the protection of workers on board commercial fishing vessels.

The provisions of the Convention aim to ensure that fishing vessels are constructed and maintained so that workers have decent living conditions on board.

The Convention contains matters within the competence of the European Union, although the European Union is not able to become a party to the Convention itself. Those matters which do not fall within European Union competence are ancillary to the provisions of the EU Treaties regarding transport and employment, in particular those which promote social protection and raise the standard of living and working conditions on board commercial fishing vessels.

The principal effect of declaring the Convention to be an EU Treaty is that the provisions of section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972 (which provide for the general implementation of EU Treaties) apply to it.

A copy of Command Paper 7375 of May 2008 (International Labour Conference - Presentation of the Convention and two Recommendations adopted at the 96th Session of the International Labour Conference (2007) and the proposed action by Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the Convention and Recommendation) is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/238738/7375.pdf and may be inspected free of charge at the Parliamentary Archives which are located in the Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 0AA.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.