Use of a foreign recruitment and placement services

When a shipowner uses a private seafarer recruitment and placement service (SPRPGM in French or manning agency) located in a country that has not ratified the Maritime Labour convention (MLC, 2006), the shipowner shall certify that this service supplier complies with the MLC provisions on the recruitment and placement of seafarers (art. L. 5533-3, French Transport Code).

Nb: MLC and French law require a direct link between the manning agencyand the shipowner to whom the seafarers are seconded. This generally involves the signing of a provisioning contract between the shipowner and the manning agency.

Reference should be made to the Order of June 3, 2021 on the model forms for the statement of compliance for private seafarer recruitment and placement services located in a country that has not ratified the MLC or Convention n°188 on labour in the fishing sector of the International Labour Organization, which sets two models of statements :

• a model for shipowners with ships other than fishing vessels;
• a model for fishing vessel owners.

The shipowner shall verify that the service provider complies with the provisions of the MLC A1.4 Standard on to the recruitment and placement of seafarers (as amended).

To perform this verification it is recommended to carry out an inspection of the service:

• either directly by the shipowner;
• either by a representative organization of shipowners;
• or by an external certification body.

Note that the statements will remain valid for a period of 3 years from their signature.