Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Seafarers' Pensions Convention, 1946 (No. 71) - Djibouti (Ratification: 1978)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

Article 2 of the Convention. Pension scheme coverage for seafarers. The Committee notes from the Government’s submission the adoption of Act No. 212/AN/07/5ème L of 19 January 2008 establishing the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), section 3 of which states that the CNSS is responsible for the provision of old-age pension benefits. It notes that, under section 7 of this Act, the persons entitled to CNSS benefits and services are workers who have contributed to the general scheme administered by the Social Protection Organization (OPS) and to the special schemes administered by the National Retirement Fund (CNR). The Committee notes that, under section 3 of Act No. 154/AN/02/4ème L of 31 January 2002 codifying the operation of the OPS and the general retirement scheme for salaried employees, affiliation to the OPS was compulsory for all independent public and private employers or users of labour. It also notes that, under the terms of section 4, the persons entitled to OPS benefits and services were workers who, in the context of their employment, contributed or had previously contributed, to this body. It is the Committee’s understanding that seafarers employed by shipowners previously affiliated to the OPS are now covered by the CNSS with respect to retirement pensions. The Committee requests the Government to supply further information on this point, clarifying whether affiliation to the CNSS is compulsory for the owners of all ships registered in the territory of Djibouti and indicating any categories of seafarers excluded from entitlement to old-age pension benefits.

Article 3(1). Pension scheme for seafarers. The Committee recalls that the pension scheme for seafarers must comply with one of the following conditions: (a) the amount of retirement pension (including any other social security pension payable simultaneously to the pensioner) must not be less than the total obtained by computing for each year of his/her sea service 1.5 per cent of the remuneration on the basis of which contributions were paid in respect of him/her for that year if the scheme provides pensions on attaining the age of 55 years, or 2 per cent of such remuneration if the scheme provides pensions at the age of 60 years; or (b) the pensions provided by the scheme (including any other social security pension payable simultaneously to the pensioner and any social security benefits payable to the dependants of deceased pensioners) shall be financed by premiums corresponding to not less than 10 per cent of the total remuneration used as the basis for the calculation of contributions.

The Committee notes that, under section 1 of Act No. 17/AN/08/6ème L of 11 October 2008 amending the retirement age, the age of retirement for all members of the CNSS has been raised from 55 to 60 years. The Committee requests the Government to supply information enabling it to assess whether seafarers enjoy retirement pensions whose replacement rate meets at least the standards established by Article 3(1)(a) of the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to supply information on the respective rates of contribution for shipowners and seafarers to the CNSS retirement pension scheme so that it can assess whether these combined rates correspond to the minimum prescribed by Article 3(1)(b) of the Convention.