A25. Who is the competent authority?

The MLC, 2006 defines the term “competent authority” in Article II, paragraph 1(a), as “the minister, government department or other authority having power to issue and enforce regulations, orders or other instructions having the force of law in respect of the subject matter of the provision concerned”. It is a term used to indicate the department(s) of a government with responsibility for implementing the MLC, 2006. Practices vary between countries and often more than one department or agency (e.g. labour or maritime or social security) is involved in implementing aspects of the MLC, 2006 in a country and are therefore the “competent authority” for the particular issue. Information about the national competent authority for countries that have ratified [see A26.] the MLC, 2006 along with other national information can be found on the ILO website (www.ilo.org/mlc) under the heading “MLC database”.

General questions about the MLC, 2006