MTWTU sent a letter to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and the Joint Representative Body of Representative All-Ukrainian Trade Unions at the national level to refuse the approval of the draft law, which submits to supplement the samples of Ukrainian seafarers' qualification documents by putting the QR-codes in order to allow documents' verification by any interested person within electronic means.
The Marine Transport Workers' Trade Union of Ukraine (hereinafter - MTWTU) has looked into a draft law of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Order of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine of October 18, 2013, № 811" (hereinafter - the Draft Law). Thus, MTWTU does not support the Draft Law in view of the following.
The Draft Law submits to supplement the samples of Ukrainian seafarers' qualification documents with QR-codes, which will be used to verify it by any interested person by electronic means.
However, the Draft Law does not specify which information and telecommunication system will be used to generate (create) such QR-codes.
According to Article 78 of Merchant Shipping Code of Ukraine, the Procedure for issuing qualification documents to officers and ratings, approved by the order of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine dated October 18, 2013, № 813, registered in the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on November 14, 2013, № 1950/24482 (hereinafter - Procedure №813), registration and issuance of qualification documents to seafarers is carried out by captains of seaports of Ukraine, which are currently part of the State Service for Maritime and River Transport of Ukraine
Clause 2.1 of Procedure № 813 defines the requirements for the procedure for filling in the seafarers' qualification documents. However, this paragraph does not specify the procedure and conditions for generating (creating) a QR-code for its applying on to the qualification document.
Under paragraphs 3.9 and 3.10 of the Procedure № 813, information on seafarers' qualification documents issued by port captains is stored in the electronic database of the relevant Harbor Master's Office. As of the 1st and 15th of each month, port captains shall send the information specified in paragraph 3.9 to the Unified State Register of Seafarers.
Currently, the Unified State Register of Seafarers is maintained by the Inspectorate for Training and Certification of Seafarers (hereinafter - the Inspectorate). The main task of the Register is to confirm the authenticity of seafarers' documents.
The Draft Law does not specify which software and how the QR-code will be generated, which will be used to verify such a document in the Register, as well as the method of obtaining the QR-code by port captains for putting them on qualification forms before documents' lamination.
It should also be noted that according to paragraph 4.2 of the Regulations on the Register, information relating to seafarers' documents is classified as confidential.
Given that the registration of qualification documents is carried out by port captains, and maintaining the Register is provided by a separate state organization - the Inspectorate, the exchange of information between them, including the generated QR-codes, should be carried out through secure channels, complying with Ukrainian legislation on electronic document circulation and information protection in information and telecommunication systems.
However, according to available information, the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine did not conduct a state examination of the comprehensive information protection system of any telecommunication systems, which currently operate or may operate to provide services to Ukrainian citizens - seafarers in assessing their competence, issuing qualifications documents and secure storage of information about issued documents.
MTWTU draws attention to the necessity of:
- Amendments to the Procedure for confirming the qualification and certification of persons of the command staff of vessels and a vessel's crews, approved by the order of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine of October 18, 2013, № 813, in terms of specifying how to generate (create) QR-code for its applying on the qualification form document before lamination;
- compliance with the requirements of paragraph 11 of Regulation I / 2 of the STCW Convention regarding the issuance to seafarers of original documents on forms meeting the requirements for technical specifications of the blank documents that certify the appropriate qualification of seafarers approved by the Order of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Ukraine No 1046 of November 26, 2004, registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on December 24, 2004, under №1641/10240;
- introduction of a comprehensive system for protecting the information of the state information and telecommunication systems, which operate in the system of training and certification of seafarers.
Chairman,
Marine Transport Workers' Trade Union of Ukraine
Oleg Grygoriuk
