Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Seafarers' Pensions Convention, 1946 (No. 71) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 1949)

Article 3(1) of the Convention. Pension schemes for seafarers. The Committee notes from the Government’s report received January 2010 that, under section 68(2) of the Social Insurance Code of 1999, as last amended in 2006, the retirement age is 63 for men and 59 for women, provided that the sum of the person’s age and the number of years of participation in the social security scheme is not less than 100 for men and 91 for women. It also notes that, under section 70(1) of the Code, the amount of the pension is determined by multiplying the income on the basis of which the pension is calculated by a sum total of 1 per cent for each year of contributory service. Recalling that Article 3 of the Convention provides for a retirement age of 55 or 60 years and also for 1.5 or 2 per cent of earnings for each year of service (depending on the age of retirement), the Committee requests the Government to provide additional explanations on how its current legislative provisions, including any recent reforms of the pension system, relate to the application of this Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to specify the current contribution rate, as a percentage of gross earnings, payable by seafarers and shipowners to the pension scheme.

Part V of the report form. Practical application. The Committee requests the Government to provide up-to-date information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including, for instance, statistical information concerning the number of seafarers covered by the pension scheme, data on the percentage breakdown of financing of the pension scheme, the current amount of the minimum pension and the social old age pension as adjusted by the National Social Security Institute, copies of official publications such as annual reports of the National Social Security Institute, extracts from reports of the administrative and judicial services entrusted with the application and enforcement of the relevant laws and regulations, and any difficulties encountered in the application of the Convention.