Medical practitioners recognised for issuing medical certificates

Changed
11/12/2023

Seafarers always need a medical certificate to sail on seagoing ships flying the Belgian flag, both for their own safety and that of the entire crew on board. This is a certificate of medical fitness issued by a recognised medical practitioner.

Which medical certificates are accepted?

Recognition by the Belgian administration

Medical certificates must have been issued by medical practitioners recognised by the Belgian Shipping Administration or by another EU Member State, plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

In that respect, the Belgian Shipping Administration has drawn up a list of recognised Belgian medical practitioners.

The examination may also be done by a medical practitioner on the list of recognised foreign medical practitioners. They have been recognised by a foreign maritime administration and by the Belgian administration. The examination is valid for a maximum of two years for Belgian ships.

Which procedure to follow for a certificate?

To obtain a certificate of medical fitness or medical unfitness, please follow these steps:

1. You ask the medical practitioner to complete an examination form.
2. The medical practitioner provides all necessary information for this purpose.
3. The examining medical practitioner keeps the completed examination form with the test results.
4. The medical practitioner will issue a certificate of medical fitness or a declaration of medical unfitness.

What is the validity period of my certificate?

A certificate of medical fitness is valid for a maximum of two years from the date of issue.

A quick procedure thanks to Medicert

The web application Medicert guarantees a quick and simple process for medical certificates. Medical staff can log in to it with an eID, making it easy to digitally sign certificates.

It is worth using Medicert for several reasons:

• Digital and efficient: a customer-friendly and efficient service with minimum administrative burden and paper.
• Fight against fraud and increased safety: seafarers who were found medically unfit can no longer repeat their examinations until they are found medically fit somewhere.

You are a medical practitioner or a medical administrative staff member yourself and you want to use Medicert? Go to our page Medicert and check out the tutorial.

Apply for a recognition as a medical practitioner

If you want to be recognised as a medical practitioner to issue medical certificates required for sailing on seagoing ships flying the Belgian flag, you can apply for a recognition. For this purpose, the department ‘Recognition of Institutions’ will compile a file and an audit will be conducted. This also applies to the recognition as a foreign medical practitioner, with the difference that no audit will be conducted in that case. You can apply by sending an email to Tim.Sleurs@mobilit.fgov.be.