Inspection of ships
Ships in international shipping are regularly inspected to prevent the spread of infectious diseases around the world.
Finland is committed to following the provisions of the International Health Regulations (IHR), which have been approved by the World Health Organization WHO, by way of law. As a contracting state, Finland must designate the ports that can issue sanitary certificates for ships. The certificate is valid for 6 months. In Finland, the designation of ports is part of Valvira’s tasks. Valvira submits information about designated ports to the WHO. You can check the up-to-date list of designated ports in the list of ports maintained by the WHO. You can find the list at the end of this page.
The sanitary inspection is carried out by the health protection authority of the port location. See our General health protection page for the contact details of municipal supervisory authorities (in Finnish).