The SLF Sub-Committee established a correspondence group to facilitate the revision of the Code and the Voluntary Guidelines and following clearance by the relevant sub-committees of the IMO, the revised text was submitted to the MSC at its seventy-ninth session (1 to 10 December 2004) at which it was approved. At the twenty-sixth session of the Committee on Fisheries in March 2005, FAO welcomed the revised Code and Voluntary Guidelines and recommended the early publication by IMO of these documents. The Governing Body of ILO approved the revised texts at its 293rd session in June 2005.

The purpose of the Voluntary Guidelines is to provide a general guidance on safe practices for the design, construction and equipment of smaller fishing vessels. Nevertheless, discretion should be exercised in using provisions of the Voluntary Guidelines for the purpose of framing national safety requirements when local weather and sea conditions and special operational requirements should be given particular consideration. Furthermore, attention is drawn to Part A of the FAO/ILO/IMO Code of Safety for Fishermen and Fishing Vessels, 2005.