The origins of the ICC arose from navigation on the Rhine and the Danube (Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine) and the need for reassurance that vessel operators were competent to ensure safety of navigation and protection of the environment as they moved from one country to another. As a result, on 29 January 1979, the United Nations Working Party on Inland Water Transport adopted Resolution 14, which recommended the introduction of a European document for an International Certificate (International Card) to provide those assurances.