IMO’s Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) is at the centre of a regional workshop taking place in Tunis, Tunisia, on 2-6 July. Auditing IMO Member States is critical for assessing how effectively these administer key IMO treaties and subsequently ensuring that the IMO regulatory framework is universally implemented.
More than 30 participants from 13 countries -including Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan and Tunisia- are taking part in the event, IMO informed.
The participants are made up of senior maritime administration personnel who are, or will be, involved in preparing their respective countries to undergo the audit, as well as those who will lead the preparation of required documentation for conducting the audit. Also taking part are officials involved in developing and implementing the corrective action plan addressing the audit findings and observations.
The IMSAS became mandatory from January 2016. To-date, 50 mandatory audits have been carried out, with a further 12 planned for 2018. All Member States are required to undergo a mandatory audit within the 7-year audit cycle.
The workshop was organized by IMO and hosted by the Tunisian Ministry of Transport, with IMO represented by Omar Hassein.