What it is - International Maritime Organization

The IMO Member State
Audit Scheme
IMO is progressing towards the
adoption of a mandatory audit
scheme, following the successful
introduction of the Voluntary IMO
Member State Audit Scheme, which
was adopted in 2005. The Audit
Scheme is intended to provide Member
States with a comprehensive and
objective assessment of how effectively
they administer and implement those
mandatory IMO instruments which are
covered by the scheme.
The Audit Scheme is expected to
bring about many benefits, such as
identifying where capacity-building
activities (for example, the provision
of technical assistance by IMO to
Member States) will have the greatest
effect. The Member States themselves
receive valuable feedback, intended
to assist them in improving their
own capacity to put the applicable
instruments into practice; and generic
lessons learnt from audits are provided
to all Member States so that the
benefits can be widely shared. The first
audits under the voluntary Scheme
were conducted in 2006.
To make the Scheme
mandatory, it is expected
that the IMO Assembly
in 2013 will adopt
the IMO Instruments
Implementation Code (III
Code), which sets the audit
standard and is intended to be used
to determine the extent to which
Contracting Governments give full
and complete effect to the provisions
of key IMO international treaties. The
relevant treaty instruments will then
be amended to make the III Code
mandatory under those instruments,
to include the International Convention
for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974,
(SOLAS), as amended; the International
Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution from Ships (MARPOL);
the International Convention on
Load Lines, 1966 (LL 1966) and
its 1988 Protocol; the International
Convention on Tonnage Measurement
of Ships, 1969 (TONNAGE 1969);
the Convention on the International
Regulations for Preventing Collisions
at Sea, 1972, as amended (COLREG
1972); and the International Convention
on Standards of Training, Certification
and Watchkeeping for Seafarers
(STCW, 1978).
www.imo.org 19