7 Reporting

  7.1.1 The following principles should be taken into account when preparing audit reports:

• .1 the audit findings in the briefing to the audit closing meeting, the audit interim report and the audit final report must be consistent;

• .2 findings must be supported by objective evidence;

• .3 findings must be stated clearly and concisely and be summarized at the end of the reports;

• .4 generalities and vague expressions must be avoided;

• .5 audit findings must be objectively presented;

• .6 widely accepted maritime terminology must be used, avoiding acronyms and jargon; and

• .7 criticism of individuals or positions must be avoided.

  7.1.2 With the exception of the audit summary report, all information gathered, materials, notes and reports obtained or compiled during the Member State audit will be treated as confidential by the audit team and the Secretary-General. Only the audited State has the right to publish its audit final report and/or its corrective action plan or to request the Secretary-General to do so on its behalf.

  7.1.3 On completion of an audit, the audit team leader will transmit any completed audit checklist and any other associated records and reports to the Secretary-General for retention in confidence until replaced by any subsequent audit material.

  7.2.1 The audit interim report is a formal report of the audit findings submitted to the Member State. The Member State's corrective action plan should be based on the audit interim report. The audit interim report forms the basis for the preparation of the audit final report and is superseded by the audit final report when completed.

  7.2.2 The audit interim report should be available only to the audited Member State, the Secretary-General and the audit team. The contents of the audit interim report should be the following:

• .1 Executive Summary

• .2 Introduction

  • .2.1 background;

  • .2.2 members of the audit team;

  • .2.3 involved officials from the Member State; and

  • .2.4 acknowledgement.

• .3 Scope, objectives and activities of the audit

• .4 Maritime activities of the Member State (general description)

  • .1 flag State

  • .2 coastal State

  • .3 port State

• .5 Audit findings

  • .5.1 areas of positive development;

  • .5.2 areas for further development;

  • .5.3 observations; and

  • .5.4 non-conformities.

• .6 Possible recommendations for follow-up action

• .7 Appendices

• .8 Attachments

  7.2.3 Any disagreement with the audit team's interim report may be recorded in writing by the Member State and shall be annexed to the interim report.

  7.2.4 Every endeavour shall be made by both the Member State and the audit team to avoid disagreement over the audit findings. At any stage, the Member State should notify any concerns to the audit team with respect to the validity and/or interpretation of any audit findings. Diverging opinions regarding the audit findings between the audit team and the Member State should be discussed and, if possible, resolved. If not resolved, all opinions, including those annexed to the interim report, should be annexed to the final report. The objective is to resolve all such disagreements.

  7.3.1 The audit final report represents the official and actual report of the audit. The structure and contents of the audit final report should be similar to the audit interim report, with the exception that the audit final report should include an analysis of the Member State corrective action plan submitted by the audited State, information on the progress made by the audited State on the implementation of the Member State corrective action plan and any issues left unresolved.

  7.3.2 The audit team is responsible for preparing the audit final report. The audit final report should only be available to the audited Member State, the audit team and the Secretary-General.

  7.4.1 An audit summary report, which will as far as practicable not identify the audited Member State and will provide an overview of that audited Member State's adherence to the Code for the implementation of mandatory IMO instruments, should be prepared by the audit team and forwarded to the audited State for comments and final acceptance before the report is made available to the Secretariat.

  7.4.2 The audit team leader, assisted by the other members of the audit team, is responsible for preparing the audit summary report. The report should contain at least the following items:

• .1 background;

• .2 maritime activities in the Member State;

• .3 summary of findings; and

• .4 comments.

  7.4.3 Based on audit summary reports prepared by audit team leaders, the Secretariat should prepare a consolidated report on a periodic basis containing lessons learned from the audits.

  7.5.1 The audit team leader should prepare a separate report describing the conduct of the audit, positive elements and difficulties encountered and proposals to improve the planning and conduct of audits. The audit team leader's mission report should, therefore, provide feedback on the conduct of the audit from planning to completion. The mission report is an integral part of the quality assurance programme for the audit scheme and will be used by the Secretary-General to improve audit planning.

  7.5.2 A record of all feedback and recommendations from mission reports of all audit team leaders and of action taken to address concerns raised should be maintained by the Secretary-General.