EU recognised classification societies authorised to work on behalf of one or more of the EU member states’ maritime administrations, have founded a community-interest company responsible for the quality assessment and continued certification of the EU recognised organisations (RO).
The organisation, to be known as the Entity for the Quality Assessment and Certification of Organisations Recognised by the European Union (QACE), has been established in the UK and will be headquartered in London.
It has elected a five-member board responsible for the overseeing of its activities. The five directors – Klaus Grensemann, Hiroshi Iwamoto, Victor Santos-Pedro, Dean Tseretopoulos and Francis Vallat – have been chosen for their collective maritime experience, reputation, independence from the classification societies and impartiality.
When properly implemented and administered, quality-based audits are an extremely valuable tool in helping the audited organisation to identify areas in which it can further improve its services and administration.
In this instance, the establishment of QACE can be expected to lead to improvements in the delivery of classification services over time to the benefit of EU member societies’ clients and, most importantly, to further improvements in maritime safety.
QACE has been established in accordance with Article 11 of the EU Regulation (EC) 391/2009.
In fulfilling the purposes set out in Article 11 and promoting safety at sea and the protection of the marine environment, it will undertake the following tasks:
* Frequent and regular assessment of the quality management systems of the EU ROs, in accordance with the ISO 9001 quality standard criteria;
* Certification of the quality management systems of EU ROs, including those organisations for which recognition has been requested in accordance with Article 3 of the Regulation;
* Issue interpretations of internationally recognised quality management standards that take account of the specific features of the nature and obligations of ROs;
* Adopt individual and collective recommendations for the improvement of EU RO’s processes and internal-control mechanisms.
The organisation, to be known as the Entity for the Quality Assessment and Certification of Organisations Recognised by the European Union (QACE), has been established in the UK and will be headquartered in London.
It has elected a five-member board responsible for the overseeing of its activities. The five directors – Klaus Grensemann, Hiroshi Iwamoto, Victor Santos-Pedro, Dean Tseretopoulos and Francis Vallat – have been chosen for their collective maritime experience, reputation, independence from the classification societies and impartiality.
When properly implemented and administered, quality-based audits are an extremely valuable tool in helping the audited organisation to identify areas in which it can further improve its services and administration.
In this instance, the establishment of QACE can be expected to lead to improvements in the delivery of classification services over time to the benefit of EU member societies’ clients and, most importantly, to further improvements in maritime safety.
QACE has been established in accordance with Article 11 of the EU Regulation (EC) 391/2009.
In fulfilling the purposes set out in Article 11 and promoting safety at sea and the protection of the marine environment, it will undertake the following tasks:
* Frequent and regular assessment of the quality management systems of the EU ROs, in accordance with the ISO 9001 quality standard criteria;
* Certification of the quality management systems of EU ROs, including those organisations for which recognition has been requested in accordance with Article 3 of the Regulation;
* Issue interpretations of internationally recognised quality management standards that take account of the specific features of the nature and obligations of ROs;
* Adopt individual and collective recommendations for the improvement of EU RO’s processes and internal-control mechanisms.