Auditing IMO Member States to assess how effectively they administer key IMO treaties is an important part of the Organization's work to ensure its regulatory framework is universally adopted and implemented.
A regional training course for auditors under the IMO's Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) took place in Busan, Republic of Korea (29 October - 2 November).
IMO says the training provided specific skills in auditing Member States using the IMO Instruments Implementation Code as the audit standard. Participants were made up of senior maritime administration personnel who are, or will be, involved in preparing their respective countries to undergo the audit by carrying out internal audits.
The scheme, which became mandatory in January 2016, has carried out 56 mandatory audits. Five additional audits are planned to take place by the end of 2018.
All IMO Member States are required to take part in a mandatory audit within the seven-year audit cycle.
The training course was organized by IMO and hosted and sponsored by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, RoK. Thirty-eight nominees from 19 IMO Member States/Associate Member States participated in the Busan course (Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam).