International Maritime Organization audits Finnish maritime administration

International Maritime Organization audits Finnish maritime administration

Image: Mikko Törmänen, Keksi/LVM.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has audited more than half of its Member States. The IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) ensures that Member States fulfil their international obligations and develop their maritime administration. Finland's audit takes place between 28 October and 4 November 2024 in Helsinki.

Ministry and maritime administration actors prepared for audit together

Finland's maritime administration involves several ministries, central government agencies and regional agencies, each with their own statutory duties. Before the audit, the Ministry of Transport and Communications set up a working group consisting of these actors.

Preparing for the audit, the working group drew up Finland's policies on procedures for enforcing the mandatory IMO obligations and for ensuring the compliance of the maritime administration. The policies have helped the actors to hold reviews of maritime administration, for example. The working group also drew up an extensive package of materials on maritime administration to support the audit.

"Finland's maritime administration is known for its strong cooperation between the authorities, which the joint audit preparations have further strengthened. On the first day, the IMO auditors received a comprehensive picture of Finland's maritime administration, as nearly all organisations were present to talk about their activities," says Senior Ministerial Adviser Anne Miettinen.

Auditing aims to improve operations

IMO's main role is to create a regulatory framework for the shipping industry that is fair and effective, universally implemented, and that promotes safe, secure, environmentally sound, efficient and sustainable shipping. The Member States are responsible for implementing the IMO instruments in their national legislation. The IMO instruments may only be implemented through the Member States' actions; all individual actions are carried out by the Member States.

During the audit, the IMO auditors will interview actors in the Finnish maritime administration and make site visits to ensure that Finland fulfils its international obligations. The audit will provide Finland with objective feedback on the functioning and development of maritime administration in relation to other Member States. The audit will also help share best practices and improve operations.

What's next?

At the conclusion of the audit, IMO will submit a draft audit report to the Member State. If necessary, the Finnish Maritime Administration will then prepare a corrective action plan (CAP), which must be submitted to IMO three months after the audit. The final audit report will be released around one year after the audit.

The progress of the implementation of any corrective action plans will be monitored in an annual review, which will be the responsibility of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom as of the beginning of 2025.

The audit is carried out every seven years. Finland was last audited on a voluntary basis in November 2011.

Inquiries:

Anne Miettinen, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 342 394, [email protected]

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