Article 16 Site visits
United Kingdom
The verifier shall carry out site visits for the purpose of gaining sufficient understanding of the company and the ship's monitoring and reporting system as described in the monitoring plan.
The verifier shall determine the location or locations for the site visit on the basis of the results of the risk assessment and after taking into consideration the place where the critical mass of relevant data is stored, including electronic or hard copies of documents of which the originals are kept on the ship, and the place where data-flow activities are carried out.
The verifier shall also determine the activities to be performed and the time needed for the site visit.
By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the verifier may waive a site visit provided that, on the basis of the outcome of the risk assessment, one of the following conditions is fulfilled:
it has sufficient understanding of the ship's monitoring and reporting systems, including their existence, implementation and effective operation by the company;
the nature and level of complexity of the ship's monitoring and reporting system are such that a site visit is not required;
its ability to obtain and assess remotely all requisite information, including correct application of the methodology described in the monitoring plan and verification of the data reported in the emissions report.
On the basis of the outcome of a site visit to an onshore location, where it concludes that an on-board verification is needed to reduce the risk of material misstatements in the emissions report, the verifier may decide to visit the ship.
If the verifier waives a site visit pursuant to paragraph 4, it shall provide justification for doing so in the internal verification documentation.