Section 5 in The Merchant Shipping (Management for the Safe Operation of Ships) Rules, 2000
5. Document of Compliance and Safety Management Certificate.
(1)A Document of Compliance shall be issued by the Central Government to a Company after an initial verification of compliance with the requirements of the International Safety Management Code, for which purpose:-(a)the Auditor shall verify that the establishment and implementation of the Safety Management System meet the objectives specified in rule 3, and on satisfactory completion of such verification, the Auditor shall present a declaration to the Central Government to that effect; and(b)where such declaration is found satisfactory, the Central Government shall issue a Document of Compliance, valid for a period of five years from the date of completion of assessment if there are no major non-conformities, or from the date of satisfactory closure of major non-conformities, as the case may be.(2)The Document of Compliance -(a)shall be valid for the type of ships on which the initial verification was based.(b)may be extended to cover additional types of ships after verification of the Company's capability to comply with the requirements of the International Safety Management Code for such additional types of ships.(c)shall be subject to annual verification by Auditors which may be done within three months before or after the annual date to confirm the effective functioning of the Safety Management System in the Company, and such verification shall include, examining and verifying the correctness of the statutory and classification records for at least one ship of each type to which the Document of Compliance applies, and corrective actions and modifications to the Safety Management System carried out since previous verification shall be verified.(3)Verification for renewal of Document of Compliance shall be carried out within a period of 6 months immediately preceding expiry of the certificate.(4)A Document of Compliance shall not be issued, endorsed or renewed unless major non-conformities have been fully rectified by the Company and verified by the Auditor.(5)A copy of Document of Compliance, endorsed for each ship of the Company, shall be kept on board in order that the Master can produce it on request for verification, and another such shall be kept at each branch office of the Company.(6)The Central Government may withdraw the Document of Compliance if -(a)corrective actions is not completed within the stipulated time ;(b)a periodical verification is not asked for;(c)amendments to International Safety Management Code are not taken into account;(d)there is evidence of a major non-conformity ;(e)substantial modification to the Safety Management System is not notified to Central Government and verified by the Auditor.Explanation: - A non-conformity from previous audit against which corrective action is not taken within the stipulated time shall be deemed to be a major non-conformity.(7)A Document of Compliance may be revalidated upon satisfactory completion of an initial verification Audit.(8)A Safety Management Certificate (SMC) shall be issued by the Central Government to a ship after an initial verification of compliance with the requirements of the International Safety Management Code as follows and for this purpose-(a)the Auditor shall verify the establishment and implementation of Safety Management System on board the ship, which includes the verification that the Document of Compliance for the Company responsible for the operation of the ship is applicable to that particular type of ship;(b)there is an objective evidence demonstrating that the Company's Safety Management System has been functioning effectively for at least three months on board the ship, including inter alia, records from the internal audits carried out on the ship.(c)the Auditor shall, where a satisfactory Safety Management System is in operation, present a declaration to that effect to the Central Government for issuance of a Safety Management Certificate to the ship.(9)A copy of the Safety Management Certificate issued shall be available at the Company's head office.(10)The issue of a Safety Management Certificate shall be subject to -(a)the existence of a valid Document of Compliance for that type of ship,(b)the compliance with rule-3,and(c)the maintenance of valid statutory certificates,(11)A Safety Management Certificate shall not be issued, endorsed or renewed unless major non-conformities have been rectified by the Company and verified by the Auditor:Provided Safety Management Certificate may be issued, endorsed or renewed pending rectification of non-conformities within such period not exceeding three months as may be agreed to between the Company and the Auditor, if such non-conformities could not be rectified for reasons beyond Company's control.(12)The period of validity of a Safety Management Certificate shall be five years, subject to minimum of one intermediate verification confirming effective functioning of the Safety Management System, and that any modifications carried out since the previous verification comply with the requirements of the International Safety Code .Provided that the frequency of the intermediate verification may be increased in certain cases, particularly during the initial period of operation of the Safety Management System or due to the nature of non-conformities:Provided further that where one intermediate verification has been carried out, the second intermediate verification shall take place between the second year and the third year.(13)Safety Management Certificate shall be issued from the date of completion of assessment if there are no major non-conformities, or from the date of satisfactory rectification of major non-conformities, the case may be.(14)A Safety Management Certificate may be declared invalid by the Central Government, inter alia for :-(a)non-compliance with the provision to sub rule (II),(b)corrective actions are not completed within the agreed time schedule;(c)periodical verification is not asked for;(d)amendments to the International Safety Management Code are not complied ;(e)evidence of a major non-conformity;(f)substantial modification to the Safety Management System which has not been notified to the Central Government and verified by the Auditor.Explanation: - A non-conformity from previous audit against which corrective action is not taken within the stipulated time shall be deemed to be a major non-conformity;(15)Renewal of the Safety Management Certificate for a further period of five years shall include assessment of all elements of the Safety Management System pertaining to that ship and its effectiveness in meeting the objectives specified in the International Safety Management Code.(16)The Safety Management Certificate may be revalidated provisionally upon satisfactory completion of an initial verification audit.
