Information to be provided by companies
1. Before the start of the verification of the report at company level, companies shall provide the verifier with the following information:
(a)
the report at company level for the reporting period to be verified and, where applicable, a copy of the verified report at company level and verification report at company level from the previous year, if the verification was not carried out by the same verifier;
(b)
the emissions reports and partial emissions reports together with the verification reports for all ships under the company’s responsibility during the reporting period;
(c)
where applicable, if in the previous year the verification of the report at company level was not carried out by the same verifier, emissions reports and partial emissions reports from the previous year, together with the relevant verification reports, in respect of all ships under the company’s responsibility during the previous year;
(d)
a list of all company’s ships of 5 000 gross tonnage and above, with their IMO ship identification number, during a reporting period, including the period during which the ship was under the company’s ownership or the company’s responsibility pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 336/2006.
2. Verifiers may ask the company to provide any other information relevant to the verification of the report at company level, including a copy of the monitoring plans of ships under the company’s responsibility during the reporting period and, if applicable, evidence of the change of company including evidence for the change date.
Strategic analysis
1. At the beginning of the verification, the verifier shall assess the likely nature, scale and complexity of the verification tasks by carrying out a strategic analysis of all activities relevant to the company.
2. For the purposes of understanding the activities carried out by company, the verifier shall collect and review the information needed to assess that the verification team is sufficiently competent to carry out the verification, to determine that the time allocation indicated in the contract has been set correctly and to ensure that it is able to conduct the necessary risk analysis. The information shall include:
(a)
the information referred to in Article 24(1);
(b)
the information obtained from the verification in previous years, if the verifier is carrying out the verification for the same company.
Risk analysis to be carried out by verifiers
1. For the purposes of assessing the completeness and consistency of the reported data pursuant to Article 14(4) of Regulation (EU) 2015/757, the verifier shall consider areas of higher verification risk taking into consideration elements such as:
(a)
the number of ships under the company’s responsibility during the reporting period;
(b)
the number of company changes for ships under the company’s responsibility during the reporting period;
(c)
the diversity of ships’ engines and fuel types used;
(d)
the number of different flag States;
(e)
the range of different verifiers having carried out verification of the emissions reports of ships under the company’s responsibility during the reporting period;
(f)
the number of monitoring plans of ships under the company’s responsibility that were not approved by the administering authority responsible before the issuance of the verification report for the relevant emissions reports or partial emissions reports;
(g)
the number, nature and scale of misstatements and non-conformities related to the emissions reports or partial emissions reports of ships under the company’s responsibility, as reported in the corresponding verification reports.
2. Where appropriate, in the light of the information obtained in the course of the verification, the verifier shall revise the risk analysis and modify or repeat the verification activities to be performed.
Verification plan at company level
The verifier shall draft a verification plan commensurate with the information obtained and the risks identified during the risk analysis.
The verification plan shall include a verification programme describing the nature and scope of the verification activities and the time and manner in which they are to be carried out, and, where appropriate, a data sampling plan.
Verification process concerning the report at company level
On the basis of the risk analysis, the verifier shall consider carrying out the following types of processes:
(a)
enquiry with relevant staff;
(b)
document inspection;
(c)
observation and walkthrough procedures.
Verification of reported data at company level
1. The verifier shall assess the completeness and consistency of the data reported in the report at company level through the following:
(a)
detailed testing, including by tracing the data back to the relevant data source;
(b)
cross-checking the data with data from the verified emissions reports and, if necessary, external data sources, including ship-tracking data;
(c)
performing reconciliations;
(d)
carrying out recalculations.
2. As part of the data verification referred to in paragraph 1, the verifier shall verify:
(a)
the completeness of the report at company level, including that all ships under the company’s responsibility during the reporting period and their corresponding emissions falling within the scope of Directive 2003/87/EC are included therein;
(b)
the correctness of the calculations leading to the aggregated emissions data at company level.
Materiality level for reports at company level
1. For the purpose of verifying a report at company level, when the sum of all ships’ total aggregated emissions of greenhouse gases to be reported under Directive 2003/87/EC as determined at ship level in accordance with Part C, points 1.1 to 1.7, of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2015/757 exceeds 500 000 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent, the materiality level shall be 2 % of those emissions data in the reporting period.
2. For the purpose of verifying a report at company level, when the amount referred to in paragraph 1 does not exceed 500 000 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent, the materiality level shall be 5 % of the emissions data in the reporting period.
Site visits
1. The verifier shall carry out site visits in order to verify a report at company level, in particular based on the outcome of the risk analysis pursuant to Article 26, taking into consideration the place where the critical mass of relevant data is stored and the place where data-flow activities and control activities are carried out.
2. The verifier shall also determine the activities to be performed and the time needed for the site visit.
3. The company shall provide the verifier with access to its sites, including to its relevant onshore locations and its relevant ships.
4. The verifier may carry out a virtual site visit provided that, on the basis of the outcome of the risk analysis, one of the following conditions is fulfilled:
(a)
the verifier is able to obtain and assess remotely all requisite information;
(b)
where serious, extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances, outside the control of the company, prevent the verifier from carrying out a physical site visit and where those circumstances cannot, after using all reasonable efforts, be overcome.
The verifier shall take measures to reduce the verification risk to an acceptable level to obtain reasonable assurance that the report at company level is in conformity with Regulation (EU) 2015/757.
The decision to carry out a virtual site visit shall be made after determining that the conditions for carrying out a virtual site visit are met. The verifier shall inform without undue delay the company of the decision to carry out a virtual site visit and that the conditions for carryout out a virtual site visit are met.
5. On the basis of the outcome of the risk analysis, the verifier may decide to waive a site visit referred to in paragraphs 1 and 4 provided that the conditions below are cumulatively fulfilled:
(a)
the verifier is able to obtain and assess remotely all requisite information;
(b)
it is not the first time that the verifier verifies a report at company level for that company;
(c)
the verification can be carried out with reasonable assurance without any such site visit.
The verifier shall take measures to reduce the verification risk to an acceptable level to obtain reasonable assurance that the report at company level is in conformity with Regulation (EU) 2015/757.
The decision to waive a site visit shall be made after determining that the conditions for waiving the site visit are met. The verifier shall inform without undue delay the company of the decision to waive a site visit and that conditions for waiving the site visit are met.
6. For ships falling within the scope of Directive 2003/87/EC, the company shall inform without undue delay its administering authority responsible of the verifier’s decision to waive the site visit.
The administering authority responsible may object to the verifier’s decision to waive the site visit, taking into consideration all of the following elements:
(a)
the information provided by the verifier on the outcome of the risk analysis;
(b)
evidence that all conditions for waiving the site visit in accordance with paragraph 5 are met.
In case of objection, the administering authority responsible shall notify the company of the objection and the reasons for such objection within a reasonable time, but no later than two months from the date it was informed of the verifier’s decision to waive the site visit.
7. If the verifier carries out a virtual site visit pursuant to paragraph 4 or waives a site visit pursuant to paragraph 5, it shall provide justification for doing so in the internal verification documentation.
Addressing misstatements and non-conformities in the report at company level
1. Where the verifier identifies misstatements or non-conformities in the report at company level in the course of its verification, it shall inform the company thereof without undue delay and request relevant corrections within a reasonable deadline.
The company shall correct any communicated misstatements or non-conformities.
2. The verifier shall document, in the internal verification documentation, all misstatements or non-conformities that have been corrected in the course of the verification, marking them as resolved.
3. Where the company does not correct the misstatements or non-conformities referred to in paragraph 1, the verifier shall, before issuing the verification report, ask the company to explain the main causes of the misstatements or non-conformities.
4. The verifier shall assess whether the uncorrected misstatements, individually or together with other misstatements, have an impact on the total reported emissions or other relevant information and whether that impact leads to material misstatements.
The verifier shall assess whether the uncorrected non-conformity, individually or when combined with other non-conformities, has an impact on the reported data and whether this leads to material misstatement.
5. The verifier shall consider misstatements or non-conformities which, individually or together with other misstatements, are below the materiality level set in Article 30 as material misstatements where that is justified by their scale and nature or by the particular circumstances of their occurrence.
Conclusions of the verification of the report at company level
To complete the verification of the report at company level, the verifier shall:
(a)
confirm that all verification activities have been carried out;
(b)
perform final analytical procedures on the aggregated data to ensure that they are free of material misstatements;
(c)
verify whether the information in the report satisfies the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2015/757 and Directive 2003/87/EC;
(d)
before issuing the verification report, prepare the internal verification documentation and the draft report and submit them to the independent reviewer in accordance with Article 36;
(e)
authorise a person to authenticate the report on the basis of the conclusions reached by the independent reviewer and the evidence of the internal verification documentation, and notify the company thereof.
Recommendations for improvement
1. The verifier shall communicate to the company recommendations for improvement in relation to uncorrected misstatements and non-conformities not leading to material misstatements.
2. The verifier may communicate other recommendations for improvement that it finds relevant, in the light of the outcome of the verification activities.
3. When communicating recommendations to the company, the verifier shall remain impartial vis-à-vis the company, the ships and the monitoring and reporting system. It shall not jeopardise its impartiality by giving advice or developing parts of the monitoring and reporting process pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/757.
4. During verification following a year in which recommendations for improvement were made in a verification report, the verifier shall verify whether the company has implemented those recommendations for improvement and the manner in which that has been done. If the company has not implemented those recommendations, the verifier shall assess whether that increases or may increase the risk of misstatements.
Verification report at company level
1. On the basis of the information collected, the verifier shall issue a verification report on the report at company level subject to verification and transmit that verification report to the company.
2. Upon receipt of the verification report pursuant to paragraph 1, the company shall submit the verification report together with the report at company level to the administering authority responsible. The reports shall be submitted using automated systems and data exchange formats.
3. The verification report shall include a statement verifying the report at company level as satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
4. For the purposes of paragraph 3, the report at company level shall be considered to have been verified as satisfactory only if it is free of material misstatements. The report at company level shall not be verified as satisfactory in case it contains material misstatements that were not corrected before the verification report was issued.
5. The verification report shall contain the following elements:
(a)
the name of the company and the IMO unique company and registered owner identification number;
(b)
a title making it clear that it is a verification report;
(c)
the identity of the verifier, including the name and business email address of a contact person;
(d)
the objectives and scope of the verification;
(e)
a reference to the report at company level and the reporting period subject to verification;
(f)
the aggregated emissions data at company level, as well as the emissions data to be submitted using the format set out in Annex IX to the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1122 ( 12 ) ;
(g)
a reference to the verification standards used;
(h)
a summary of the verifier’s procedures, including information on and dates of site visits, information on the reasons for conducting virtual site visits or the reasons for waiving them pursuant to Article 31;
(i)
a verification statement;
(j)
a description of uncorrected misstatements and non-conformities as referred to in Article 32, including their nature and scale, whether or not they have a material impact and the elements of the report at company level to which they relate, if any;
(k)
a description of any non-conformity issue as defined in Article 2(5), point (c), which have become apparent during the verification;
(l)
where applicable, recommendations for improvement;
(m)
the names of the shipping MRV lead auditor, the independent reviewer and, where applicable, the shipping MRV auditor and the technical expert that were involved in the verification of the report at company level;
(n)
the date of the verification report and signature of an authorised person on behalf of the verifier, including the name of that person.
6. The verifier shall describe the misstatements or non-conformities in sufficient detail in the verification report, including the following aspects:
(a)
the size and nature of the misstatement or non-conformity;
(b)
why the misstatement has material effect, or not;
(c)
to which element of the report the misstatement refers, or to which legal requirements the non-conformity refers.
Independent review of the report at company level
1. The independent reviewer shall review the internal verification documentation and the draft verification report to verify that the verification process has been conducted in accordance with this Regulation and that due professional care and judgment have been exercised.
2. The scope of the independent review shall encompass the complete verification process laid down in Articles 24 to 35.
3. After the report has been authenticated in accordance with Article 33, point (e), the verifier shall include the results of the independent review in the internal verification documentation.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
