Information exchange and focal points
1. Member States shall establish an effective exchange of appropriate information and effective cooperation between their national accreditation body and the competent authority of the administering State.
2. Where more than one authority is designated pursuant to Article 27 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 in a Member State, that Member State shall authorise one of those authorities to be the focal point for the exchange of information, for coordinating the cooperation referred to in paragraph 1, and for the activities referred to in this Chapter.
Accreditation work programme and management report
1. By 31 December of each year, the national accreditation body shall make available an accreditation work programme to the competent authority of the administering State with the list of verifiers accredited by that national accreditation body. The accreditation work programme shall contain the following information in relation to each verifier:
(a)
information on activities that the national accreditation body has planned for that verifier, including surveillance and reassessment activities;
(b)
dates of anticipated witness audits to be performed by the national accreditation body to assess the verifier;
(c)
information on whether the national accreditation body has requested a national accreditation body from another Member State to carry out surveillance activities pursuant to Article 7(5).
2. Where changes occur in the information referred to in the first subparagraph, the national accreditation body shall submit to the competent authority of the administering State an updated work programme by 31 January of each year.
3. Following the submission of the accreditation work programme in accordance with paragraph 1, the competent authority of the administering State shall provide the national accreditation body with all relevant information, including any applicable national legislation and guidelines.
4. By 1 June of each year, the national accreditation body shall make available a management report to the competent authority of the administering State. The management report shall contain the following information in relation to each verifier that has been accredited by that national accreditation body:
(a)
accreditation details of verifiers that were newly accredited by that national accreditation body;
(b)
summarised results of surveillance and reassessment activities carried out by the national accreditation body;
(c)
summarised results of extraordinary assessments that have taken place, including reasons for carrying them out;
(d)
any complaints filed against the verifier since the last management report and actions taken by the national accreditation body;
(e)
details of actions taken by the national accreditation body in response to the information that is shared by the competent authority of the administering State.
Information exchange on administrative measures
If the national accreditation body has imposed administrative measures on the verifier pursuant to Article 10 or if a suspension of the accreditation has been terminated or a decision on appeal has reversed the decision of a national accreditation body to impose administrative measures referred to in Article 10, the national accreditation body shall inform the competent authority of the administering State and the national accreditation body of each Member State about this.
Information exchange by the competent authority of the administering State
1. Whenever non-conformities or deficiencies are identified the competent authority of the administering State responsible for companies for which the verifier is carrying out verification shall communicate at least the following on an annual basis to the national accreditation body that has accredited that verifier:
(a)
relevant results from checking the FuelEU report, partial FuelEU reports, verification of conformity with GHG intensity requirements by calculating the GHG intensity of the energy used on board, the compliance balance, non-compliant port calls and the verification reports in case the competent authority of the administering State performed additional checks as referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1805;
(b)
results from the additional checks of the shipping company as outlined in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 where those results are relevant for the national accreditation body concerning the verifier’s accreditation and surveillance or where they include any identified issue of data that did not fulfil the requirements under Regulation (EU) 2023/1805, Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 8 ) , Implementing Regulation on the FuelEU verification activities or this Regulation;
(c)
results from the evaluation of internal verification documentation of that verifier where the competent authority of the administering State has evaluated the documentation;
(d)
complaints received by the competent authority of the administering State about that verifier.
2. Where the information referred to in paragraph 1 provides evidence that the competent authority has identified issues in the reported data that did not fulfil the requirements under Regulation (EU) 2023/1805, Directive 2003/87/EC and the Implementing Regulation on the FuelEU verification activities, the national accreditation body shall consider the communication of that information as a complaint by the competent authority of the administering State about that verifier within the meaning of Article 15.
3. The national accreditation body shall take appropriate action to address such issues and respond to the competent authority of the administering State within a reasonable time, but no later than 3 months from the date of receipt. The national accreditation body shall inform the competent authority of the administering State in its response of the action taken by it and, where relevant, the administrative measures imposed on the verifier.
Information exchange on surveillance
1. Where the national accreditation body of the Member State responsible for a company for which the verifier carries out verification has been requested to carry out surveillance activities pursuant to Article 7(5), it shall report its findings to the national accreditation body that has accredited the verifier, unless otherwise agreed between both national accreditation bodies.
2. The national accreditation body that has accredited the verifier shall take the findings referred to in paragraph 1 into account when assessing whether the verifier meets the requirements of this Regulation.
3. Where the findings referred to in paragraph 1 show evidence that the verifier is not complying with this Regulation, the national accreditation body that has accredited the verifier shall take appropriate action pursuant to this Regulation and shall inform the national accreditation body that has carried out surveillance activities of:
(a)
what action has been taken by the national accreditation body that has accredited the verifier;
(b)
where appropriate, how the findings were resolved by the verifier;
(c)
where relevant, what administrative measures have been imposed on the verifier.
Information exchange with a Member State where the verifier is established
Where a verifier has been granted accreditation by a national accreditation body in a Member State other than the Member State in which the verifier is established, the accreditation work programme and the management report referred to in Article 20 shall also be provided to the competent authority of the Member State in which the verifier is established.
Databases of accredited verifiers
1. National accreditation bodies shall set up and manage a database that shall be publicly available and contain the following information:
(a)
the name, accreditation number and address of each verifier accredited by that national accreditation body;
(b)
the date on which the accreditation was granted and its expiry date;
(c)
information on administrative measures imposed on the verifier.
2. Any change in the status of verifiers shall be communicated to the Commission by using a relevant standardised template.
3. The body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 shall facilitate and harmonise access to the national databases to enable efficient and cost-effective communication between national accreditation bodies, verifiers, shipping companies and competent authorities of the administering State. The body may merge those databases into a single and centralised database.
Notification by verifiers
1. For the purposes of enabling the national accreditation body to draft the accreditation work programme and the management report referred to in Article 20, a verifier shall send the following information to the national accreditation body that has accredited it by 15 November of each year:
(a)
the planned time and place of the verifications that the verifier is scheduled to perform;
(b)
the business address and contact details of the shipping companies whose monitoring plans, FuelEU reports and partial FuelEU reportsare subject to its verification;
(c)
the names of the members of the verification team.
2. Where changes occur in the information referred to in paragraph 1, the verifier shall notify those changes to the accreditation body within a time frame agreed with that national accreditation body.
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
