Competent Authority under the IMSBC Code

The competent authority is the body a shipper, a master or an administration deals with when the IMSBC Code requires a decision that the Code itself does not make. It appears throughout the Code, most significantly in the assessment of cargoes that have no individual schedule and in the granting of exemptions from a provision of the Code.

The full article will cover the definition in section 1.7 and the requirement that the authority be independent of the shipper, which is the point that gives the role its value. It will cover the three capacities in which an authority acts under section 1.3, as the authority of the port of loading, of the port of unloading and of the flag State, and the different weight each carries.

It will also cover the exemption machinery, under which a competent authority may authorize an alternative to a provision of the Code where satisfied it is at least as effective and safe, subject to a validity limit, a copy held on board and notification to IMO. How designations are made and published, and how a master confirms that a document comes from the right body, will be treated alongside.