S.L. 234.38 Art. 17Professional profile of inspectors.

(1) Inspections under these regulations, and security checks in terms of Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 725/2004, shall be carried out only by inspectors who fulfil the qualification criteria specified in

Annex XI to the Directive and who are authorised to carry out port State control by the competent authority.

(2) When the required professional expertise cannot be provided by the competent authority, the inspector of that competent authority may be assisted by any person with the required expertise.

(3) The inspectors carrying out port State control, and security checks in terms of Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 725/2004, and the persons assisting them shall have no commercial interest either in the port of inspection or in the ships inspected, nor shall the inspectors be employed by, or undertake work on behalf of, non-governmental organisations which issue statutory and classification certificates or which carry out the surveys necessary for the issue of those certificates to ships.

(4) Each inspector shall carry a personal document in the form of an identity card issued by the competent authority indicating that the inspector is authorised to carry out inspections.