International Marine Certification Institute
The International Marine Certification Institute (IMCI) was founded in Brussels, Belgium, as an independent certification organization to serve the interests of the European and international boat building industry . Since the introduction of the recreational craft directive 94/25 / EC (revised by 2003/44 / EC and 2013/53 / EU) of the European Union , IMCI is able to provide certification services to all manufacturers who sell their boats, yachts and to be able to sell their components on the EU market.
history
At the beginning of 1988, the international boat builders association, the Council of Marine Industry Association (ICOMIA), launched an initiative to ensure that its members could influence the drafting of an EU directive for pleasure craft. This initiative proved successful and ICOMIA was eventually accepted as an observing member for the meetings of the EU Commission. For several years it was possible, first through the Technical Advisory Board of ICOMIA and later through the Certification Committee of ICOMIA, to work directly on the draft of this guideline.
In particular, the certification process of pleasure boats was in the early 90's a special concern because the European Association of Classification Societies (EurACS), another observer member to the EU, tried to transfer its existing Zertifikations procedures and prices on the boot sector. Furthermore, there was concern, especially outside the EU and especially in the USA, that the certification of sport boats should only be possible by certifiers of EU members. This led to the view that the EU was being converted into “Fortress Europe”.
The EU then suggested that non-EU countries could also carry out these certifications within the framework of an agreement on mutual recognition (MRA). This MRA should make it possible to carry out and offer certifications in non-EU countries. However, this draft also provided that only organizations already active in certification could be approved for certification according to the Recreational Craft Directive. In concrete terms, this meant that every organization that wanted to be approved as a notified body had to have its own certification program in operation within the EU. Understandably, many non-EU states remain skeptical and many EU and non-EU organizations have been forced to take other measures because of this decision.
Lars Erik Granholm, born in Finland in 1934 and emigrated to the USA in 1961, then proposed to the Chicago-based US boat manufacturers 'association, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), that, together with the European manufacturers' associations, establish a global company for the certification of recreational boats in the United States To found the EU. Granholm, a trained and experienced shipbuilding engineer, was already involved in the development of the NMMA's boat and engine certification programs. This national program came into force on September 1, 1989. It required u. a. Certification of their engines from every manufacturer as a prerequisite for membership in the NMMA. At that time, this program was widely accepted and implemented in the industry. At the beginning of 1990, the NMMA finally approved Granholm's proposal to establish a company for the certification of pleasure craft in the EU. The new company was named "International Marine Certification Institute" (IMCI) with its headquarters in Brussels , Belgium. The first IMCI shareholders' meeting was held in a hotel at Brussels Airport Zaventem on November 11, 1992. Many of the former members and their representatives are still active on the IMCI board. The minutes of this first meeting were extremely brief.
Certification bodies
At the time, the European Organization for Testing and Certification (EOTC) in Brussels was discussing the requirements and procedures for the certification of products. It was decided to form so-called Agreement Groups, which should consist of at least three EU certification bodies per industrial area. The task of these groups should be to harmonize general guidelines for the certification of products. Under the chairmanship of IMCI, an agreement group for pleasure craft, the “Recreational Marine Agreement Group” (RMAG) , was founded with the aim of recognition by the EOTC . It was internally planned by IMCI that the IMCI should start its work according to these guidelines and thus prove its qualification as a certification body. The founding members of RMAG were
- Register Holland,
- VTT Finland,
- IMCI,
- NMMA,
as well as representatives of the public, industry and the EU Commission. IMCI was elected to the presidency. In twelve conference meetings, this group established the first draft of the guidelines for watercraft. Finally, RMAG applied for official recognition by the EOTC. Recognition lasts three years. This long recognition and examination process was necessary to enable the NMMA to become a full member of the EOTC. The NMMA was the first US certification company to be granted full membership in the EU.
After this recognition, the RMAG was repeatedly cited by the EOTC as proof that there is no “Fortress Europe”. Later, the EOTC was only charged with overseeing voluntary certification programs. The EU Commission itself now took over the supervision of the statutory certification programs. In a meeting following this change, the boat building industry was encouraged to set up a new agreement group. Thus the "Recreational Craft Sectoral Group" (RSG) was brought into being. While the RMAG was a voluntary group, every certifier now had to be a member of the RSG. Uli Heinemann (IMCI) took over the technical secretariat of this group on request. This developed the RSG guidelines, which were taken directly from the RMAG guidelines. The RSG guidelines are still in use today and are updated annually in June.
begin
IMCI was recognized as a non-profit organization in Belgium on June 24, 1993. The IMCI program started on August 8, 1993 with invoice # 1001. At the time, 2 people were working in the main administration, supervising 4 inspectors in 4 countries. A new ISO standard for engines was used as an opportunity for the NMMA to transfer its certification program for engines to IMCI. This decision gave IMCI not only the necessary start-up capital but also acceptance as a European certifier. At this point in time, IMCI was not yet recognized as a notified body and could therefore only issue “pre-certificates” according to the early drafts of the EU guidelines . During these first years, practically all EU administrative processes, documents and the supervision of certification were still in development and there were no complete documents such as ISO standards , directives or a regulation regarding notified bodies. This fact made it possible for IMCI to develop practical working methods and to use them as the basis for its own CE certification program. IMCI's early involvement in ICOMIA, RMAG, RSG and ISO made it possible for IMCI to assume key positions in these bodies, while the importance of these bodies grew more and more.
In the early to mid-1990s, IMCI was the only EU certification body that carried out preliminary certifications. This fact aroused skepticism and criticism from some competitors. The Belgian authorities observed the small staff of IMCI and its freelance inspectors with a certain amount of attention . On May 20, 1996, at a meeting of the EU Commission, it was discussed whether or not the IMCI procedure complied with the EU provisions that were being set up. The IMCI model was discussed in detail at the meeting and finally the Belgian state accepted IMCI as a notified body. The recognition was of great importance to the industry. For the first time it had been possible to recognize an institution other than a large classification society. This decision made a significant contribution to opening the boat certification market, which is firmly in the hands of the large classification societies, to smaller notified bodies. Other countries such as Italy, France or the Netherlands later followed suit.
The Recreational Craft Directive officially came into force on June 16, 1996. The IMCI was notified on July 3, 1996. After this date, all customers who had applied for a provisional certificate from IMCI received a CE certificate confirming the compliance of the respective product with the current directive. This made a seamless transition to CE certification possible for all manufacturers. Lars Granholm retired as Managing Director of IMCI in 1999 and took on the position of Chairman of the Board for the next 4 years. For his lifelong service he was awarded the NMMA Chapman Award in 2000. In 2000, Uli Heinemann took his place as the new managing director.
Organization and structure
IMCI is led by 30 directors from 16 countries and has 51 inspectors in 24 countries (in 2018).
activities
- CE certification for manufacturers from all over the world who want to sell their boats, engines and components on the EU market and whose products fall under the pleasure craft directive
- Certification according to ISO standards for all component manufacturers in the water sports sector who want to market their high-quality products worldwide
- IMCI is a cooperation partner of the NMMA for combined US / EU certifications
- ABYC component certification program to certify manufacturers that component samples are in full compliance with the currently applicable ABYC standards
- World Sailing Certification - Review of structural plans as part of the World Sailing Offshore Special Regulations for ocean-going sailing yachts
- Independent certification of companies, specialist dealers and experts in the water sports industry who want to offer their services on the global market.
- IMCI Blue Star Marina certification for the benefit of water sports enthusiasts and port operators who are looking for an independent assessment of the quality level of a marina with 1-5 blue stars.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Recreational craft sector ( English ) European Commission. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
- ↑ http://www.icomia.org/ International
- ↑ http://www.nmma.org/