1.Each Member State shall take the measures necessary to ensure that a competent person or a competent authority carries out an annual inspection to check that on board all vessels flying its flag:
the medical supplies meet the minimum requirements of this Directive;
the checklist provided for in Article 2 (1) (c) confirms that the medical supplies comply with those minimum requirements;
the medical supplies are correctly stored;
any expiry dates have been respected.
2.Inspections of the medical supplies stored on life-rafts shall be carried out in the course of those life-rafts' annual maintenance.
Those inspections may exceptionally be postponed for up to five months.