Article 21Reassessment
F11
The third countries that have been recognised under the procedure referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 19(3), including those referred to in Article 19(6), shall be reassessed by the Commission, with the assistance of the European Maritime Safety Agency, on a regular basis and at least within ten years of the last assessment, to verify that they fulfil the relevant criteria set out in Annex II and whether the appropriate measures have been taken to prevent issuance of fraudulent certificates.
2
The Commission, with the assistance of the European Maritime Safety Agency, shall carry out the reassessment of the third countries based on priority criteria. Those priority criteria shall include the following:
a
performance data by the port State control pursuant to Article 23;
b
the number of endorsements attesting recognition in relation to certificates of competency, or certificates of proficiency issued in accordance with Regulations V/1-1 and V/1-2 of the STCW Convention, issued by the third country;
c
the number of maritime education and training institutions accredited by the third country;
d
the number of seafarers' training and professional development programmes approved by the third country;
e
the date of the Commission's last assessment of the third country and the number of deficiencies in critical processes identified during that assessment;
f
any significant change in the maritime training and certification system of the third country;
g
the overall numbers of seafarers certified by the third country, serving on ships flying the flags of Member States and the level of training and qualifications of those seafarers;
h
information concerning education and training standards in the third country provided by any concerned authorities or other stakeholders, if available.
In case of non-compliance of a third country with the requirements of the STCW Convention in accordance with Article 20 of this Directive, the reassessment of that third country shall take priority in relation to the other third countries.
3
The Commission shall provide the Member States with a report on the results of the assessment.