Artikel 2

1. The owner of the container shall be responsible for maintaining it in safe condition.
2. (a) The owner of an approved container shall examine the container or have it examined in accordance with the procedure either prescribed or approved by the Contracting Party concerned, at intervals appropriate to operating conditions.
(b) The date (month and year) before which a new container shall undergo its first examination shall be marked on the Safety Approval Plate.
(c) The date (month and year) before which the container shall be re-examined shall be clearly marked on the container on or as close as practicable to the Safety Approval Plate and in a manner acceptable to that Contracting Party which prescribed or approved the particular examination procedure involved.
(d) The interval from the date of manufacture to the date of the first examination shall not exceed five years. Subsequent examination of new containers and re-examination of existing containers shall be at intervals of not more than 30 months. All examinations shall determine whether the container has any defects which could place any person in danger.
3. (a) As an alternative to paragraph 2, the Contracting Party concerned may approve a continuous examination programme if satisfied, on evidence submitted by the owner, that such a programme provides a standard of safety not inferior to the one set out in paragraph 2 above.
(b) To indicate that the container is operated under an approved continuous examination programme, a mark showing the letters “ACEP” and the identification of the Contracting Party which has granted approval of the programme shall be displayed on the container on or as close as practicable to the Safety Approval Plate.
(c) All examinations performed under such a programme shall determine whether a container has any defects which could place any person in danger. They shall be performed in connexion with a major repair, refurbishment, or on-hire/off-hire interchange and in no case less than once every 30 months.
4. As a minimum, approved programmes should be reviewed once every 10 years to ensure their continued viability. In order to ensure uniformity by all involved in the inspection of containers and their ongoing operational safety, the Contracting Party concerned shall ensure the following elements are covered in each prescribed periodic or approved continuous examination programme:
.1 methods, scope and criteria to be used during examinations;
.2 frequency of examinations;
.3 qualifications of personnel to carry out examinations;
.4 system of keeping records and documents that will capture: .1 the owner’s unique serial number of the container;
.2 the date on which the examination was carried out;
.3 identification of the competent person who carried out the examination;
.4 the name and location of the organization where the examination was carried out;
.5 the results of the examination; and
.6 in the case of a Periodic Examination Scheme (PES), the Next Examination Date (NED);
.1 the owner’s unique serial number of the container;
.2 the date on which the examination was carried out;
.3 identification of the competent person who carried out the examination;
.4 the name and location of the organization where the examination was carried out;
.5 the results of the examination; and
.6 in the case of a Periodic Examination Scheme (PES), the Next Examination Date (NED);
.5 a system for recording and updating the identification numbers of all containers covered by the appropriate examination scheme;
.6 methods and systems for maintenance criteria that addresses the design characteristics of the specific containers;
.7 provisions for maintaining leased containers if different than those used for owned containers; and
.8 conditions and procedures for adding containers into an already approved programme.
5. The Contracting Party shall carry out periodic audits of approved programmes to ensure compliance with the provisions approved by the Contracting Party. The Contracting Party shall withdraw any approval when the conditions of approval are no longer complied with.
6. For the purpose of this Regulation “the Contracting Party concerned” is the Contracting Party of the territory in which the owner is domiciled or has his head office.
However, in the event that the owner is domiciled or has his head office in a country the government of which has not yet made arrangements for prescribing or approving an examination scheme and until such time as the arrangements have been made the owner may use the procedure prescribed or approved by the Administration of a Contracting Party which is prepared to act as “the Contracting Party concerned”. The owner shall comply with the conditions for the use of such procedures set by the Administration in question.
7. Administrations shall make information on approved Continuous Examination Programmes publicly available.