Croatian mine action centre

 

Accreditation Procedure for Legal Entities or Tradesmen Conducting Humanitarian Demining Operations

Introduction

Accreditation procedure is a procedure for the establishment of capability of the authorised legal entity or tradesman for conducting humanitarian demining operations in a safe, efficient and good quality manner. Authorised legal entity or tradesman is a legal entity or tradesman with the approval for conducting humanitarian demining operations issued by the Ministry of Interior that is one of prerequisites for initiating the accreditation procedure of legal entity or tradesman.

List of documentation needed for issuance of approval of the Ministry of Interior is available on MI's website: www.mup.hr.

Based on the article 7 of the Law on Humanitarian Demining (Official Gazette, 153/05) Croatian Mine Action Centre conducts the accreditation procedure of authorised legal entities or tradesmen for conducting humanitarian demining operations. Accreditation procedure is carried out by the Accreditation Commission.

I. Accreditation Issuance and Modification Procedure

Accreditation procedure for the authorised legal entities or tradesmen is stipulated by the Book of Rules and Regulations on Accreditation Method (Official Gazette 53/07) and SOP 03.02 Accreditation and Standardization.

Domestic or foreign legal or actual entity registered for conducting mine search and demining operations with the approval for conducting humanitarian demining operations issued by the Ministry of Interior are liable to accreditation procedure, or actual entity with the approval for conducting mine search and demining operations issued by the Ministry of Interior and registered trade for the same purpose (Book of Rules and Regulations on Method of Accreditation of Authorised Legal Entities and Tradesmen for Conducting Demining Operations, Official Gazette, 53/07).

Authorised legal entity or tradesman submits the request for accreditation to the Croatian Mine Action Centre:

• 1. After obtaining the approval of the Ministry of Interior for conducting humanitarian demining, the request for competence assessment issuance is submitted.
• 2. In case of significant changes in authorised legal entity or tradesman’s capacities influencing previously issued accreditation, the request for modification of competence assessment is submitted.
• 3. In case of validity date expiration of previously issued accreditation, the request for competence assessment extension is submitted.

Request is submitted to the following address:

• Croatian Mine Action Centre, Quality Assurance and Quality Control Department, Ante Kovačića 10, 44 000, Sisak

The request is submitted on a prescribed form (Appendix to the Book of Rules and Regulations on Accreditation Procedure of Authorised Legal Entities and Tradesmen for Conducting Demining Operations, Official Gazette 53/07), in accordance with the deadlines stated in the Article 5 of the Book of Rules and Regulations on Accreditation Procedure of Authorised Legal Entities and Tradesmen for Conducting Demining Operations.

THE REQUEST FOR ISSUANCE, EXTENSION OR MODIFICATION OF COMPETENCE ASSESSMENT

A. Accreditation Procedure

The request for issuance of the approval for conducting humanitarian demining is submitted to the Ministry of Interior together with evidence relating to the Article 9 of the Law on Humanitarian Demining (Official Gazette, 153/05 and 63/07).

Upon obtaining the approval of the Ministry of Interior for conducting humanitarian demining, authorised legal entity or tradesman submits to CROMAC the request for issuance of competence assessment confirming the competence for conducting mine search and demining operations.

The following documents should be enclosed with the request:

• 1. Approval of the Ministry of Interior for conducting humanitarian demining operations,
• 2. Decision of the Commercial Court on registration of legal entity in the court register or non-governmental organization in the register of associations or the trade licence if the request is submitted by the tradesman.

It is required to register the capacities for conducting mine search and clearance operations authorised legal entity or tradesman disposes of with CROMAC. Data on available capacities are entered via CROMAC forms on the executor of demining operations. CROMAC form on the executor of demining operations consists of general information about the company, employees, equipment and technical means for mine clearance authorised legal entity or tradesman disposes of based on ownership rights or other type of contractual relations.

Filled and accredited forms are submitted to CROMAC's address and the following e-mail address: akreditacija@hcr.hr.

CROMAC FORMS ON THE EXECUTOR OF DEMINING OPERATIONS

Planned data is entered into the forms. With each data entered there should be an adequate document confirming the data entered enclosed.

Deminers and Assistant Workers

With data entered into the CROMAC forms there should be the following documents enclosed:
• Registration for health and old-age insurance for deminers and assistant workers
• Cerificate on deminer, assistant worker or worksite leader licence exam passed in line with Rules and Regulation on Training and Licence Exam of Humanitarian Demining Staff (Official Gazette, 42/07)
• Persons trained for conducting demining operations according to foreign regulations also submit the certificate issued by the Ministry of Interior confirming that the foreign training programme is compliant with the programme passed based on Law on Humanitarian Demining i.e. its Article 33.
• Health certificate for deminers
• Insurance policies in case of an injury or death caused by conducting humanitarian demining operations for deminers and assistant workers complied with Article 56 of the Law on Humanitarian Demining
• Certificate confirming required degree of training of deminers for the work with metal detectors

Protective Equipment

With data entered into the CROMAC forms there should be the following documents enclosed:
• Certificate of conformity of the equipment used in humanitarian demining operations issued by accredited laboratory/centre (Book of Rules and Regulations on Technical Requirements and Conformity Assessment of Equipment and Devices Designed for Humanitarian Demining Operations, Official Gazette, 53/07)
• If protective equipment is used based on lease contract or some other contractual relations, the contract should be enclosed too.

Metal Detectors

With data entered into the forms there should be the following documents enclosed:
• Certificate of conformity with terms and potentials of metal detector use (Book of Rules and Regulations on Technical Requirements and Conformity Assessment of Equipment and Devices Designed for Humanitarian Demining Operations, Official Gazette, 53/07)
• If metal detectors are used based on lease contract or some other contractual relations, the contract should be enclosed too.

Demining Machines

With data entered into the CROMAC forms there should be the following documents enclosed:
• Assessment of terms and potentials of machine usage in demining (usability assessment) issued by CROMAC director based on conformity assessment (Book of Rules and Regulations on Technical Requirements and Establishing Conformity of the Machines Used in Humanitarian Demining Operations, Official Gazette, 53/07)
• If machines are used based on lease contract or some other contractual relations, the contract should be enclosed too.

Dogs for Detection of Mines and Unexploded Ordinance (UXO)

With data entered into the CROMAC forms there should be the following documents enclosed:
• Assessment of usability of dogs and handlers in humanitarian mine search and demining operations (Book of Rules and Regulations on Technical Requirements and Eligibility Testing of Dogs and Handlers in Humanitarian Demining Operations, Official Gazette, 53/07)

Explosive Storage

With data entered into the forms there should be the following documents enclosed:
• Contract based on which authorised legal entity or tradesman uses explosive storage

Besides documents mentioned above that authorised legal entity or tradesman encloses with the request for issuance of competence assessment, the following documentation should also be submitted:
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) authorised person is obliged to apply while conducting humanitarian demining operations




STATEMENT ON QUALITY POLICY

• Decision by which the company is approved conducting mine-laying operations during demining and, if the company does not have stated Decision, the contract with legal entity authorised for conducting the above-mentioned operations is submitted.

Request for issuance of competence assessment as well as documents stated above are submitted to the following address:
• Croatian Mine Action Centre, Quality Assurance and Quality Control Department, Ante Kovačića 10, 44 000, Sisak

Authorised legal entity or tradesman enters the data requested into the CROMAC forms, verifies the forms and submits them with supporting documentation to CROMAC address stated above.

Forms filled out could be submitted via the following e-mail address: akreditacija@hcr.hr.

All documentation submitted should be in Croatian language. Translations from foreign language should be verified by court interpreter. All documents must be originals or notarized copies.

When authorised legal entity or tradesman submits the request for competence assessment issuance, CROMAC forms on the executor of demining operations filled out and all other documents required, CROMAC calls the session of the Committee for assessment of competence of authorized legal entities for conducting humanitarian demining operations not later than the legal deadline. Having had an insight into the documentation submitted, the Committee passes the competence assessment proposal. CROMAC director passes the final assessment of competence of the authorised legal entity or tradesman for conducting humanitarian demining operations.

Based on documentation submitted, authorised legal entity can obtain competence assessment for conducting humanitarian demining operations using:
• Manual mine detection
• Mechanical mine detection
• Mine and UXO detection dogs

B. Modification of Competence Assessment Issued to the Legal Entity or Tradesman Accredited for Conducting Humanitarian Demining Operations

Authorised legal entity or tradesman that submitted the request for issuance, extension or modification of competence assessment are obliged, based on Article 6 of the Book of Rules and Regulations on Accreditation Method of the Authorised Legal Entities or Tradesman for Conducting Humanitarian Demining (Official Gazette, 53/07), to make getting an insight into all relevant elements based on which competence assessment is issued possible.

Croatian Mine Action Centre maintains the right to modify competence assessment prior to the expiration of validity date in case of noticing changes in capacities, equipability and means legal entity or tradesman disposes of that have a significant impact on the assessment of competence for conducting humanitarian demining.

Authorised legal entity or tradesman is obliged to report changes of circumstances relating to capacities to CROMAC, submit the data and documents from which the changes of capacities are clearly visible.

Having gone through the documentation submitted, CROMAC will establish whether the changes are so important that they have an impact on competence assessment. If that is the case, competence assessment will be modified.

C. Abolition of Competence Assessment Issued to the Legal Entity or Tradesman Accredited for Conducting Humanitarian Demining Operations

CROMAC will abolish competence assessment for conducting humanitarian demining operations if:

• The Ministry of Interior abolishes by the decision the approval for conducting humanitarian demining operations issued to the authorised legal entity or tradesman
• The authorised legal entity or tradesman stops conducting humanitarian demining
• CROMAC establishes significant changes affecting competence assessment upon verification of status of capacities applied by authorised legal entity or tradesman

Conclusion

Croatian Mine Action Centre conducts the procedure of assessing the competence of legal entities or tradesmen with the approval of the Ministry of Interior for conducting humanitarian demining operations. Procedure is initiated upon request of authorised legal entity or tradesman. They have to submit the request with all other documents required so that the Committee for assessment of competence could pass the competence assessment proposal for conducting mine search and demining operations based on documentation submitted. Final assessment of competence for conducting humanitarian demining operations is passed by CROMAC director. Croatian Mine Action Centre maintains the right to modify competence assessment and the modification itself depends on demining capacities of authorised legal entity or tradesman. Significant changes in capacities of authorised legal entities or tradesmen can result in competence assessment abolition.