Compliance Register

ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 require documented information on compliance obligations, commonly held in a compliance register (ISO, 2015). This may include, among others, a database of applicable laws, licenses, and permit conditions; assignment of responsibilities and due dates for compliance actions; tracking of reporting obligations and renewal timelines.

For ports, maintaining an accurate compliance register can be particularly valuable given the number of regulatory agencies and legal instruments that may apply to port activities. Ports may be subject to requirements from maritime authorities, environmental agencies, occupational health and safety regulators, customs authorities, and local government bodies. A well-maintained register can reduce the risk of missed obligations and support proactive compliance management.

A compliance register provides the information foundation for effective regulatory compliance management. A mature register documents all applicable legal and regulatory requirements, assigns responsibility for each obligation to a specific individual or team, records due dates and renewal timelines, and tracks compliance status on an ongoing basis. At its simplest, a compliance register may be maintained as a spreadsheet; more mature systems use dedicated compliance management software with automated alerts and workflow capabilities.

The scope of a port compliance register may encompass, among others, national environmental protection legislation (including permit conditions for air emissions, water discharges, noise, and waste management), maritime safety and security regulations (including MARPOL, SOLAS, and the ISPS Code), occupational health and safety legislation, land use planning and development approvals, dangerous goods handling requirements, and biosecurity and quarantine obligations.

International management system standards provide frameworks for maintaining compliance registers. ISO 14001:2015 (Clauses 6.1.3 and 9.1.2) requires organizations to determine and have access to their compliance obligations, maintain documented information of these obligations, and evaluate fulfillment of compliance obligations at a frequency the organization determines (ISO, 2015). ISO 45001:2018 establishes equivalent requirements for occupational health and safety legal obligations. Integration of compliance register requirements across these standards can reduce duplication and improve consistency. Note on editions: ISO 14001:2026 was published on 15 April 2026 and replaces the 2015 edition (ISO, 2026). Clause references in this sheet are to ISO 14001:2015 and should be checked against the 2026 text before the guidance is finalized; existing ISO 14001:2015 certificates remain valid during the accreditation transition period.

For ports with multiple tenants and operators, the compliance register may need to address both port authority obligations and the obligations of individual operators within the port estate. Port authorities may maintain registers that distinguish between authority level obligations (such as overall environmental permits and master planning conditions) and operator level requirements (such as individual trade waste permits and hazardous goods licenses).

For DMCs, the starting point for compliance registers varies considerably. Major ports operated by international terminal companies may have sophisticated digital compliance management systems, while smaller government operated ports may maintain basic manual records. The practice is scalable: even a simple, well-maintained spreadsheet listing key obligations, responsible parties, and due dates can significantly improve compliance management for ports with limited resources.