# § 3205. Certification
**(a)** **Issuance of Certificate and Document.—** After verifying that the responsible person for a vessel to which this chapter applies and the vessel comply with the applicable requirements under this chapter, the Secretary shall issue for the vessel, on request of the responsible person, a Safety Management Certificate and a Document of Compliance.
**(b)** **Maintenance of Certificate and Document.—** A Safety Management Certificate and a Document of Compliance issued for a vessel under this section shall be maintained by the responsible person for the vessel as required by the Secretary.
**(c)** **Verification of Compliance.—** The Secretary shall—
**1** periodically, or upon discovery from other sources of information acquired by the Coast Guard, including a discovery made during an audit or systematic review conducted under section 10104(e) of a failure of a responsible person or vessel to comply with a requirement of a safety management system for which a Safety Management Certificate and a Document of compliance [^1] has been issued under this section, including a failure to comply with regulations prescribed under section 3203(a)(7) and (8), review whether a responsible person having a safety management plan approved under section 3204(b) and each vessel to which the plan applies is complying with the plan; and
So in original. Probably should be “Compliance”.
**(2)** revoke the Secretary’s approval of the plan and each Safety Management Certificate and Document of Compliance issued to the person for a vessel to which the plan applies, if the Secretary determines that the person or a vessel to which the plan applies has not complied with the plan.
**(d)** **Enforcement.—** At the request of the Secretary, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall withhold or revoke the clearance required by section 60105 of this title of a vessel that is subject to this chapter under section 3202(a) of this title or to the International Safety Management Code, if the vessel does not have on board a Safety Management Certificate and a copy of a Document of Compliance for the vessel. Clearance may be granted on filing a bond or other surety satisfactory to the Secretary.
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**Source Credit**: (Added Pub. L. 104–324, title VI, § 602(a), Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3929; amended Pub. L. 109–304, § 15(10), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1703; Pub. L. 110–181, div. C, title XXXV, § 3529(b)(1)(A), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 603; Pub. L. 117–263, div. K, title CXVI, § 11610(b), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 4155.)
## Editorial Notes
### Amendments
2022—Subsec. (c)(1). inserted “, or upon discovery from other sources of information acquired by the Coast Guard, including a discovery made during an audit or systematic review conducted under section 10104(e) of a failure of a responsible person or vessel to comply with a requirement of a safety management system for which a Safety Management Certificate and a Document of compliance has been issued under this section, including a failure to comply with regulations prescribed under section 3203(a)(7) and (8),” after “periodically”.
2008—Subsec. (d). amended . See 2006 Amendment note below.
2006—Subsec. (d). , as amended by , substituted “Secretary of Homeland Security shall withhold or revoke the clearance required by ” for “Secretary of the Treasury shall withhold or revoke the clearance required by section 4197 of the Revised Statutes (46 U.S.C. App. 91)”.
## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
### Effective Date of 2008 Amendment
> “The amendments made by paragraph (1) [amending this section and
>
> ] shall be effective as if included in the enactment of
>
> .”
, , , provided that: