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Office of the Inspector General 

March 23, 2022 

Jon Hatfield 

Inspector General 

Federal Maritime Commission 

800 North Capitol Street, N.W. 

Room 1054 

Washington, D.C. 20573 

Re: System Review Report 

Dear Mr. Hatfield: 

We have reviewed the system of quality control for the audit organization of the Federal Maritime 

Commission (FMC) in effect for the three years ended September 30, 2021. A system of quality control 

encompasses the FMC OIG’s organizational structure and the policies adopted and procedures established 

to provide it with reasonable assurance of conforming in all material respects with Government Auditing 

Standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements. The elements of quality control are 

described in Government Auditing Standards. 

In our opinion, the system of quality control for the audit organization of FMC OIG in effect for the year 

ended September 30, 2021, has been suitably designed and complied with to provide FMC OIG with 

reasonable assurance of performing and reporting in conformity with applicable professional standards 

and applicable legal and regulatory requirements in all material respects. 

Audit organizations can receive a rating of pass, pass with deficiencies, or fail. FMC OIG has received an 

External Peer Review rating of pass. 

Monitoring of GAGAS Engagements Performed by Independent Public Accountants 

In addition to reviewing its system of quality control to ensure adherence with Government Auditing 

Standards, we applied certain limited procedures in accordance with guidance established by the Council 

of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) related to FMC OIG ’s monitoring of 

engagements conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS 

engagements) by Independent Public Accountants (IPAs) under contract where the IPA served as the 

auditor. It should be noted that monitoring of GAGAS engagements performed by IPAs is not an audit 

and, therefore, is not subject to the requirements of Government Auditing Standards. The purpose of our 

limited procedures was to determine whether FMC OIG had controls to ensure IPAs performed contracted 

work in accordance with professional standards. However, our objective was not to express an opinion; 

accordingly, we do not express an opinion on FMC OIG’s monitoring of work performed by IPAs. 
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Basis of Opinion 

Our review was conducted in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and the CIGIE Guide for 

Conducting Peer Reviews of Audit Organizations of Federal Offices of Inspector General (March 2020). 

During our review, we interviewed FMC OIG personnel and obtained an understanding of the nature of 

the FMC OIG audit organization, and the design of FMC OIG’s system of quality control sufficient to 

assess the risks implicit in its audit function. Based on our assessments, we selected the one GAGAS 

engagement performed by OIG staff during our review period and administrative files to test for 

conformity with professional standards and compliance with FMC OIG’s system of quality control. 

In performing our review, we obtained an understanding of the system of quality control for the FMC 

OIG audit organization. In addition, we tested compliance with FMC OIG’s quality control policies and 

procedures to the extent we considered appropriate. These tests covered the application of FMC OIG’s 

policies and procedures on selected GAGAS engagements. Our review was based on selected tests; 

therefore, it would not necessarily detect all weaknesses in the system of quality control or all instances of 

noncompliance with it. 

Prior to concluding the peer review, we reassessed the adequacy of the scope of the peer review 

procedures and met with FMC OIG management to discuss the results of our review. We believe that the 

procedures we performed provide a reasonable basis for our opinion. Enclosure 1 to this report identifies 

the engagements we reviewed. 

Responsibilities and Limitations 

FMC OIG is responsible for establishing and maintaining a system of quality control designed to provide 

FMC OIG with reasonable assurance that the organization and its personnel comply in all material 

respects with professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Our responsibility 

is to express an opinion on the design of the system of quality control and FMC OIG’s compliance based 

on our review. 

There are inherent limitations in the effectiveness of any system of quality control; therefore, 

noncompliance with the system of quality control may occur and may not be detected. Projection of any 

evaluation of a system of quality control to future periods is subject to the risk that the system of quality 

control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or because the degree of compliance 

with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. 

Sincerely, 

Kimberly A. Howell 

Inspector General 

Enclosures 

Digitally signed by 

Kimberly Howell 

Date: 2022.03.23 

13:22:53 -04'00'
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Enclosure 1 

Scope and Methodology 

We tested compliance with the FMC OIG audit organization’s system of quality control to the extent we 

considered appropriate. These tests included a review of one of one audit reports conducted in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS engagement) issued from 

October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2021. We also reviewed the internal quality control reviews 

performed by FMC OIG. 

In addition, we reviewed FMC OIG’s monitoring of GAGAS engagements performed by IPAs where the 

IPA served as the auditor from October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2021. During the period, FMC 

OIG contracted for the audit of its agency’s fiscal year 2019, 2020, and 2021 financial statements. FMC 

OIG also contracted for four other GAGAS engagements that were performed in accordance with 

Government Auditing Standards. 

We conducted this review remotely. 

Reviewed GAGAS Engagements Performed by FMC OIG 

Report No. Report Date Report Title

A20-01 November 7, 2019 DATA Act Audit, 2019 

Reviewed Monitoring Files of FMC OIG for Contracted GAGAS Engagements 

Report No. Report Date Report Title 

A21-01 November 16, 2020 Independent Auditors’ Report 

of the FMC’s FY 2020 

Financial Statements 

 

 
Enclosure 2

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20573 

Office of Inspector General

March 15, 2022 

SENT BY EMAIL 

Kimberly A. Howell 

Inspector General 

Corporation for Public Broadcasting 

401 9th Street NW 

Washington, D.C. 20004 

Dear Ms. Howell: 

Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the draft System 

Review Report on the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Office of Inspector General 

(OIG) audit function. Your draft report determined that the system of quality control for 

the FMC OIG audit organization in effect for the period ended September 30, 2021, has 

been suitably designed and complied with to provide the FMC OIG with reasonable 

assurance of performing and reporting in conformity with applicable professional 

standards in all material respects. My office is pleased to have received an External Peer 

Review rating of pass. 

Please extend my appreciation to peer review team members Mr. William 

Richardson III and Ms. Julia Stancil for their professionalism throughout the review. We 

sincerely appreciate their efforts. 

Sincerely, 

Jon Hatfield 

Inspector General 

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