Before granting approval or provisional approval to a third country competent authority by relevant regulations, the Secretary of State may take into account a report prepared by the competent authority that assesses the extent to which the third country competent authority is adequate in relation to that authority’s ability to co-operate with the competent authority on the exchange of audit working papers and investigation reports.

The report of the competent authority may take account of any assessments of the third country competent authority carried out by or on behalf of an equivalent third country or a transitional third country.