Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Hazardous Material Violation; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General Maintenance Action; General Work Refused
Human Factors; Procedure
Approximately 10 minutes prior to push I was notified from FFA Forward Flight Attendant) that we may have ammunition on board in a cargo compartment. I was not notified of any HAZMAT on board prior to this and was not provided with a NOPIC (Notice to Captain) form. I called Ops to notify and Station Manager there advised me that according to their Station Manager that declaring ammo was not required. I referred to FOM and there was no statement that I could find that verified and confirmed Manager statement. By this time; door was closed and jetway pulled away. I advised Ops that I wanted a NOPIC form filled for us because it went against what my FOM manual stated; [and] it went against my better judgment. As a flight crew we should have awareness of any HAZMAT that is loaded on board no matter how small. It is considered a Class I material and has explosive properties. I need to know where it is and how much was loaded in the case of cargo smoke or fire. It doesn't matter if it's from a known shipper or loaded in a passenger's bag; it needs to be declared. [Manager] standards are not aligned with standard ICAO-IATA procedures and FOM procedures. If there are any exemptions regarding shipment of ammunition on board that is specifically stated in an IATA/ICAO document then our FOM needs to be updated to state that.
Captain reported missing required hazmat documents prior to departure.