• Flags of convenience (FOCs)

• - are also known (by shipowners) as “flags

of necessity” , “open registers” and “free
flags”.
• - are deemed by the International
Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) to
exist where beneficial ownership and
control of the vessel is found to lie
elsewhere than in the country of the flag
the vessel is flying.
• - are designated by the ITF Fair
Practices Committee, which
decides which flags are FOCs and
which are not.
• This committee maintains a list of
countries offering FOC facilities and
from time to time adds countries to
or deletes them from the list.
• The criteria for entry in the list are
the “Rochdale Criteria”,
• The criteria include:
• • whether the country allows non-
citizens to own and control vessels;
• • whether access to and transfer
from the registry is easy;
• • whether taxes on shipping income
are low or non-existent;
• • whether the country of registration
does not need the shipping tonnage
for its own purposes but is keen to
earn
• the tonnage fees;
• • whether manning by non-nationals
is freely permitted;
• • whether the country lacks the
power (or the willingness) to impose
national or international regulations
on the shipowners using its flag.
• * In defining an FOC register, the ITF
takes as the most important factor
whether the nationality of the
shipowner is the same as the
nationality of the flag.
• * Ships registered in the above
countries which can demonstrate
that they are genuinely owned in
that country are not treated as FOCs.