IMO Institutional Structure and Law-Making Process - Prevention of Pollution of the Marine Environment from Vessels - page 23

2.3.3 Maritime Safety Committee (MSC)

Although MSC s work revolves mainly around maritime safety and security, its

work also has some relevance for the prevention of marine pollution. MSC consists
of all Members of the organisation.
Initially, the MSC was constituted by 14 Members. According to the original
article 28(a) of the IMCO Convention, MSC shall consist of 14 members elected by
the Assembly, including at least 8 of the largest ship-owning nations. The IMCO
Assembly in its first meeting, held from January 6 to 19, 1959, elected the United
States, United Kingdom, Norway, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, France and Germany
as the largest ship-owning nations. Liberia and Panama seriously objected the
inclusion of France and Germany because both Liberia and Panama have larger
ship-owing interests than France and Germany. Against this backdrop, on
19 January 1959, the IMCO Assembly decided to request the International Court
of Justice to give an advisory opinion as to whether the election of MSC was in
accordance with the IMCO Convention. The main argument of the nations who
were opposing inclusion of Liberia and Panama is that both of these countries are
FOCs and they do not have a

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with the vessels flying their flags.
However, the International Court of Justice decided that the committee elected by
the Assembly was not constituted in accordance with the IMCO Convention and
stated that:
... the determination of the largest ship-owning nations depends solely upon the tonnage
registered in the countries in question, any further examination of the contention based on a
genuine link is irrelevant for the purpose of answering the question which has been
submitted to the Court for an advisory opinion. 34

genuine link

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This controversy demonstrates the north-south tensions inhering in the organi-
sation from the very first meeting of the Assembly. However, representation of a
FOC country in an important organ of the organisation does not necessarily ensure
participation of developing or Least Developed Countries. A FOC country may
ultimately be used as a rubber stamp of large shipping companies beneficially
owned by developed countries. In 1974, in the fifth extraordinary session of the
IMO Assembly, the IMO Convention was amended to include all members of the
organisation in MSC.
MSC is historically linked with IMO s activities regarding marine pollution. The

first marine pollution-related organ of the organisation, the Sub-committee on Oil
Pollution (SCOP), was established in 1965 as a sub-committee of MSC. Marine
pollution-related IMO activities were undertaken through MSC after this and, in
1973, SCOP was renamed as the Sub-committee on Marine Pollution (SCMP).
After the establishment of MEPC as a separate organ, marine environment-related
works were transferred to it. Nevertheless, MSC is still relevant for marine

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34 Constitution of the Maritime Safety Committee of the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consulta-
tive Organization, ICJ Reports 1960, p. 150, 171.