Israel is in advanced negotiations to become the newest member of Blue Flag, an international program of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE ) that inspects and rates beaches all over the world based on uniform criteria. The Blue Flag program was established in 1985 in France and quickly gained credibility and popularity. This summer the Blue Flag was granted to 3,650 beaches and marinas in 44 countries. While most of the organization's members are European, it is also active in South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada and the Caribbean Islands. The Israeli nonprofit organization, EcoOcean, is currently in advanced descussions to become a member of the international organization. Once an agreement is finalized, EcoOcean will begin rating beaches and granting the sought-after Blue Flag to those that meet the international organization's criteria.