WAAP By-laws

1. The Council

1.1 Council Members shall serve from the end of the World Conference, when they are appointed, to the end of the next succeeding World Conference.
Vacancies arising on Council may be filled by the Executive Board, but subject to ratification at the next council meeting.

1.2 The Council will meet in ordinary session on the occasion of the annual General Assembly. Other meetings are considered extraordinary meetings. The Council shall meet with the participation of at least 50 percent of its members. Decisions of the Council shall be taken by simple majority.

1.3 At each ordinary meeting the Council shall: receive a report from the President concerning the activities of the Association since the last meeting; receive a statement of the Association’s accounts, budget and membership dues from the Secretary General for adoption; on recommendation of the Executive Board appoint the Secretary General and nominate the Auditor for appointment by the General Assembly consider offers to host the next World Conference, and make a recommendation from among the offers to the General Assembly receive nominations for the offices of President and four Vice-Presidents, and make recommendations for  these officers to the General Assembly determine the Association’s budget for the ensuing period between conferences consider other matters which may be appropriate

1.4 The Council may be summoned to extraordinary meetings by decision of the Executive Board, or by the request of 33 percent of Council members, with notice at least one month before the chosen date of the session.

1.5 A postal vote or e-mail vote of the members may be used by the Council to decide on issues, at the request of the Executive Board or of 33 percent of the members of the Council.
The issues that require decision of all the members should be distributed among them; they should then have 90 days to send in their vote.

1.6 On March 1 and/or on September 1 of every year, each member association should provide the Secretary General with a list of its current office bearers and a list of the meetings it plans to hold within the next twelve months.

2. The President, Vice-Presidents and The Executive Board

2.1 The President shall preside over the meetings of the Council and, as directed by the actions of that body, supervise the activities of the Secretary General.
He/she shall represent the World Association as official spokesman and nominate representatives when necessary.

2.2 The Vice-Presidents shall be elected by the General Assembly to serve for a period from the end of one World Conference to the end of the next.
Membership groups for purposes of election of Vice-Presidents shall be:

2.3 The Executive Board shall meet following an invitation by the Secretary General on the President’s request; the agenda should be distributed not later than six weeks before the scheduled meeting.
Any two members of the Executive Board other than the Secretary General may request through the General Secretary, an extraordinary meeting or a postal vote to consider any issue of substance.
The President will chair the meetings of the Executive Board and, in case of a tie, will have a vote.

2.4 At its ordinary meetings, the Executive Board will:

• elaborate the work program;
• determine annual expenses including travels and publications;
• prepare the budget;
• examine membership applications, dues, and fund disbursements;
• solicit, receive invitations and decide on the hosting of meetings other than World Conference;
• deliberate on ending memberships;
• examine the recommendations from the various Committees.

3. The Secretary General

3.1 The Secretary General shall be selected by the Executive Board and appointed by the Council. He/she shall serve for such a time as the Council shall determine. His/her duties are to execute the decisions of the General Assembly, the Council and of the Executive Board, to act on behalf of the President, and to fulfill relevant tasks.

3.2 The Secretary General will:

• arrange, upon members’ requests, contacts between members concerning scientific or any other matters contributing to the realization of the functions of the Association;
• maintain contact with FAO and bring to the attention of members any pertinent matters;
• prepare reports for General Assembly,  Council and Executive Board meetings;
• remind members of the proposed Council meeting six months before the date of that meeting and ask them for items they wish to place on the agenda; circulate any proposed amendments to the Statutes three months before the Council meeting and circulate the proposed agenda and annotations on the agenda items six weeks prior to the meeting;
• serve as the Treasurer of the Association in which capacity he/she shall receive the annual fees from members, keep the Association’s accounts, and arrange for audit of the accounts; he/she shall keep bank account(s) in the name of the Association in which the Association’s funds are to be placed;
• send to each member association, not later than December 1 of each year, a statement of annual fees due on January 1 of the following year; and on June 1 of that year, send a reminder to all member associations which have not paid the fees by that time;
• prepare minutes of General Assemblies, Council and Executive Board meetings; prepare circulars and news items for member associations of WAAP

4. Selection of a World Conference venue

4.1 The General Assembly on the recommendation of Council, and with the advice of the Executive Board, is responsible for selection of the location of World Conferences. To assist them in this procedure, societies that wish to be considered should forward a formal letter of invitation to the Secretary General together with supporting documents at least nine months in advance of the next meeting of the Council.
Supporting documents should include the following:

• adequate facilities to accommodate the housing, administrative and program needs of the congress. It is recommended that some low-cost accommodation be available, to permit the attendance of young scientists and those with very limited budgets;
• documentation of support by government and national scientific organizations of the country offering the invitation;
• evidence of adequate financial guarantees to cover the pre-congress preparatory expenses and any subsequent shortfalls should such occur;
• assurance regarding free entry to all delegates irrespective of country of origin.

4.2 The Secretary General will forward all invitations to the Executive Board who, at a meeting prior to the Council meeting, will prepare a recommendation regarding the venue of the next world conference for submission to Council. Council will make a recommendation to the General assembly.

4.3 At the meeting of the General Assembly, the procedure for site selection will be held in two parts separated by a period for informal discussion. In the first part, a representative from each society who has submitted a formal invitation will make a brief presentation. The meeting will be open for general discussion of the invitations. The President will announce the recommendation of the Council, and invite a general discussion on the recommendation. The discussion will then close.

4.4 A period of 48 hours will be allowed for each society representative of countries that have submitted a formal invitation and that wish to mount a display, distribute materials and inform delegates about the venue and about their plans for the conference, if selected. The “promotional” activities will be limited to a designated area approved by the General Assembly.

4.5 A teller committee consisting of two members will be nominated by the General Assembly. A written ballot will be taken; each nominated delegate representing a member in good standing and all office bearers, except the President, will have one vote. Ballots will be counted by the tellers. The President shall not vote, except in the case of a tied vote. The invitation receiving the majority vote will be accepted.

5. International Animal Agriculture Award(s)

5.1 The award will be called “The World Association for Animal Production Award in International Animal Agriculture”.

5.2 The Sponsors will be arranged by the Executive Board.

5.3 The nature of the award shall be specified monetary award, travel expenses and an appropriate memento of plaque, to be presented once every five years at the World Conference on Animal Production; starting with the 1998 Conference.

5.4 The purpose of the award will be to recognize and stimulate distinguished service to animal production internationally.

5.5 To be eligible for this award, a nominee shall have made a meritorious scientific contribution by way of teaching, research,or other service to animal production over a period of five or more years, and shall have been nominated by a member Association of the World Association for Animal Production. Particular attention will be paid to the international significance of the contribution.

5.6 The nominations shall be considered by the Scientific Affairs Committee which shall make a recommendation for decision to the Council. The Council may reject all nominees when, in their opinion, no worthy candidate has been nominated.

5.7 The following material shall be supplied by nominator:

• three completed copies of the WAAP Award Nomination Form.
• six copies of a dossier that would contain a biography of the nominee, a list of publications, courses taught, and other pertinent credentials, and a summary statement documenting accomplishments and outlining the major contributions to international animal production on which the nomination is based.
• one copy of a citation of approximately 500 words suitable for presentation at the World Conference on Animal Production.