Venue: Rm MR 225, 2 level,
Congress Center (BITC), Bangkok, Thailand
Chair: Dr. Po-Chao Huang, President of FANS
Present: Names of the countries represented and delegates present as indicated in Annexure 1
Announcement:
Secretary General reported the number of the attending delegates and Member Countries etc. She distributed the newly published “FANS News Letter, issue No. 10” as well as the Agenda to each Delegate and asked for their signatures.
Agenda 1 Request for adoption of the Agenda
Dr. Ching-Jang Huang, Secretary General of FANS, placed the Agenda of business prepared by her in consultation with each member two months before this meeting, and requested for its adoption during the meeting with changes if any. In its absence the agenda prepared was adopted.
Agenda 2 Welcome address of FANS President
Dr. Po-Chao Huang, President of FANS, delivered the following welcome address: Delegates of FANS Member Countries, Observer of IUNS, Honorary Council Member, Dr. Mohamad Ismail Noor, Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of the Executive Council of FANS from 2007, I am pleased to welcome all of the delegates of the FANS Member Countries and the observer of IUNS to attend the General Assembly Meeting of FANS, 2009, at this venue of the 19th ICN. When I read the activity reports of each member country, submitted to FANS for printing the No. 10 News Letter, which was distributed to you today, I realized that each member country has made a significant progress in various activities of nutritional problems. Much effort was made to reduce undernourished children, and many studies and educational programs on obesity and various nutrition-related chronic diseases have been going on. Also, conferences and symposia on scientific nutrition research were held in every member country. For all of these, all our members are to be congratulated. I am very glad to see the development of FANS activities. I hope the progress will continue for years to come. Finally, I would like to congratulate our Thai colleagues for their superb organization of the 19th ICN.
Agenda 3 FANS progress report by the Secretary General
Dr. Ching-Jang Huang, Secretary General of FANS, made a Power Point presentation on “The 2007-2009 summary report of FANS”. Full text of this report is enclosed as Annexure 2 and listed in page 22 of the FANS newsletter issue No.10. The Malaysian representative proposed to acknowledge President and Secretary General of FANS for the set-up of the new FANS website. It was seconded by all of the delegates.
Agenda 4 Admission of new members
Dr. Po-Chao Huang, the Chair, presented the resolution of the Executive Council meeting held on the previous day. The minute of this meeting is enclosed as Annexure 2. The Executive Council Members unanimously approved the membership application after reviewing the application materials and discussions. The membership applications from Hong Kong Nutrition Association and from Mongolian Association of Nutrition and Food Service Management were thus approved according to the statutes of FANS, Article III MEMBERSHIP.
The delegate from Malaysia suggested that there should be an endorsement from this General Assembly Meeting. The Chair thus asking whether there is any objection. Without any objection, Dr. Po-Chao Huang, the Chair declared that the Mongolian Association of Nutrition and Food Service Management and Hong Kong Nutrition Association as FANS new members.
The delegate from Malaysia further enquired that New Member application should be approved by the General Assembly (GA) rather than by the Executive Council (EC), since there is higher number of representatives in the GA than in the EC. In response, Dr. Ching-jang Huang, the Secretary General of FANS, read out the FANS STATUES Article III.3: The power to approve subsequent admissions, withdrawals or other changes in memberships shall be vested in the Executive Council and shall become effective only upon the unanimous vote of the Council members. A written absentia vote shall be followed for this purpose. For the procedure of any intention to amend the current STATUES and BY-LAW of FANS, she also referred to Article V.2: Proposals for amendment, alteration or repeal must be submitted in writing by any Adhering Body to the President and the Secretary-General at least four (4) months before the General Assembly at which it is to be considered.
Agenda 5 Report on preparation of the 11th ACN in 2011
Ms. Pek Yee Chow, Chairperson of 11th ACN, from Singapore delivered the following report with the aid of a powerpoint presentation: The 11th ACN logo design includes the human-like symbol, symbolizing the nutritional well being, the chart represents the progression of Asia, the Asian map with the alphabet “ACN” represents the Asian Congress of Nutrition, and the purple color represents progress and health. The orchid is the national flower of Singapore that welcomes all to visit. The first announcement was released in April, 2009, and a booth was set up at this 19th ICN Exhibition No. 604. After our bid has been approved, we applied for grant from Singapore Tourism Board on December 31, 2007. We set up the Congress Committee, and the subcommittees, for instance, the scientific subcommittee, logistic subcommittee, social program subcommittee, finance subcommittee, public relation subcommittee, the media subcommittee, etc. The Chairpersons of the Committee and subcommittees were identified. We invite the International Advisory Committee members, invite some of the government and professional bodies in Singapore, and to identify the Congress organizer. Ongoing works includes funding and formation of the advisory committee. The proposed venue includes Singapore Expo and Singapore Exhibition Convention Center. One of the considerations deciding the venue would be the cost, which must be affordable for all the delegates. At the same time, we plan to follow the ICN, setting up a fund to support participants who are young Asian nutritional scientists.
Agenda 6 Selection of the venue of the 12th ACN in 2015
Dr. Po-Chao Huang, the Chair, announced that FANS office had received four applications to bid for hosting the 12th ACN on 2015. These were from, by the alphabetical order: Iran, Japan, Lebanon, and Sri Lanka. The representatives of each then made a presentation of their plan.
The voting was conducted according to the resolution of the Executive Council Meeting held on the previous day (Annexure 3, Agenda 3 (1)). Drs. Po-Chao Huang and Mohd Ismail Noor (Malaysia), Honorary Council Member served as the counting vote officers.
Dr. Ching-jang Huang, the Secretary General, distributed ballots previously signed by her to each of the present FANS member delegate. A total of 14 ballots were delivered.
Immediately before voting, Iran decided to withdraw the bid and support Lebanon.
Dr. Po-Chao Huang, the Chair, announced the voting results: 8 votes for Japan, 3 votes for Lebanon, 3 votes for Sri Lanka, which determines that Japan be the host of the 12th ACN, 2015.
Agenda 7 Optional activity report
There was no response to the enquiry of Dr. Po-Chao Huang, the Chair, whether there was any optional activity report from delegates.
Agenda 8 Other business
In response to the message from IUNS given by Dr. Kamala Krishnaswamy (Annexure 3, Agenda 3 (21)), a FANS executive Council meeting, should be held after the General Assembly Meeting to discuss, after receiving suggestions from the General Assembly Meeting.
Dr. Po-Chao Huang, the Chair, closed the meeting with the remark: “Thank you for attending the biggest FANS General Assembly I have experienced.”
A second Executive Council meeting (2009-2) was successively held after the closing of the General Assembly Meeting. The Minutes of this 2009-2 FANS Executive Council meeting is enclosed as Annexure 4
Annexure 1
Members present during the 2009 FANS General Assembly Meeting
Annexure 2
Summary Report of the Secretary General, for 2007-2009
Federation of Asian Nutrition Societies
At the General Assembly Meeting, Oct 7th, 2009, Bangkok
By Dr. Ching-jang Huang, Secretary General of FANS
10th ACN, 2007: Based on FANS Statues, Article II, Objective 1b, the 10th Asian Congress of Nutrition was successfully held during September 9-13, 2007 in Taipei. This event, with nearly 1500 participants, fulfilled the objective of FANS.
Setup of FANS official website: An official website of FANS http://www.fans-web.org/ was developed in November 2007. The contents were originally based on the FANS newsletter No. 9 issue which was edited and published in September, 2007 by the past executive council, Immediate Past President Dr. C. Gopalan and Secretary General, Dr. Ramesh V. Bhat, India.
Minutes of the last General Assembly Meeting online: The minutes as well as the Secretary General Report of the last General Assembly Meeting (Sep.10, 2007 in Taipei), prepared by the immediate past Secretary General, Dr. Ramesh Bhat (India) as well as other news from FANS members have been posted on the FANS website and included in the FANS newsletter issue No.10. Consequently, the website has thus served as a communication platform of FANS. http://www.fans-web.org/
Welcome new and reactivated members: Vietnam Nutrition Association (Vinutas) was approved as a new member of FANS in the last General Assembly Meeting 2007. Lebanese Association for Nutrition and Food Sciences (LANFS) has reactivated its membership. Both have been listed in the FANS website “member” section. Currently, there is a total of 16 members.
Attending the 35th SCN: The thirty fifth session of the Standing Committee on Nutrition, United Nations System : Accelerating the Reduction of Maternal and Child Undernutrition was hosted by the Government of Viet Nam, at Hanoi, 2-6 March 2008. President Po-Chao Huang and Secretary General Ching-jang Huang attended the 35th SCN on behalf of FANS. This is in accordance to the FANS Objective 1c.
New member applications: Hong Kong Nutrition Association has sent a letter of application of FANS Membership in 2008. Mongolian Association of Nutrition and Food Service Management (MANFSM) also sent in a letter of application for FANS membership in July, 2008.
Bid for the 12th ACN, 2015: According to the minutes of the last FANS General Assembly meeting(Sep.10th, 2007), all interested countries should be provided with the opportunity to submit applications. FANS secretary General has thus sent an email to all FANS members on June 1, 2009, invited bidding to host the 12th ACN in 2015. Four members positively responded and were arranged to present and bid in the General Assembly Meeting of Oct.7th, 2009. They are: Iran, Japan, Lebanon and Sri Lanka (by alphabetical order).
Funds to support young Asian nutrition scientists to attend the 19th ICN: In response to the request from the19th ICN organizer, an email has been sent to all FANS members, asking to provide assistance in this regard. Four members responded positively, including Japan(USD$5000), Malaysia(USD$500 and subsidize 15 Malaysian members to attending the 19th ICN with USD$5000), Singapore(SGD$500.00) and Taiwan( USD$1000). This is in accordance to the FANS Objective 1a and is highly acknowledged.
Edit and print Newsletter No.10 issue, 2009: The updated information of each member societies have been collected for editing and print of a new issue of FANS Newsletter. The website has also been updated accordingly. The cooperation of all the 16 member societies is highly acknowledged.
Preparation and holding General Assembly meeting at the 19th ICN: After arranging the time and reservation of a room at the 19th ICN, invitation has been sent to all FANS members and the Council members (Executive and Honorary).
Annexure 3
Minutes of 2009-1 FANS Executive Council Meeting
Time: 12:00, October 6, 2009
Room: delicious coffee shop of BITEC
Attendee: Po-Chao Huang, Ching-jang Huang, Mohd Ismail Noor, Cyndy Au(represented by Chow Peek Yee), Teruo Miyazawa, Kamala Krishnaswamy, Janaki Gooneratne
Agenda 1 Adoption of Agenda
Resolution: Adopted
Agenda 2 Approval of New Member Application
- Hong Kong Nutrition Association and Mongolian Association of Nutrition and Food Service Management (MANFSM)
Application documents attached
Resolution: All the members of the executive Council approved the applications after the confirmation of the qualification of the applied societies meet the by-law of FANS.
Agenda 3 Other Business
- How to vote for host of 2015 ACN?
Resolution:
- The voting should be by a written ballot. The ballot should be prepared and signed by the Secretary General.
President Po-Chao Huang and Honorary Council member Mohd Ismail Noor shall be the vote counting officers.
The President will announce the name of the FANS Member with maximum vote.
In the event of an equal votes, a re-election will be needed.
Kamala Krishnaswamy: The IUNS will allocate a small fund to its regional affiliated body.
Resolution: It is suggested that a FANS executive Council meeting is held after the General Assembly Meeting to discuss this matter, after receiving suggestions from the General Assembly Meeting.
Annexure 4
Minutes of 2009-2 FANS Executive Council Meeting
Time: 14:00, October 7, 2009
Room: Rm MR 225, 2 level, Congress Center (BITC), Bangkok, Thailand
Chair: Dr. Po-Chao Huang, President of FANS
Ching-jang Huang, Peek Yee Chow, Teruo Miyazawa, Kamala Krishnaswamy, Shanthi Gunawardena
Agenda 1 Adoption of Agenda
Resolution: Adopted
Agenda 2: Proposed Response of FANS to the inquiry of IUNS
Dr. Kamala Krishnaswamy, an executive council member, delivered the message that IUNS will allocate a small fund to its regional affiliated body. FANS should, thus, respond with the proposed use of the fund. It was decided to submit the following suggestions to IUNS:
- Capacity Building and Nutrition Leadership Training Program.
Support the young Asian nutrition scientist to attend International Nutrition Conference.
Sri Lanka proposed to hold a workshop to create awareness among civil society partnerships in improving Nutrition Request Funding.
Support FANS website.
These proposals were submitted to IUNS by Dr. Ching-jang Huang, Secretary of FANS, shortly after this meeting.
