Constitution of the IFAJ

Article 1: The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (abbreviated IFAJ) is an independent organisation registered in Paris, federating national associations of agricultural journalists and communicators.

The term agricultural journalist means a person who with respect for the deontological code of journalism is engaged in editing, writing, broadcasting by radio, television, or in new media, filming or photography concerned with primary production, economics or marketing in the industries of farming, horticulture, forestry, fishery, food production or in journalism concerned with the affairs of the countryside and rural living. The term agricultural communicator means a person who is engaged in agricultural communication by advertising, public and press relations, event organisation or spokemanship as well by managing, editing, writing, broadcasting by radio, television or in new media, filming or photography concerned with primary production, economics or marketing in the industries of farming, horticulture, forestry, fishery, food production or with the affairs of the country side and rural living.

Article 2: The official languages of the IFAJ are English, French and German. The Constitution and Rules shall be kept in these languages. The IFAJ Executive Committee may establish working languages for IFAJ events and communications.

Article 3: The IFAJ is a non-profit organisation. It is neutral in matters of politics and religion. It supports and encourages the practice of journalism according to the principles of freedom of the press as used by the International Press Institute. Other objectives of the IFAJ are:

a) to promote the collection and distribution of information on the agricultural and food industries in conformity with journalistic ethics;

b) to defend the right of the individual citizen to objective information and to defend the profession of the agricultural journalist;

c) to uphold, assert and further the authority and prestige of journalists engaged in the agricultural information media;

d) to establish, maintain and further professional and personal contacts between agricultural journalists in all countries of the world;

e) to assist in the training of agricultural journalists;

f) to contribute towards a better understanding between agricultural producers and other sections of the economy, especially consumers.

Article 4: The IFAJ endeavours to attain its objectives by means of:

a) organising congresses, conferences, training courses, meetings and similar events;

b) publishing a newsletter and/or bulletin issued periodically in hardcopy or electronic form, with a view to keeping all concerned in the membership of the IFAJ informed;

c) assistance to agricultural journalists desirous of obtaining, in their professional capacity, information and documentation about agriculture and journalism in other countries;

d) contacting and collaborating with international agricultural, and journalism, organisations;

e) encouraging and assisting the formation of associations and other organisations of agricultural journalists.

Article 5: The IFAJ is composed of Member Associations.

Article 6: A national association of agricultural journalists in any country is, subject to the decision of the Delegate Assembly, eligible to be accepted into IFAJ membership as a Member Association.

Article 7: The application for membership to the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists shall be made to the Secretary General following the procedures set forth in the IFAJ Rules. The decision to accept an applicant as a Member Association must be made by the Delegate Assembly by a majority vote of at least two-thirds of those present.

Article 8: In addition to such benefits and privileges as may result incidentally for all journalists in the IFAJ, by reason of its discharge of its objectives, members shall be entitled to the following specific rights, benefits and privileges of and from the IFAJ:

a) to be represented by delegates in the Delegate Assembly (Article 11);

b) to be represented on the Executive Committee (Article 13);

c) to nominate a person for each of the offices of President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary General;

d) to receive official notices, meeting minutes, newsletters and other official documents and communications from IFAJ;

e) to assume and transmit to each of its individual members the following rights:

1) to take part in special Interest Groups (Article 23);

2) to participate in the Annual Congress and Delegate Assembly (Article 11);

3) to receive, through their national associations, information concerning the activities and interests of the IFAJ;

4) to participate in IFAJ professional improvement workshops and contests.

Article 9: Any Member Association can be dismissed from membership in the IFAJ for serious breach of the statutes of the IFAJ or for behaviour or conduct considered to bring, or to be liable to bring, discredit on the IFAJ or on the profession of agricultural journalism. Such dismissal requires a majority-vote of at least two-thirds of the Delegate Assembly present.

Member Associations may be dismissed by the Executive Committee (Article 18) for non-payment of dues.

Article 10: The governing bodies of the IFAJ are the:

a) Delegate Assembly

b) Executive Committee

c) Presidium

Article 11: The Delegate Assembly is the authority in all matters concerning the IFAJ. It meets at least once in every calendar year, preferably during the Annual Congress.

a) In the Delegate Assembly, each delegate present shall have one vote only on any resolution. However, if a Member Association has insufficient delegates present at the congress, or other official assembly, to provide full national voting strength, one delegate may be authorised by his or her Member Association, to exercise proxy. Also, a Member Association that will not have any delegates present at an official assembly may authorize a delegate from another Member Association to exercise its proxy. This authorisation should be announced before the business of the meeting commences.

b) The Delegate Assembly is comprised of:

1) Delegates appointed by Member Associations to represent, speak and vote on their association’s behalf. Each Member Association’s number of delegates is calculated by reference to the number of individual members for which IFAJ membership dues were paid in the previous IFAJ accounting year and according to the following scale:

up to100 individual members: 2 delegates

from 101 to 200 individual members: 3 delegates

more than 200 individual members: 4 delegates

2) All members of the Executive Committee, who are not delegates, have the right to speak during the Delegate Assembly on all matters and vote on all resolutions except those concerning the Activity Report, the Annual Accounts, and the Budget.

c) A special Delegate Assembly must be convened by the Secretary General if such a meeting is requested in writing by more than half of the Member Associations.

d) Minutes of the actions of the Delegate Assembly shall be kept by the Secretary General, and approved by the Delegate Assembly at its next meeting.

Article 12: The following are the particular responsibilities of the Delegate Assembly:

a) Decisions and elections:

1) Unless otherwise specified in the statutes, decisions in the IFAJ governing bodies are taken by a simple majority of the votes cast.

2) A quorum must be present to take official action. A quorum is present if at least half of the members of the Delegate Assembly are present (physically and in proxy).

3) The Delegate Assembly elects the President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary General, and Auditor (see Articles 16 and 19).

b) to receive and to approve the minutes of the previous Delegate Assembly meeting, the Treasurer’s annual report and the IFAJ budget.;

c) to determine the membership fees to be levied as recommended by the Executive Committee;

d) to consider and decide upon all other business submitted by the Executive Committee or Member Associations;

e) to receive and decide upon any recommendation from the Executive Committee for the election or dismissal of a Member Association, or any changes recommended by the Executive Committee in the status of Member Associations.;

f) to consider and decide upon any proposed amendments to the Constitution of IFAJ;

g) to consider and decide upon any resolution to dissolve the IFAJ;

h) to act in accordance with the requirements of Article 25 in the event of a dispute.

Article 13: The Executive Committee is the administrative body of the IFAJ.

a) The Executive Committee is comprised of one representative appointed by each Member Association, and the President, Secretary General, Vice President, Treasurer and Immediate Past President, these five being not qualified during their periods of office to act as representatives of Member Associations. Meanwhile, the Member Associations from which these officers originate shall be entitled to representation by another appointee on the Executive Committee of their association’s choice.

b)Immediately upon ceasing to hold office, a President of the IFAJ automatically becomes a member of the Executive Committee in the office of Past President. This office is retained for one year after the end of his or her term as President.

Article 14: The Executive Committee:

a) is responsible for initiating and executing the programme of IFAJ activities and generally for administering the affairs of the IFAJ, including any other duties not specified in this Constitution;

b) is responsible for carrying out decisions of the Delegate Assembly made in conformity with the Constitution;

c) is responsible for submitting to the annual Delegate Assembly any applications for membership, or proposal to dismiss any Member Association with, in all cases, a recommendation for the Delegate Assembly's decision;

d) is responsible for recommending to the annual Delegate Assembly any changes it considers necessary in the annual membership fees;

e) may at any time appoint any subcommittee or any person, being a member of the Executive Committee, to undertake special duties and to report in due course to the Executive Committee;

f) may appoint Regional Vice Presidents;

g) shall keep minutes of its actions;

h) shall allow matters requiring urgent attention to be dealt with by the Presidium.

Article 15: The Presidium is made up of the President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary General. The Presidium is entrusted with ensuring the fulfillment of the direction and decisions of the Executive Committee. The President and the Secretary General are empowered to sign all documents on behalf of the IFAJ. The duties of President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary General are described in the IFAJ Rules.

Article 16:

a) The President, Vice President, Treasurer and the Secretary General are elected by the Delegate Assembly each for a term of two years and are eligible for re-election except that in respect of the President the office can be held for no more than two consecutive two-year terms, and in respect to the Vice President the office can be held by for no more than three consecutive two-year terms.

b) The President, Vice President, and Secretary General must originate from different countries.

c) A candidate for office is elected if he or she receives more than half of the votes cast. If a second ballot is required, the majority suffices. Each person shall be elected individually to the relevant office. Ballots will be secret whenever at least one delegate requests it to be;

d) The terms of the President, Secretary General, Vice President and Treasurer begin immediately after the conclusion of the IFAJ Annual Congress during which they are elected.

Article 17: The Annual Congress of the IFAJ shall take place in a different country each calendar year by the invitation of a Member Association from that country and on acceptance of the invitation by the Executive Committee. The Annual Congress shall include the annual meetings of the Executive Committee and the Delegate Assembly.

Article 18:

a) Membership Fee:

1) In order to achieve its objectives and to cover the expense commitments of the IFAJ, an annual fee, determined by the Delegate Assembly, shall be levied as a capitation levy.

2) The Executive Committee shall have the power to remove from the roll of Member Associations any association that is more than twelve months in arrears. The Member Association concerned shall have right of appeal to the next Delegate Assembly, whose decision shall be final. Any Member Association that is more than twelve months in arrears shall in no case have voting rights at a Delegate Assembly or a meeting of the Executive Committee.

b) Monetary gifts to the IFAJ can be accepted by the authority of the Executive Committee.

c) The disbursement of IFAJ funds is a responsibility of the Executive Committee on whose behalf the Treasurer makes all payments from IFAJ accounts.

Article 19:

a) The Auditor shall be elected by the Delegate Assembly to serve for a period of two years, and is eligible for re-election.

b) The Auditor shall be a member of a Member Association, and live in a country other than the countries in which the President and Secretary General live.

Article 20:

a) One copy of the Constitution of the IFAJ as currently in force shall be supplied to every Member Association upon its acceptance into membership, and all amendments to the Constitution will be promptly supplied to the secretaries of all Member Associations.

b) Proposals to amend or rescind any article(s) of the Constitution of the IFAJ and/or to introduce any new article(s) can be submitted by any Member Association or the Executive Committee at any time after one year from the time of publication of the last change(s) effected in the said Constitution. Any change to the Constitution requires a quorum (Article 12) to be present and approval by a two-thirds majority of the delegates present.

c) If there arises a dispute over the meaning of the Constitution or Rules of the IFAJ currently in force, reference shall be made to the English version as being the original one.

Article 21: Contacts for each Member Association shall be made available to members in hard copy and/or online.

Article 22: The IFAJ may make available a press card to agricultural journalists defined in Article 1 who are members of an IFAJ Member Association.

Article 23: Members of Member Associations of the IFAJ shall have the right to register for, and take part in, the activities of one or more special interest group(s).

Article 24: No member of the IFAJ (Article 5) assumes any liability for the IFAJ and the IFAJ does not assume any liability for any of its members.

Article 25: To settle any dispute arising out of any matter relating to the IFAJ or its activities, an arbitration committee comprising one representative nominated by each of the parties concerned in the dispute and a neutral chairman shall be set up by the next Delegate Assembly, the chairman appointed being recommended by the Executive Committee. When agreement to a settlement is obtained in writing from each of the contending parties, the dispute shall be declared closed and the settlement shall be regarded as binding.

Article 26:

a) The dissolution of the IFAJ can be effected only by a decision of a special meeting of the Delegate Assembly at which delegates representing at least half plus one of the Member Associations are present and at which a resolution to dissolve the IFAJ is carried by a two-thirds or greater majority of votes cast by the delegates.

b) The winding-up of the affairs of the IFAJ shall be effected on behalf of the aforesaid Special Delegate Assembly by the Executive Committee or by the President and Secretary General or by two other persons appointed for this purpose by the aforesaid Delegate Assembly and after the sale of all disposable property of the IFAJ. All remaining assets and property shall be distributed to any number of public organisations concerned in journalism as shall be directed by the aforesaid Special Delegate Assembly.

Article 27: In the event of any question or matter considered to be within the competence only of the Delegate Assembly arising, and being not provided for in this Constitution, the Executive Committee or the Presidium, if they decide that an urgent decision and/or action is necessary, are empowered to act temporarily until enabled to refer their action to the next Delegate Assembly.

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This Constitution replaces and supercedes the earlier statutes adopted in Paris on November 16, 1956, by the founders of the IFAJ; amended in Vienna on June 19, 1961; in Rome on May 22,1963; in Heidelberg on September 11,1967; in Milan on September 29, 1975; in Bordeaux on June 19, 1985; in Weggis on August 28, 1989; in Bratislava on September 24, 1995; in Copenhagen on August 15, 1999; and in Valencia on May 19, 2002.

This Constitution was adopted in Tokyo on September 18, 2007, on which date it was deemed to be in force.

The President
David Markey

The Secretary General
Ulla-Mari Sundelin-Ryytty