::International Cooperative fisheries Organisation::

Minutes of Annual Meeting ICFO 2009
Date: 16 November, 2009
Time: 09:30～12:00
Venue: Room 13 Level 2 (= Second floor) International Convention Centre 17 rue de Verembre CP 13, Geneva, Switzerland
The annual Executive Members Meeting and General Meeting of ICFO were held at Room 13, level 2 of International Conference Centre (= Centre International de Conference de Geneve: CICG), 17 rue de Verembe CP 13, Geneva, Switzerland on Monday 16 November, 2009.
A total of 18 persons from 8 countries attended the meetings, namely:
- 9 from 4 member organisations of 4 countries, and
- 9 from 5 non-member organisations of 5 countries.
(see the list of participants attached herewith. All the agenda was approved as proposed by the Secretariat.
At the Executive Members Meeting and General Meeting, Election of Chairperson and nomination of Secretary were held. As a result, new Chairperson was elected and new Secretary was nominated.
The details of the meeting were as follows:
1. Opening
Mr. Ikuhiro HATTORI, Chairman of ICFO made an opening speech. He proposed that since the number of participants is not so large, and the difference of agenda between Executive Members Meeting and that of General Meeting of ICFO are the same except that in the General Meeting, report on the activities of ICFO member organisations is made, the two meetings should be combined as one meeting, which was unanimously approved.
Further, he said that he was requested by ICA to elect a new Chairperson of ICFO who will succeed him, and to decide upon a new Secretariat and Secretary which will take over the funcgtion from JF ZENGYOREN.
2. Agenda
1) Procedural Matters
(1) Approval of Provisional Agenda of Executive Members and General Meetings of ICFO 2009
Approved.
(2) Approval of the Minutes of Executive Members Meeting and General Meeting of ICFO held in Hanoi, Vietnam on 1 December, 2008
Approved.
2) Report
(1) Report on Activities of ICFO in FY 2008
Approved.
(2) Report on ICFO’s accounts and the result of auditing of FY 2008
Approved.
(3) Report on Activities of ICFO member organizations since last meetings held in Singapore on 1 December, 2008 to date
Report on activities of ICFO member organisations since last annual meetings (Executive Members Meeting and General Meeting held in Hanoi, Vietnam on 1 December, 2008) was submitted for members’ exchange of information.

ICFO
Title of Report	Name of Member Organization	Country
Country Paper	National Federation of Fishermen A’s Cooperatives Ltd.	India
Report on Activities of JF ZENGYOREN	National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations (JF ZENGYOREN)	Japan
2008 Annual Report	National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (NFFC)	Korea

In addition, the following observers submitted their report:
- Hungarian Fish Farmers Association (HFFA) by Mr. Gabor Csoma, Vice-President of HFFA
- Status of the Fisheries Sector in Malaysia and Activities of National Fishermen’s Association of Malaysia (NEKMAT)
(4) Progress Report of ICFO’s Activities of FY 2009
The following two representatives of observer organisations expressed their dissatisfaction concerning the specialized organisations membership qualification, which was decided at ICA’ Extraordinary General Assembly held in Rome in June, 2008.
- Mr. Norizaman bin Haji Ghazali, General Manager, National Fishermen’s Association of Malaysia (NEKMAT), a former ICFO member organization.
- Mr. Gabor Choma, Vice-President, Hungarian Fish Farmers Association (HFFA), a former ICFO member organization.
In the case of NEKMAT, it is not affiliated with any organisations which are members of ICA. Thus, in order to continue to participate in ICFO activities in the future, it has to either
1) directly apply to ICA as new member, or
2) becomes a member of any one of the ICA members in Malaysia, and from such ICA member a letter be sent to ICA mentioning that NEKMAT should be allowed to continue to participate in ICFO’s activities in the future.
Mr. Norizaman Ghazali said that he would like to raise this issue at its general meeting concerning which option NEKMAT should take.
In the case of HFFA, Mr. Gabor Csoma said that since HFFA is a member organization of National Federation of Agricultural Co-operatives and Producers (MOSZ), which is a member of ICA, he would like to request MOSZ to send a letter to ICA, requesting MOSZ to send a letter to ICA so that HFFA would be able to continue to participate in ICFO’s activities in the future.
Both of the above two organizations agreed to inform the new Secretary of the outcome thereupon.
With the above conditions, the agenda was approved.
3) Agenda for Decision
(1) Annual Activity Plan and Budget of ICFO in FY 2010
Approved.
(2) Resolution
The following resolution was unanimously adopted:
"ICFO Resolution for a Fair and Just Outcome in the WTO Negotiations in the Sector of Fisheries"
It was agreed that the Secretary will send the resolution to WTO.
(3) Transferring of ICFO Secretariat
The report by the Secretary that transferring of ICFO Secretariat has not been completed by the date of ICFO Executive Members Meeting of 2009 was confirmed. It was agreed that as to which organisation should take over the function of ICFO Secretariat from JF ZENGYOREN should be decided after a new Chairperson has been elected.
(4) Election of Chairperson and Nomination of Secretary
Outgoing Chairman Mr. Ikuhiro Hattori recommended Mr. Lee Jong Koo, Vice-Chairman of ICFO, as new Chairman of ICFO to succeed him. This recommendation was unanimously approved by all the members present.
Mr. Lee Jong Koo is President of National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (NFFC), Republic of Korea.
In accordance with Article 8 of ICFO Rules (Nomination of Secretariat and Secretary), Mr. Lee Jong Koo nominated Mr. Park Kwang Bum, Manager, International Cooperation, Fisheries Economic Institute, National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (NFFC), as Secretary of ICFO.
The Secretariat of ICFO shall be transferred to NFFC when accounts of the present ICFO meetings are settled. However, as regards to the Training Project of MAFF funded project of FY 2009, that is, "the Training Project for Promotion of Community-based Fishery Resource Management by Small-scale Fishers in Asia - 2009", JF ZENGYOREN will take responsibility until the final report thereof and settlement of accounts thereupon are finished. The final report and settlement of accounts shall be reported to ICA Geneva by the new secretariat but all the necessary data and information including documents etc concerning the said project of FY 2009 shall be provided from JF ZENGYOREN, or Mr. Masaaki Sato, the outgoing secretary, to Mr. Park Kwang Bum.
With the above conditions, the agenda was approved.
(5) Date and Venue of ICFO’s next annual meetings
It was decided that the annual meetings of ICFO in 2010 (Executive members meeting and General Meeting) should be held in Beijing, People's Republic of China in any one of the days during the period when the 9th Regional Assembly for Asia and the Pacific is held in September, 2010.
It was agreed that ICFO secretariat will provide the schedule (date, time, venue and agenda) of ICFO meetings to the members as soon as they are arranged and decided.
4) Others
(1) Speech by Mr. Lee Jong Koo, Chairman of ICFO
Mr. Lee Jong Koo, newly elected Chairman of ICFO, made a speech to assume the post of Chairmanship of ICFO in which he asked for members' cooperation for furthering the cooperative movement.
3. Closing
Mr. Lee Jong Koo, in assuming the Chairmanship of ICFO, Chairman of ICFO made a closing speech.
Note:
After the annual meeting of ICFO held on Monday, 16 November, 2009, a welcome dinner was held in the evening at Maison de Coree, Geneva.
On the following day, Tuesday 17 November, 2009, a study trip was made to visit bio-trout farm Blausee. In the evening of 17 November 2009, a special concert/reception/dinner was held at "Salle Communale" in Copet.