::International Cooperative fisheries Organisation::

Minutes of Annual Meeting of ICFO 2010
Date: 2 September, 2010
Time: 09:00～12:30
Venue: Room 310 Level Three (3) (= Third floor) Beijing International Convention Center (BICC) No. 8 Beichendong Road Chaoyang District, Beijing
Tel: + 86 10 84985588, 84970768
Fax: + 86 10 84970106
E-mail: bcgh@bcgjotel.com
The annual Executive Members Meeting and General Meeting of ICFO were held at Room 310 of Beijing International Convention Center(BICC), on Thursday 2 September, 2010.
A total of 15 persons from 7 countries attended the meetings, namely:
- 14 from 6 member organizations of 6 countries, and
- 1 from 1 non-member organization of 1 country.
All the agenda were approved as proposed by the secretariat.
At the Executive Members Meeting and General Meeting, the election of 3 vice chairmen was held. As a result, 2 vice chairmen were elected. And World Fisheries Cooperative Day was established.
The details of the meetings were as follows:
1. Opening
Mr. LEE Jong-Koo, chairman of ICFO made an opening speech. He proposed that since the number of participants is not so large, and the agenda of 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 organizations is made, the two meetings should be combined as one meeting, which was unanimously approved.
He mentioned his efforts to develop ICFO since his election on 16 November, 2009. He also proposed that ICFO should prepare the new era of cooperatives to make fisheries and fisheries cooperatives the new growth engines for the future.
2. Agenda
1) Procedural Matters
(1) Approval of Provisional Agenda of Executive Members Meeting and General Meeting of ICFO 2010
Approved.
(2) Approval of the Minutes of Executive Members Meeting and General Meeting of ICFO held in Geneva, Switzerland on 16 November, 2009.
Approved.
2) Report
(1) Report on Activities of ICFO in FY 2009
① ICFO Annual Meetings held in Geneva, Switzerland
② Education and Training

ICFO
Phase	Particulars	Implemented
Phase III	Seminar in Indonesia	2-5 Mar., 2010
Phase I	Dispatching of experts to Indonesia	2-7 Oct., 2009
Phase II	Study Visit in Japan	5-12 Nov., 2009

③ Membership Recruitment : Hungarian Fish Farmers Association
Approved.
(2) Report on ICFO’s accounts of FY 2009
① General Account (Unit : JPY)

ICFO
Income	Income	Balance	Remarks
1,476,611	1,383,755	92,856	-

② Special Account (Unit : USD)

ICFO
Income	Income	Balance	Remarks
117,932	117,932	0	-

With regard to the discontinuance of funding from MAFF(Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan), Mr. B.K. Mishra questioned whether there is any possibility for MAFF to resume funding to ICFO in the near future.
Mr. Sato said that MAFF stopped funding to ICFO due to various reasons. He does not know whether MAFF will resume the contribution in the near future. However, we should prepare a new program which must be differentiated from the former training program to receive funds from MAFF. We also need to discuss the new program to reach a consensus on it. After that we can propose it to MAFF through ICFO. He also proposed for Mr. Mishra to prepare a proposal and submit it to ICFO as Indian people are expert in English. Then ICFO could check the proposal and send it to MAFF. He mentioned that as ODA(Official Development Assistance) budget of Japan is decreasing every year, it may be difficult to receive funds from MAFF under such circumstances, but it is worth trying.
(3) Progress Report on ICFO’s Activities in FY 2010
1) ICFO Homepage Opening (’10. 4)
2) Publishing World Fisheries (’10. 6)
3) Delivering Plaques of Appreciation to Mr. HATTORI and SATO (’10.6)
4) International Symposium (’10. 6)
5) Publishing ICFO Pamphlet (’10. 7)
6) Donating Personal Computers to 4 ICFO Members (’10. 8)
7) Publishing ICFO News (’10. 8)
8) Donating Fisheries Equipment (’10. 11)
9) Attending ICA EXPO (’10. 12)
Mr. Wibisono Wiyono, auditor of ICFO, questioned that it is possible for ICFO to use the new ICFO logo which is being used on its website, because the birds and color of the ICFO logo is already used by ICA. Chairman of ICFO answered that there is no problem using the ICFO logo because ICFO secretariat received a permission from ICA Geneva. ICAO(International Cooperative Agricultural Organisation) is also using the same type of logo. Mr. Wibisono Wiyono also suggested making a new logo for ICFO. As for making a new ICFO logo, the Chairman said that we need to discuss it more.
In connection with ICFO activities, Mr. Nguyen Tien Quan, representative of Vietnam Cooperative Alliance(VCA), mentioned that activities including training programs, study visits, publications such as World Fisheries, etc carried out by ICFO were very practical. There were a seminar and study visit sponsored by ICFO, 2008 and 2009. After joining the seminar and study visit, the thoughts and attitudes of participants including Vietnamese government officials to fisheries and fisheries cooperatives changed a lot. These activities are very meaningful and useful to fisheries cooperatives. As for the ICFO activities of 2010, he highly appreciated publishing World Fisheries and opening the ICFO Homepage. He finally suggested that the ICFO activities of 2011 include activities to broaden and widen ICFO members.
Mr. Wibisono Wiyono, auditor of ICFO, also proposed that ICFO secretariat provide information on activities of fisheries cooperatives which are members of ICFO to websites of Indonesian government. Because the new Indonesian government officials do not properly understand fisheries cooperatives, it is necessary to provide information to them to increase their understanding. And he kindly requested representatives of Korea and Japan to invite officially an Indonesian commissioner of a state-owned company to broaden understanding of fisheries cooperatives to their countries next year.
With the above conditions, the agenda was approved.
(4) Report on Auditing of ICFO’s accounts of FY 2009
Mr. Takehiro SAKURABA, representative of JF ZENGYOREN questioned why the ICA redistribution for 2009 was remitted to ICFO account in 2010 and the amount ICA promised when ICA rule changed in 2008 decreased. He requested ICA secretariat to ask ICA Geneva reasons for the delay and decrease.
Mr. PARK, Secretary of ICFO, answered that he including Mr. SATO, the former secretary, asked ICA Geneva several times, but ICA Geneva did not give clear answers. Secretary of ICFO promised that he would ask ICA Geneva again to give clear answers, and let ICFO members know as soon as possible.
With the above conditions, the agenda was approved.
(5) Report of Activities of ICFO Member Organizations since the last meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 16 November, 2009 to date
Report on activities of ICFO member organizations since the last annual meetings(Executive Members Meeting and General Meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland on 16 November, 2009) was submitted for members’ exchange of information. All representatives at the meetings agreed not to read their reports for the effective progress except Japan. Mr. Takehiro SAKURABA, representative of JF ZENGYOREN requested an opportunity to present it for two guests from Japan. And it was allowed to do so.

ICFO
Title of Report	Name of Member Organization	Country
Member’s Activities Report Year 2009 and The First Half Year of 2010	National Federation of Indonesian Fishermen’s Cooperative Societies(IKPI)	India
2009 Annual Report	National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (NFFC)	Korea
Report on Activities of JF ZENGYOREN	National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations (JF ZENGYOREN)	Japan
Present State of Hungarian Fish Production	Hungarian Fish Farmers’ Association(HFFA)	Hungary
Role of Fishery Cooperatives in Inclusive Growth of Economy	National Federation of Fishermen’s Cooperatives Ltd.	India

3) Agenda for Decision
(1) ICFO Activity Plan and Budget in FY 2011
1) ICFO Activity Plan in FY 2011
- ICFO Annual Meetings
- Education and Training Activities
- Publishing ICFO News
- Donation to ICFO Members for the Development of Fisheries
- Others
2) ICFO Budget in FY 2011
It is estimated that ICA redistribution will be approximately 10,000 CHF in 2011. The amount will be short of performing the above activities. Hereby, after the contribution from NFFC is decided, the secretariat would like to propose the ICFO’s specific activity plan and budget in FY 2011.
Approved
(2) Election of 3 Vice-Chairmen
Mr. Takehiro SAKURABA, the representative of JF ZENGYOREN recommended Mr. B.K. Mishra, managing director of National Federation of Fishermen’s Cooperatives Ltd. India and Mr. Dao Xuan Can, president of Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, Vietnam, as vice chairmen of ICFO. The recommendation was unanimously approved by all the members present. Mr. Nguyen Tien Quan also delivered Mr. Dao Xuan Can’s intension to accept the post of ICFO vice chairman.
According to the ICFO rules, 4 vice chairmen can be elected. However, as there was no more nominee, the post of one vice chairman became vacant.
<List of ICFO Executive Members>

ICFO
Name	Position in ICFO	Organization
Mr. Monkalut Pukanut	Executive member	CLT/Thailand
Mr. LEE Jong-Koo	Chairman	NFFC/Korea
Mr. Gabor Csoma	Vice-chairman	HFFA/Hungary
Mr. Dao Xuan Can	Vice-chairman	VCA/Vietnam
Mr. B.K. Mishra	Vice-chairman	FISHCOPFED/India
Mr. Wibisono Wiyono	Auditor	IKPI/Indonesia
Mr. Ikuhiro Hattori	Executive member	Zengyoren/Japan

(3) Setting a Date for World Fisheries Cooperative Day
ICFO and NFFC jointly held an international symposium on 16 June, 2010. The representatives of members of ICFO and speakers who participated in the symposium adopted the “Seoul Declaration” including the establishment of “World Fisheries Cooperative Day”.
Initially, the secretariat proposed September 26 as a commemorative day for the “World Fisheries Cooperative Day”. This is because it was on this day of September 26, 1976 when a resolution was adopted at the then Fisheries Sub-Committee meeting of ICA Agricultural Committee held in Paris, France to the effect that the Fisheries Sub-committee should become an independent committee, separate from Agricultural Committee.
However, Chairman of ICFO re-proposed June 16 when the “Seoul Declaration” was adopted as the “World Fisheries Cooperative Day”. He said that because almost all ICA meetings including ICA General Assembly, Regional Assembly and ICFO Meetings take place in the second half of a year, it is difficult to hold a commemoration for the “World Fisheries Cooperative Day” on September 26 with celebrities from ICA including ICA president and ICFO members, etc.
With the explanation, June 16 was approved as the “World Fisheries Cooperative Day”.
(4) Date and Venue of ICFO’s next Executive Members Meeting in 2011
It was decided that the annual meetings of ICFO in 2011 (Executive members meeting and General Meeting) should be held in Cancun, Mexico in any one of the days during the period when the ICA General Assembly is held in 2011.
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.
Mr. Wibisono Wiyono, auditor of ICFO, questioned that it is possible for IKPI to hold ICFO Meetings in Indonesia, not in Cancun. Chairman of ICFO answered that it is basically better to hold ICFO Meetings with ICA general assembly in Cancun, Mexico next year, and if there is any special issue, we could hold a meeting in any other place.
Approved.
4) Others
(1) ICA Committee on Fisheries for Asia and the Pacific
Chairman of ICFO explained about the background of this agenda. ICA Committee on Fisheries for Asia and the Pacific used to exist until 1998. However, due to various reasons, it was discontinued. He initially explained about the current status of ICFO to ICA regional director when the director visited him in April. He suggested that the revival of ICA Committee on Fisheries for Asia and the Pacific should be postponed until the ICFO revitalizes.
Nguyen Tien Quan, VCA representative said that ICFO has only 15 members from 13 countries and they are mainly from Asia and the Pacific region. It is better to keep focus on the ICFO activities. Of course, if the activities of ICA Committee on Fisheries for Asia and the Pacific are practical to its members, it is good idea to revive the Committee. However, the number of ICFO is small and it is assumed that the Committee’s activities are not helpful, the revival of the Committee should be postponed.
In this connection, Mr. B.K. Mishra, vice chairman of ICFO made two suggestions. Firstly, the revival of ICA Committee on Fisheries for Asia and the Pacific should be decided by ICA ROAP, not ICFO, because this idea was suggested by ICA ROAP. Secondly, ICA ROAP should fully fund the ICA Committee on Fisheries for Asia and the Pacific. If not, ICFO should propose that the Committee be postponed.
Mr. SATO also said that because the number of ICFO member is only 15 members from 13 countries, it is needed to increase the membership of ICFO. And activities of ICFO and the Committee could be duplicated. Hereby, first priority must be placed on increasing the membership. After that we can think of the revival of the Committee.
Consequently, it was agreed that ICFO members should focus on strengthening ICFO first, after that ICFO can think of the revival of ICA Committee on Fisheries for Asia and the Pacific.
3. Closing
Mr. Gabor Csoma, vice-chairman made a closing speech.
Note:
After the annual meetings of ICFO held on 2 September, 2010 a welcome dinner was held in the evening at Crown Plaza, Beijing. On the following day, 3 September, 2010, a study trip was made to visit Chaoyang Aquaculture Center and Longqingxia Lake.