By-laws

1 - Withdrawal of Membership
Pursuant to Article 6a, notice of withdrawal of membership of the Federation shall be given to the Secretary General at least six months before the forthcoming General Assembly. Withdrawal shall become effective only from the date of the General Assembly when the matter is decided. Contributions up to that date shall be paid.

2 - Loss of Membership
Pursuant to Article 6b, loss of membership by default in the payment of contributions will be determined when arrears of the contributions are outstanding three full years after the first notice has been received from the Treasurer.

3 - Annual Dues and Votes
Annual Dues:
The member societies shall pay an annual subscription related to the number of members they represent up to a maximum amount that shall be set by the General Assembly.
In accordance with instructions given by the Treasurer, the dues shall be paid to the Federation no later than July 1st in each current year.
If the transfer of foreign currency is not feasable, the annual dues may be deposited in an official bank in the national currency of the member Society's country. Such monies must be accessible to the Federation.
Votes:
For each country, the secretariat will calculate two criteria :
- The total individual membership of the country : combining nominative lists of membership of all affiliated societies from a same country (based on the latest lists received at the secretariat, as long as they are not older than three years of age). The calculation will be made six months before the General Assembly. A society not contributing a membership list would be excluded from the calculation of votes.
- The contribution of each society to the total individual membership of the country.

4 - Auditing Body
The General Assembly shall appoint an accountant to audit the accounts of the Federation.
Furthermore, the General Assembly shall appoint an Auditing Sub-Committee consisting of three members, none of whom shall be an executive officer, or a member of the Executive Committee. This Committee will serve for a period of 3 years between conferences and remain in office to oversee the auditing of the World Congress accounts subsequent to the one at which they were elected (Bye-Law No. 5.2.b).
The Treasurer shall ensure that relevant documents necessary for the proper auditing of the accounts are made available to the authorised auditor no later than six months before the 1st General Assembly. The audited report shall be made available to the appointed Auditing Sub-Committee not less than four months prior to the opening of the 1st General Assembly.
The appointed auditing sub-committee shall present a written report to the General Assembly on their findings and recommendations.
The financial year shall run from 1st Jan. - 31st December.

5 - World Congresses of the Federation (IFFS)
5.1. Organisation of the World Congresses
a. These shall be organised by the Executive Committee in association with the President of the immediate forthcoming World Congress.
b. They shall have at their disposal :
1 - A National/Local Organising Committee, headed by the President of the forthcoming World Congress.
2 - The Auditing Sub-Committee
c. The scientific programme shall be the responsability of the Scientific Programme Committee (see Bye-Law No. 5.4.)
5.2 Auditing of the accounts of the World Congress
a. The Local Organising Committee shall be responsible to ensure that the accounts of the World Congress are audited by the authorised accountant.
b. The Auditing Sub-Committee shall present a written report on the professionally audited accounts of the immediate past World Congress to the Executive Committee within a year from the closing of that World Congress.
5.3 Bidding for hosting a future World Congress
a. Notification of the bids shall be sent to member societies together with the agenda for the General Assembly.
b. Bids for hosting a future World Congress should be submitted to the Secretary General in accordance with the guidelines approved by the Executive Committee, not less than 6.5 years before the suggested World Congress.
c. The Executive Committee will select up to three proposers to present their bids at the first General Assembly of the relevant World Congress.
d. The decision as to which member society shall be responsible for the arrangements of the World Congress to be held six years hence shall be made at the second General Assembly of the relevant World congress.

6 - Scientific Programme Committee
Members of the Scientific Programme Committee shall be proposed by the Nominating Committee (Article 11 e. f.) and be elected by the General Assembly. The Scientific Programme Committee shall consist of eleven voting members among whom shall be:
- the outgoing President of the IFFS
- the President elect of the IFFS
- the President of the previous World Congress
- the President of the immediate forthcoming World Congress
and - ex-officio - the Secretary General of the IFFS
together with six representatives of various member societies elected by the General Assembly (Article 11 e.f.).
The Chairman of the Scientific Programme Committee shall be elected by the General Assembly on advice from the Nominating Committee.
The Scientific Programme Committee shall prepare the scientific programme of the forthcoming Congress in accordance with any directions received from the General Assembly and the Executive Committee.

7 - Ethical Guidelines
Ethical guidelines for the relationship between the Federation and Related Industry shall be prepared by the Executive Committee. An updated version shall always be available at the office of the Secretary General.

8 - Honorary Membership
Individuals of outstanding merit may be elected as <<Honorary Member of the International Federation of the Fertility Societies>> by the General Assembly on advice from the Executive Committee. Proposals for candidature of Honorary Membership may be forwarded in writing, including adequate documentation to the Secretary General at least 18 months before the General Assembly at which a decision may be taken.

9 - Amendments to the Constitution and Bye-Laws of IFFS
Pursuant to Article 16, it is hereby laid down that, in the event of a quorum not being reached in the General Assembly at which an amendment to the Constitution is being proposed the time limit within which the General Assembly shall be reconvened shall be a minimum of one year.

10 - Dissolution of the Federation
Pursuant to Article 18, it is hereby laid down that, in the event of a quorum not being reached in the General Assembly at which dissolution of the Federation is being proposed the time limit within which the General Assembly shall be reconvened shall be a minimum of one year.

11 - Transitional Duties of the Executive Committee
During a World Congress of the Federation the election of officers and members of the Executive Committee shall take place at the last session of that General Assembly. The former officers and members of the Executive Committee will remain in office until the closure of the current Congress. After closure, the new Executive Committee shall meet. The agenda for this meeting shall be prepared by mutual agreement between the retiring and incoming Presidents of the Federation.

12 - Substitution of Officers
During an on-going term of office, if a vacancy occurs among Officers, except the President (Article 12 b), during an ongoing term of office, a substitute shall be chosen by the Executive Committee from among the ordinary members of the Executive Committee. The substitute shall remain in office until the next relevant meeting of the General Assembly. The member society whose personal representative on the Committee may have been elected to become an officer, must immediately appoint a substitute representative who shall fill the vacancy on the Committee until the next meeting of the General Assembly.

13 - Representatives of member societies at the General Assembly
Member societies shall inform the Secretary General prior to the General Assembly of the composition of their delegation and where possible, the names of alternates.
Delegates to the General Assembly shall bring to the meeting written authorisation of their right to vote.
The Officers of the Federation cannot be national delegates to the General Assembly.