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 feasible, 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 Treasurer shall supervise the preparation of the accounts of the IFFS for presentation to the General Assembly. The Auditing Sub-Committee shall appoint Auditors to audit the financial affairs 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 Board of Directors. This Committee will serve for a period of six years.

The Treasurer shall ensure that relevant documents are made available for the preparation of the accounts and external audit reports within the required timeframes.

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 the 1st January to 31st December.

5 - World Congresses of the Federation (IFFS)

5.1. Organization of the World Congresses

a. The Board of Directors will supervise the organization of the congress through delegated
    authority to a congress secretariat which it will appoint and to the scientific committee
    appointed according to the IFFS constitution.

b. They shall have at their disposal:  

1 - A National/Local Organizing Committee, headed by the President of the forthcoming
     World Congress.

2 - The Auditing Sub-Committee

c. The Scientific Program shall be the responsibility of the Scientific Program
    Committee (see By-Law No. 6).

5.2 Auditing of the accounts of the World Congress

a. The Board of Directors shall be responsible for ensuring that the accounts of the World
    Congress are audited by an appropriately licensed accountant.
 
b. The Auditing Sub-Committee shall present a written report on the professionally audited
    accounts of the immediate past World Congress to the Board of Directors within a year
    from the closing of that World Congress.

5.3 Bidding for hosting a future World Congress

The IFFS, through its Secretariat, will organize the World Congress from 2016. The scientific program will be developed by the IFFS Scientific Committee. The member society chosen to co-host the congress will have primary responsibility for advising on the local setting, organizing the social program and contributing to the Scientific Committee.  

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 Board of Directors, not less than 6.5
    years before the suggested World Congress. Bids should not incur significant costs to the
    member society proposing to host the World Congress.

c. The Board of Directors will consider bids and in so doing make relevant enquiries, carry
    out, if necessary, site visits and consult with relevant expertise. After due consideration,
    the Board of Directors will make a recommendation for the host member society to the
    General Assembly. The General Assembly will be asked to ratify the recommendation.
 

    The national society whose bid is to be recommended to the General Assembly will be
    notified three months in advance of the General Assembly meeting and may be invited to
    make a short presentation to the General Assembly.

6 - Scientific Program Committee

Members of the Scientific Program Committee shall be proposed by the Nominating Committee (Article 11 e. and f.) and be elected by the General Assembly. The Scientific Program 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. and f.).

The Chairman of the Scientific Program Committee shall be elected by the General Assembly on advice from the Nominating Committee.

The Scientific Program Committee shall prepare the scientific program of the forthcoming Congress in accordance with any directions received from the General Assembly and the Board of Directors.

7 - Ethical Guidelines

Ethical guidelines for the relationship between the Federation and Related Industry shall be prepared by the Board of Directors. 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 an “Honorary Member of the International Federation of the Fertility Societies” by the Board of Directors on advice from the Executive Committee. Nominations may be submitted to the Secretary General up to 20 months before the World Congress where the honor is to be conferred. The decision is to be made no later than one year preceding the congress. Honorary membership will be managed in accordance with the relevant policy.

9 - Amendments to the Constitution and By-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 Board of Directors

During a World Congress of the Federation the election of officers and members of the Board of Directors shall take place at the last session of that General Assembly. The former officers and members of the Board of Directors will remain in office until the closure of the current Congress. After closure, the new Board of Directors 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), a substitute shall be chosen by the Board of Directors from among the ordinary members of the Board of Directors. The substitute shall remain in office until the next relevant meeting of the General Assembly. The member society whose personal representative on the Board may have been elected to become an officer, must immediately appoint a substitute representative who shall fill the vacancy on the Board 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 authorization of their right to vote.

The Officers of the Federation cannot be national delegates to the General Assembly.