Articles of Association

(VERSION APPROVED BY WORLD ANGUS SECRETARIAT MEETING, 1ST JULY 2021)

Articles of Association of The World Angus Secretariat

1. The name of the organization will be “The World Angus Secretariat” hereinafter referred to as the “The Secretariat”.
2. The Registered Office of the Secretariat will be situated in country where the Secretariat (corporate body) is registered. The administrative offices of the Secretariat will be in the country of the Secretary that is appointed from time to time.
3. The Objects for which the Secretariat is established are:
   • To maintain unimpaired the purity of the breed of cattle known as Aberdeen-Angus or in certain cases Angus, and to promote the breeding of these cattle.
   • To collect, verify, preserve, and publish the useful information relating to this breed of cattle.
   • To establish protocols for the exchange of information relating to this breed of cattle between Secretariat members.
   • To encourage and promote the establishment of Youth Development Programs commensurate with members’ requirements.
   • To make By-laws for conducting the business, and regulating the proceedings of the Secretariat, and to enforce the same by such means as agreed by the members at a General Meeting of the Secretariat.

MEMBERS

4. Membership of the Secretariat shall be open to any formally constituted body recognized as representing the interests of Aberdeen-Angus breeders in the country so represented.
5. Applications for membership shall be made in writing to the Secretary General of the Secretariat. Applications so received shall be laid before the Secretariat as soon as practicable after receipt, and if accepted, the name of the applicant shall be entered forthwith in the Register of Members.
6. Members of the Secretariat shall pay to the Secretariat a prescribed annual subscription of membership fee. The amount of the said subscription shall be determined by the Secretariat at a General Meeting.
7. Such subscription shall become due on the 1st day of January in each year. A member whose annual subscription shall remain unpaid on the 1st of December in the year which it falls due shall cease to be a member.
8. The rights and privileges of membership of the Secretariat shall not be transferable or transmissible by act of the member or by operation of law.
9. Any member who fails to observe and implement a By-law made by the Secretariat, or whose conduct in any respect shall be derogatory of the character or prejudicial to the interests of the Secretariat, may be removed from the Secretariat.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

10. The Chairman of meetings of the Secretariat shall be a nominee of the Secretariat Member who is hosting the meeting.
11. The Secretary of meetings of the Secretariat shall be Secretary General, assisted by the Chief Executive or equivalent of the Member that is hosting the Secretariat meeting.
12. The post of Chairman shall be transferred immediately following the decision of the Secretariat to award the hosting of the next Secretariat meeting to a member of the Secretariat.
13. The post of the assistant to the Secretary General shall be similarly transferred but will be delayed for such reasonable time as to allow the distribution of the minutes of the previous Secretariat meeting.

MEETINGS

14. General Meetings of the Secretariat shall be held every two years at such a time and place as decided by the Secretariat.
15. Each member shall nominate two delegates and one observer to attend such meetings. Members may nominate an additional observer who will be an active participant and ambassador of that Member’s Youth Development Programme or equivalent at that time.
16. The Chairman of the Biennial General Meeting of the Secretariat will be the nominee of the country that is hosting the said Biennial General Meeting.
17. Not less than 21 days before each Biennial General Meeting or other General meeting as required in accordance with directives issued by the Secretariat, members shall not be sent a notice convening the meeting and specifying the place and time thereof. Along with such notice shall be sent to each member a note of the business to be transacted at the biennial General Meeting, a report by the Secretary General of the activities of the Secretariat during the previous two years, a copy of the Income and Expenditure Account and Balance sheet for the previous two years, and a copy of the Minutes of all General Meetings of the Secretariat held since the last Biennial General Meeting.
18. No business shall be transacted at any General Meeting of the Secretariat unless a quorum of members is represented in person or by proxy at the time when the meeting proceeds to business, where 60% of the members shall be deemed to be a quorum.

VOTING

19. At any General Meeting of the Secretariat every member shall have one vote. A member may vote by proxy if its authorized representative has provided a physically or electronically signed statement or form appointing as its proxy for purposes of voting at the General Meeting a specific member whose representative(s) is or are personally attending the General Meeting. In such case the vote of the designated proxy shall be counted as the vote of the member who signed the appointment.
20. Unless otherwise by law provided all business of the Secretariat shall be determined by the vote of the majority of the members present in person or by proxy, the Chairman of the meeting to have a second or casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.

ACCOUNTS

21. The Secretariat shall cause proper books of account to be kept with respect to:
    • All sums of money received and expended by the Secretariat and the matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place
    • The Assets and liabilities of the Secretariat.

SECRETARY GENERAL

22. The Secretariat will appoint a Secretary General every four years at the Forum Secretariat Meeting and any one person elected to this role will be limited to 2 x four-year terms.
    • The Secretary General will work with Secretariat hosting nations – both Forum and Technical Meeting hosts – to stage the Secretariat meeting in a consistent and professional manner.
    • The Secretary General will work with member countries to provide agenda items and relevant papers commencing nine months prior to the WAF/WAS event, finalising presentation papers six months prior to the Secretariat and finalising and distributing the Agenda three months prior to allow countries to canvas positions and contribute in advance. This will ensure that host countries make appropriate provision for simultaneous translation for Spanish and German at Secretariat meetings.
    • The Secretary General will provide communication to member countries on a regular basis and will collate relevant information from member offices to be distributed to other members through various means including email, Dropbox and social media. They will act as the official World Angus Secretariat contact for each member country.
    • The Secretary General will follow up on motions or policy decided by the Secretariat and act as a catalyst to ensure that members meet deadlines as agreed by the Secretariat.
    • The Secretary General will be responsible for monitoring member countries commitment to the Articles of the World Angus Secretariat. This includes, but is not limited to, maintaining the breed’s purity, updates regarding parentage and genetic testing standards and sharing protocols for import/export of live and frozen genetics between member countries.
    • The Secretary General will act as the Recording Secretary at meetings of the Secretariat. As such the Secretary General will work closely with member countries that are hosting World Angus Forum and World Angus Secretariat events, the Chairman of which will become the World Angus Secretariat Chair at the close of the event prior to theirs.
    • The Secretary General will act as a global ambassador for the Angus breed.