Minutes of the IUMS General Assembly in San Francisco
Tuesday 26th July 2005, 11.30am -1.00pm. These minutes are being
adopted at the next General Assembly in Istanbul, August 2008.
For PDF version click here
1 Welcome: The President, J Davies, welcomed National
Delegates to the General Assembly.
2 Delegates: Representatives of the following
National Committees and Member Societies were present:
Argentina Australia Austria Belgium
Brazil Bulgaria Cameroon Canada
Chile China (Taiwan) Croatia Czechoslovakia
Finland France Germany Hungary
India Indonesia (proxy) Israel Japan
Nigeria Philippines (proxy) Poland Russia
Spain Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom
USA Vietnam International Organisation for Mycoplasma
The Secretary General explained the new voting procedures and the
number of votes to be cast under the statutes as had just been ratified
at the Extraordinary General Assembly held on 25th July, 2005 at
11.00 – 11.200am .
3 Minutes of the previous General Assembly, Paris, 2002
Copies of the previous minutes had been posted to all member and
associate societies in April, 2005 and had also been placed on the
IUMS website. These were adopted as correct.
4 Report of the President J Davies
The President reported that he felt the importance of the Strategic
Planning session held at his first EB meeting held in Washington
could not be overstated as it had led to a number of improvements
to the statutes of IUMS. He strongly recommended that, despite the
cost, future Executive Boards should hold follow-up Strategic Planning
sessions. He said objectives and progress need to be evaluated critically
on a regular basis if IUMS was to maintain a significant role in
the microbiological community. The President spoke of the need for
IUMS to keep abreast of various issues affecting member societies,
particularly at this time when the science of microbiology and the
policies governing it are in a state of flux. He said the President
must be in touch with member societies and admitted the he had not
been diligent in this area. The President spoke of the threat of
bio-terrorism in recent years which had raised issues of scientific
ethics. He said that IUMS must defend the rights of microbiologists
to be able to have free exchange of information and materials. The
President said the politicisation of microbiology would be a detriment
to all.
The President thanked those who had worked with him on the Board
and said it had been a privilege to serve as IUMS President.
The report was adopted.
5 Report of the Treasurer WA Hamilton
The Treasurer gave the following report which is reprinted in
full. At the previous meeting of the General Assembly at Paris in
July 2002, it was reported that the accumulated fund balance at
31st December 2001 stood at US $ 228,623.
This represented an improved financial position from earlier years
due, principally, to the contribution from the Sydney Congress in
1999, the increase in dues received from America after 2001, and
a more efficient collection of national dues in general.
The financial contribution from the Paris Congress was largely responsible
for a further increase in the balance to US $ 279,527 at 31st December
2002. This position has been maintained with the figures for 2003
& 2004 being, respectively, US $ 281,548 and US $ 294,203. During
this three year period, income from national dues have held steady
in the region
US $ 75,000 to 80,000. Total expenditure has also been relatively
constant, between US $ 85,000 and 95,000.
The major items of expenditure remain those associated with the
annual meeting of the Executive Board, and support for secretarial
and financial services throughout the year. With the support of
UNESCO (US $ 12,000 pa) and SGM (US $ 6,000 pa), the IUMS Fellowship
Program has been expanded in recent years such that it now awards
up to 7 Fellowships and 4 Travel Fellowships each year at a total
cost of US $ 36,000. A figure of the order of US $ 15,000 is also
expended in support of the work of the Pneumococcal Molecular Epidemiology
Network (PMEN), and a number of small specialised scientific meetings.
The accounts presented had been audited by Chantry Vellacott DFK.
The report was adopted.
6 Report of the Secretary General JS Mackenzie
The Secretary General commented that he thought the new statutes
would help ensure a more open and workable Executive Board. He reported
that there had been two important ICSU meetings in the past year;
one a meeting on Biosecurity, sponsored jointly by ICSU and the
US National Academy of Science was attended on behalf of IUMS by
Leda Mendonca from Rio de Janiero. The second to which IUMS was
invited to collaborate with ICSU to provide input on behalf of the
International Science Community into the Codes of Conduct for scientists
at the meeting of the States Parties to Biological Convention at
the United Nations. The latter was attended by G Cassell who was
there as both a representative of the US Government and IUMS.
The Secretary General also commented on the need to ensure that
as many member societies were represented at the General Assembly
and that National Committees were not disenfranchised because of
a lack of support for them financially.
The Secretary General raised the problem of the apparently increasing
distance from the Executive arm of IUMS and the COMCOFs which he
pointed out were the main working arm of IUMS.
On behalf of IUMS the Secretary General welcomed the Vietnamese
Society for Microbiology and the International Organisation of Mycoplasma
as full members and the Fijian Society for Microbiology and the
Barbados Society for Microbiology as Associate Members. He said
the admission of the International Mycoplasma Society as a full
member would require alterations to the statutes which the new Secretary
General would have to tackle. He thanked his colleagues on the Board
for the past 6 years.
The report was adopted.
7 Divisional Reports
Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology Division K H Schleifer
K Schleifer reported that BAM had provided some travel support for
scientists from developing countries to attend the International
Food Safety Conference in Spain in 2004. He said reports had been
received from four of the five BAM COMCOFs with Medical Microbiology
Interdisciplinary Committee (MEMIC) yet to report. The International
Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes (ICSP) is currently composed
of 105 society representatives from 69 countries. The ICSP Judicial
Commission and Bacteriologal Code had been represented at two meetings
of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility in Copenhargen.
It is planned to revise the Bacteriological Code and publish it
in both printed and on-line formats. All ICSP officers as well as
all taxonomic subcommittees and their members can be inspected at
the ICSP website (www.the-icsp.org). The International Commission
on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) held its 37th
General Conference in Hangzhou, China, from 11-18th October, 2004,
followed by a seminar in Beijing where the approaches to food safety
management and the microbial ecology of the food commodity groups
were presented and discussed. Updating and revising Book 6 on Microbial
Ecology has been finalized and will be published later this year.
ICMSF also continues to provide scientific advice to Codex Alimentarius
Committee on Food Hygiene. More about ICMSF can be found at its
website (www.ICMSF.org). The International Committee on Food Microbiology
and Hygiene (ICFMH) organized the 19th International Symposium “Food
Micro 2004” under the title “New tools for improving
microbial safety and quality” and the 20th International Symposium
on “Food safety and food biotechnology: diversity and global
impact’ is planned for Bologna in 2006. The ICFMH Working
Party on Quality Assurance and Quality Monitoring of Culture Media
published the second edition of Handbook of Culture Media for Food
Microbiology (edited by JEL Corry, GDW Curtis, and RM Baird) in
2003. The International Journal of Food Microbiology continues to
be the “flagship” of the ICFMH and it has gained increasing
international recognition, achieving an impact factor of 2.26 in
2003. Further information on the ICFMH can be found on the IUMS
website. The World Federation of Culture Collections (WFCC) recently
published a revised update on the European Biological Resource Centres
Network Information Resource on the International Regulations for
Packaging and Shipping Microorganisms on its website (www.wfcc.info/).
It has also published a report of the Committee on Postal, Quarantine
and Safety Regulations Activities, Developments and Concerns, on
its website, which provides valuable information on the transport
of microorganisms, biosecurity issues relevant to culture collections,
quarantine regulations, and outlines the plans and needs for future
attention. The WFCC continues to be a major resource for culture
collections and for aspects of microbial conservation and diversity.
The 10th International Congress for Culture Collections was held
in 2004 in Tsukuba, Japan.
The Chairman spoke of the long-term trend of rising submissions
and acceptances for the International Journal of Systematic and
Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM) and reported that the impact factor
had risen from 2.87 to 3.19 in 2003. He said the journal had made
an operating surplus and under the terms of the publishing agreement
5% of this is payable to BAM.
The report was adopted.
Mycology Division Report R Samson
The Chairman reported that the programme for the San Francisco Congress
had been prepared by G Fleet and J Taylor, together with the local
organising committee. He thanked them for their efforts.
He reported that from August of 2004 he had handled all the Mycology
Division’s financial matters and the nomination of new officers
due to the retirement of the Mycology Division’s secretary-treasurer.
The chairman presented reports on the Divisional COMCOFs.
International Commission on Antigens and Molecular Diagnostics.
International Commission on Yeasts (ICY);
International Commission on Food Mycology (ICFM);
International Commission on the Taxonomy of Fungi (ICTF);
International Commission on Penicillium and Aspergillus (ICPA);
International Commission on Indoor Fungi (ICIF); and
International Commission on Bionomenclature and Bioinformatics (ICBB).
The report was adopted.
Virology Division Report HD Klenk
The Chairman reported that the main activities for 2004 and had
been the continued planning for the San Francisco Congress with
a planned format similar to that held in Paris with the BAM and
Mycology Congresses being held simultaneously and bridging plenary
sessions for all three Divisions. HD Klenk reported that the Virology
COMCOF, the International Committee for the Taxonomy of Viruses
(ICTV), continues to meet annually for 3-4 days to review and discuss
taxonomical proposals generated throughout the preceding year. The
Eight Report of ICTV had recently been completed and was the definitive
authority on virus taxonomy and nomenclature and currently lists
more then 6000 viruses.
The Chairman reported that the activities of the Division continue
to be published regularly in the Virology Division News which appears
in Archives of Virology. He thanked M Mayo for his efforts as editor
and reminded people that the Virology Division News was also available
online at: http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/00705/index.htm.
HD Klenk said that the Division continued to operate on a tight
financial budget and reported that a detailed account of their current
financial position was included with the IUMS Treasurer’s
Report.
The report was adopted.
8 Report: UNESCO, IUMS, SGM Fellowships D Sordeli
D Sordelli tabled the list of successful applicants for the two
types of fellowships now offered by IUMS. The results of these are
tabled (for pdf click here).
The report was adopted
9 Report on the IUMS Awards F Tomita
F Tomita reported that the selection committees for IUMS Awards
chose the following recipients for the IUMS Awards, 2005
- The Stuart Mudd Award: Sir John J Skehel
- The Arima Award: Dr Arnold L Demain
- The Van Niel Award It was reported that to date no decision
had been finalized on
this award
F Tomita congratulated both awardees on behalf of IUMS.
10 Code of Ethics G Cassell
G Cassell spoke of her attendance at the recent meeting of the States
Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention at the United Nations
in June, 2005. She stated that she believed that IUMS had an obligation
to ensure that all of its Member Societies are encouraged to adopt
a suitable Code of Ethics. She said the IUMS Board proposed the
following Code should be sent out to all Member Societies as a guide
for developing their own code, and also that the new Committee on
Public Policy should be carry out a survey of all Member Societies
to gain information on how many actually had Codes in place.
She proposed that the following paragraph should be adopted as the
IUMS Code of Ethics for the Prevention of the Misuse of Scientific
Knowledge, Research and Resources:
There has always been the potential for dual application of scientific
knowledge for beneficial or malicious purpose. However, current
societal and geopolitical changes have increased the risk of the
misuse of this knowledge. The IUMS reaffirms its major goal is to
promote research and the open exchange of scientific information
for advancement of the health and welfare of humankind and the environment
and strongly discourages any uses of knowledge and resources to
the contrary. In particular, the IUMS strives to promote ethical
conduct of research and training in the areas of biosecurity and
biosafety so as to prevent use of microorganisms as biological weapons
and therefore to protect the public’s health and to promote
world peace.
The Assembly endorsed this Code and ratified the proposal that all
members, if they do not currently have a Code of Ethics, be encouraged
to adopt the above.
12 Report of the Nomination Committee for the new Executive
Board
The Chairperson (J Davies) presented the report: The nominations
for the IUMS Executive Board were presented and voting took place
for the positions of President Elect and Members-at-large. The other
members of the EB were elected unopposed.
The new IUMS Executive Board:
- President: Karl Schleifer (Germany)
- President Elect: Daniel Sordelli (Argintina)
- Immediate Past President: Julian Davies (Canada/Wales)
- Vice President: Keith Klugman (USA)
- Vice President: Joan Bennett (USA)
- Secretary General Rob Samson (The Netherlands)
- Treasurer: Heinz Zeichhardt (Germany)
- Members-at-large Katherine Smart (UK)
- Members-at-large M Mitsuyama (Japan)
13 Announcement of the IUMS Congress Site – 2011
The President announced that the Executive Board had selected Sapporo,
Japan for the Congress site for the IUMS Congresses, 2011. The Congresses
are to be held over 2 weeks with a similar format to that in Sydney
and Turkey.
14 Any Other Business
There was no other business
15 Executive Board Handover Meeting
New Executive Board Members were invited to attend the Handover
Meeting on Thursday 28th July, 2005 from 12.30 – 1.30pm.
The meeting closed at 1.00pm
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