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The President, Mr M Folachier called the meeting to order at 09:45 hrs. Attendees: Attending: Mr M Folachier (President), Mr E L Hurlow (Vice-President), Prof J Cot, Mrs K Streit, Dr M Meyer, Mrs P Casey de Polzinetti, Dr C T Page, Dr X Marginet, Dr S Rajamani, Dr V Candar, and Mr J M V Williams (Secretary/Treasurer). 1. Apologies for absence: 2. Minutes of the Executive Committee meeting
of 20 June 2007 in Washington, USA: 3. Matters arising from the minutes: Dr Marginet referred to paragraph 5 on page 5 of the minutes and the sentence in the President's report, as follows: ""As Campbell expressed it very well - “What is needed are WG Chairpersons who are technically competent in the area of the WG and with sufficient ability to understand and communicate in English.”" Dr Marginet was concerned that perfect English was
a prerequisite for the post of Commission Chair. The meeting emphasised
very strongly to Dr Marginet that he had been elected as IUC Chair
purely on his capabilities and technical merits and that his English
was not in question. The emphasis of the sentence quoted is on the
words "technically competent" and the reference to the English
language was simply that 4. President's Report: It could be a repetition but I would like to sincerely thank John again for the huge amount of work he has done at the service of the Union. I will always remember the number and the precision of the emails he sent to me, everything was always prepared and done. I am really convinced that the IULTCS is a wonderful tool at the service of the Leather Industry, and that its original position permits to take a lot of initiatives to facilitate communication and common work of all the factions of the Leather World. The IULTCS should be considered by its Officers as a company. We should define and revise our strategy, we should communicate it and apply it in the facts through the events we organise and the liaisons we establish. I think that we should now keep up regular contacts
with the professional organisations and the professional press to
sustain the image and the role of the Union in the Leather World. I asked John to add to this message the various documents and speeches I prepared around the International Leather Forum. They summarise the ideas I brought to the Executive Committee and that I transmit with pleasure to the new team as something like a “professional legacy”. (See: ANNEX 1) It was an honour to be elected by this executive committee and to chair this wonderful Union during these two years. I hope I did my job properly and I was particularly happy to transmit to Elton the President’s Medal yesterday at the conclusion of the ILF meeting. As already said in Washington I am sure that he will constitute with Campbell a fantastic team to sustain the fame of the Union. 5. Secretary/Treasurers Report a). Additional items for the agenda The Secretary referred to the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting held on 10 March 2005 in Florence, Italy. In his report, the then President, Prof Jaume Cot, confirmed that an agreement had been reached that the next XVII Latin-American Conference in Brazil would take place under the auspices of the IULTCS and that they would pay 10% of the registration fees to IULTCS. However, the FLAQTIC Organising Committee was currently quoting USD 300 as the registration fee which, at 10%, would still mean USD 30 payable to IULTCS. Mrs Katia Streit explained that this registration fee was not yet fixed as it was subject to further sponsorship being obtained. So far they had 8 sponsors but the aim was for 12. If 12 sponsors could be achieved then the registration fee would be reduced considerably. If this was the case then the 10% agreement with the IULTCS could still be applied. It was agreed to ask FLAQTIC/ABQTIC to work on the basis of 10% payable to IULTCS, but to keep us advised of the progress so that the situation can be reviewed if necessary. The Congress Guidelines would remain unaltered, stating that the fee would be USD 30. However, it is made clear in the IULTCS Internal Regulations in Article 20 - Conferences - that "Under special circumstances an alternative premium amount may be negotiated with the IULTCS Executive". It was felt that this gave the option for any such request to be debated on its merit rather than putting a fixed amount in the Internal Regulations or Congress Guidelines. It was confirmed that the official language for the conference would be Portuguese and Spanish. Papers submitted in English for consideration may be accepted if the author can find someone to present it in Portuguese or Spanish for them. The Executive Committee emphasised strongly that it was essential that the Conference organisers supplied an English translation service via headphones as well or else this would greatly limit the number of non Latin-American visitors. It is the intention of some of the IULTCS officers to attend but they will not do so if there is no English translation available. The high cost of the hotels was also raised but Mrs Streit confirmed that these also would be lowered if the extra Sponsors were found. Some of the sponsorship money would be used to cover the part of the hotel costs.
IULTCS BUDGETS 2006 and 2007
The figures in Italics are estimated figures for the actual expenditure in 2007. • INCOME Subscriptions Advertising • EXPENSES Secretary Travel IULTCS Award We anticipate an excess of income over expenditure during 2007, mainly due to the cancellation of the visit by the Secretary to the Washington Congress. With the requirement for increased travel by the
Secretariat we still need to secure more income in one form or another.
Any other forms of income should also be considered. Although our
assets are good, we should really try to live within our income each
year.
The current account, even after the remaining Secretary expenses and Honoraria are paid, is quite high and the new Secretary may wish to consider transferring some money into the UBS Savings A/c. However, it may be as well to wait until all the monies have been transferred to the new account being set up by the new Secretary as from 01.01 08 so that any transfer charges can be taken into consideration. We continue to keep the IULTCS website up to date, but if there are any errors or alterations that need to be made, please let us know. b). Amendments to the Congress Guidelines. There was further discussions on the amendment concerning Visual Display which was passed at the Executive Committee meeting on 20 June 2007 in Washington, USA, but which was not fully incorporated into the revised Congress Guidelines being proposed. The cost of providing stands described in the amendment of 20 June would be prohibitive and there were also questions raised over the practicality of allowing a few minutes presentation for each of the Visual Displays. Time constraints would not have allowed this, for example, at the Washington Congress due to the large number of Visual Displays. It was agreed that the proposed revised Congress Guidelines should be accepted for the time being but that further discussions on the need to ensure that authors felt that Visual Displays were as important as Oral presentations and how to achieve that aim. The amendment passed on 20 June would be available as a source of reference should any future Congress Organising committee decide to offer display booths. For reference purposes this amendment is displayed in the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting of 20 June 2007 in Annex 1. c). Retirement of Secretary It has been a pleasure to serve as Secretary/Treasurer of the IULTCS for the last 5 years and as Northern European Representative and IUP Commission Chair for the previous 6 years. I take some satisfaction for having steered 44 new or revised IUP methods through the various committees to acceptance as full standards by the IULTCS, CEN and ISO. At the beginning of my tenancy as Secretary/Treasurer there was no clear idea of who were members and who were not, and the previous audit had shown successive losses for the past two years. Dissemination of minutes of the Executive Committee, Council of Delegates and the IU Commission meetings was spasmodic to say the least. The website was sorely in need of modernising and updating and the Statutes, Internal Regulations and Congress Guidelines, although in the process of revision, needed a co-ordinated effort to bring up to date. As I retire from the IULTC, it is pleasing to note that we now have a clear record of the membership, the accounts are sound and in profit, communications are now such that all Members, Associated members and Executive Committee members receive copies of all minutes of Executive Committee and Council of Delegates meetings. The website is vastly improved and is kept up to date with access for anyone to all our records, including minutes of the meetings of the various Commissions and with up to date versions of the Statutes, Internal Regulations and Congress Guidelines. I am indebted for all the help and support of the members of the Executive Committee, Commissions and to individuals from the Member Associations who have contributed so much to the improved success of the IULTCS. I wish all members of the IULTCS and the new officers every possible success in the continued good fortunes of the IULTCS. It is an organisation of which I am sure you are all justly very proud. 6. IULTCS Commission Reports: a) IUT Commission b) IUR Commission The draft regulations would then be circulated to
all existing members of the IUR for correction and amendment. The
final regulations would then be sent to all IULTCS Members and to
R & D houses around the world asking them to join the Research
Network. The Secretary agreed to contact all Members and the remainder of the Executive Committee to remind them that all IULTCS Commissions have an "open door" policy and would welcome anyone who has something to contribute to join the work of the Commissions. 7. Any Other Business b). Election of next Vice-President c). Retirement of the Immediate Past President d). Retirement of President and Secretary/Treasurer 8. Date and Location of next Executive Committee
Meeting
ANNEX 1 INTERNATIONAL LEATHER FORUM - 16/17 SEPTEMBER 2007 PLAIS BRONGNAIRT, PLACE DE LA BOURSE, 75002 PARIS, FRANCE Agenda Sunday 16 September - Welcome Cocktail Party - 7:30 pm Monday 17 September 9:00 am Welcome to Delegates 9:30 am Opening of the ILF 9:45 - 11:15 am First Round Table - Chair: Prof Geoff
Attenburrow. (IUT Chair) 11:15 - 12:45 am Second Round Table - Chair: Dr Volkan
Candar. (IUR Chair) 12:45 - 2:30 pm Lunch 2:30 - 4:00 pm Third Round Table - Chair: Jean-Pierre
Gualino (ATC, France) 4:00 - 5:30 pm Fourth Round Table - Chair: Estelle
Chaubell (La Vie en Rose, France) 16 September 2007 Welcome speech by IULTCS President, Mr Marc Folachier: Mister Presidents, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great honour and a real pleasure to welcome you all here in Paris. On behalf of the Executive committee of the IULTCS and of the steering committee of the ILF, I would like to thank you for your positive answer to our invitation. I would like also to apologise for all of those who are not here tonight. It was really a difficult exercise to identify and select only 100 VIPs among all the actors of the Leather World and the professions that appear on the ILF scheme. Be proud to be here, but let us spare a thought for all those who are missing. I do hope that the International Leather Forum will answer your expectations and that you will make a success of it. You know that to counterbalance the e-world we are living in, I like to promote this kind of meetings during which on and off stage conversations are of incredible richness. On behalf of the EC of the IULTCS, I would like to express our thanks to the three sponsors: CNC, CIDIC and CTC who permit us to organise this Forum. Tomorrow will be the right time for more formal speeches, tonight I would like very simply to let you exchange and enjoy your evening. Thank you for your attention. 17 September 2007 OPENING OF INTERNATIONAL LEATHER FORUM Introduction in the Brochure given to Delegates, by the President of IULTCS, Mr Marc Folachier: The future of the Leather Industry is strongly depending on the will of all its members to apply the right strategy so as to bring an answer to the present and future market needs, within the framework of the sustainable development. The IULTCS wants to become in a sense a kind of “Think Tank” for the benefit of the Industry. The International Leather Forum is the kick-off meeting of this new activity decided and defined by the Executive Committee of the Union last year. The quality of the invited people is a guarantee of the contributions which I am sure will be made during the four items which we proposed for discussion. The success of the ILF will be yours and I hope for the start of a new era of Cupertino within the limits of the rules of competition. I would like to thank you for your positive answer to our invitation, and I hope you enjoy this event in both human and professional aspects. I would like to extend my thanks to the Professional Press which supported us during the preparation of the ILF and who, I do not doubt, will know how to value the quality of the debates, in which their representatives are also invited to take part. Finally allow me to thank the steering committee and also indeed the Sponsors without whom nothing would have been possible. Welcome Speech by the Secretary of IULTCS, Mr John Williams: Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen When you received your invitations to the International Leather Forum some of you may have wondered, who or what is the IULTCS? A short history of the International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies, or IULTCS, is in the papers you have been given today so I will not go into the historical details now. Suffice to say that the IULTCS is a UNION of National Associations from many different countries that represent Leather technologists and chemists from 20 Countries, representing some 5/6,000 members. One of the main functions of the IULTCS is to bring together eminent scientists, tanners and technologists once every two years for an International Congress in different countries of the world. During these Congresses papers are presented covering a whole range of leather related matters from innovations in the pure science of the raw material, collagen, through the latest developments in tanning processes and then on to aspect of the finishing of leather. We also spend considerable time on environmental issues. Developments in process machinery and the problems of waste treatment and disposal are also covered. Over usually a four day period there can be as many as 40 oral presentations as well as many visual poster displays and it gives the Delegates an unequalled opportunity to see the latest developments and to have open discussion on all leather related matters. The IULTCS Congresses, often attended by 200 to 300 delegates from all over the world, are recognised as being the major forum for scientific debate for the leather industry world wide. In the intervening years we also hold Regional Conferences using the same format as the Congresses. For example, we held a very successful Mediterranean Conference in Turkey in 2006 and Brazil will be hosting a Latin-American Conference in 2008. Our most recent International Congress was in Washington DC earlier this year and plans are already well advanced for our next Congress in 2009 in Beijing This will be followed by Congresses in Spain in 2011 and Turkey in 2013. Another even more important benefit, is that the IULTCS, through the IULTCS Testing Commissions, provides PROTECTION for the leather tanning industry worldwide by the provision of properly formulated test methods that are totally relevant to leather manufacture and leather usage. Without the work of the IU Commissions which develop these test methods, the leather industry would be open to inappropriate test methods devised by outside agencies or manufacturers trying to force performance standards on leather that bear no relationship to the reality of working with leather. Equally, the European Committee for Standardisation (Comite Europeen de Normalisation - CEN) has adopted many of the IU methods by parallel agreement with ISO. These CEN test methods are mandatory in EU member countries and replace National Standards such as BSI and DIN. We now have some 12 Chemical test, 40 Physical and 15 Fastness tests that have all been accepted as standards by both CEN and ISO and we have more test methods currently being assessed in all three categories. Consequently, the work of the IU Commissions has led to leather test methods that are now adopted as International, European and National Standards. End users of leather are continually being persuaded that only official leather test methods (EN/ISO/IU) can be used to judge the standards, characteristics and performance of leather. We have an Environmental Commission which meets every year in one of the member countries and interacts on the environmental issues and technological solutions to tackle the pollution problems in the leather sector. The technical guidelines prepared for environmental protection aspects for the leather industry are based on the field requirements and experiences in different countries and are being regularly updated. These recommendations are available to see on our website and are currently being used by UNIDO and are translated into other languages for dissemination through country Associations We have recently instituted two new Commissions. One is to co-ordinate and disseminate Research work around the world and the other is to link the various training establishments worldwide. The purpose is to develop a co-ordinated approach to the requirements of the customers of the leather industry. You will hear more of these two Commissions and their work during the round table discussions today. We in the IULTCS believe that as a non political scientific learned Society, we are in a unique position to try to co-ordinate the various faction of the leather industry and to provide a voice for the industry. To this end we are aiming to strengthen ties with other organisations such as the Hide suppliers, the Tanners association and other more political bodies. We hope that we can present a unified voice to the world to promote the extra special qualities of leather and to promote continued development and innovation. It is against this background that the initiative by our President, Mr Marc Folachier to institute this International Leather Forum deserves the maximum support. We hope that you will participate fully in the round table discussions and that at the end of this Forum you will gain some further insight into leather developments. Thank you. Welcome Speech by the President of IULTCS, Mr Marc Folachier: Mister Presidents, Ladies and Gentlemen, John Williams our Secretary and treasurer, who is doing a wonderful job at the service of the Union, summarised the historical contribution of the IULTCS to the Leather Industry. The IULTCS new strategy is to use its original position of “learned society”, commercially and politically neutral, to be the catalyst for a collective reflection of the future of the Leather Industry. This Forum today is the kick-off meeting of the policy that consists of a closer working relationship between the industry and its professional organisations. Working together, the legitimacy and authority of each individual organisation enhances the legitimacy and authority of the other and the IULTCS is fully complementary of the “Professional Political Power”. Sixteen months ago in Istanbul, the EC of the IULTCS defined the concept and the content of the International Leather Forum. The idea was based on the conviction that as small industrial sector, we have to rely only on ourselves. Even if everybody is involved in a big world competition there is a need for co-operation, and I want to repeat that there are times and places to compete and times and places to co-operate. We are convinced that the IULTCS events and commissions are the right tools to do that. Reflecting on the order of the round table and bearing in mind the strategic methodology, I now think that we should have started with the marketing round table because everything starts with the clients needs. We will speak about marketing only this afternoon and this small planning mistake leaves us a progression margin for the eventual next session of the ILF. I have thought for a very long time that information is a strategic raw material for all companies. With the EC of the IULTCS we decided to create some world databases and in the future to put them on line on the IULTCS web site. I do not want to anticipate on the content or outcome of the round table discussions but I would like to mention that in the files we distributed to you, you will find some drafts of what could be these world data bases. As with any draft they are not complete and probably contain some mistakes. We need you all to help us to put accurate files at the disposal of the Leather Industry. Before giving the floor to Elton and Volkan for the first round table on Human Resources, I would like to thank again our sponsors who permit us to create the appropriate conditions for enriching debates and among the attendance I would like to express particular thanks to the representatives of the Big Brands who make the Forum very attractive for the Leather World. On a practical point of view, I thank you for switching on your mobiles only after the end of the debates and I would ask also all the colleagues whose mother language is English to think to the poor other attendees who are not that fluent. Introduction to Training Round Table by the Vice-President of the IULTCS, Mr Elton Hurlow: Without the human resource, there would not be business enterprise. Furthermore, any business that relies on technology as a core input cannot compete successfully without a human resource that is well trained and skilled in the theory and practice of their craft. Now leather manufacture has at times been called a science, it has also been called an art. I do not want to enter into this debate other than to say that some of the world’s greatest art leans heavily on science. In the making of quality leather, creativity is important to develop new types of leather, but technology is at the core of the manufacturing process and it takes a significant amount of training, learning and practice to master the leather making process. So, what should today’s educators be teaching tomorrow’s industry professional? Is it just basic leather technology - or do they also need exposure to chemistry, physics, mathematics, biotechnology, business administration, management theory, design, language? These disciplines also intrude on the daily life of a professional in the tannery. And what of the other industries that make-up the leather value chain – what are the needs of the chemical suppliers, the machinery manufacturer’s, the brand fabricators, and retail professionals? What type of training, what level of training? How is that training best conducted? Is there benefit to global coordination of training? Where are tomorrows professionals most needed? And with a mature industry in a rapidly changing world, how do we attract the right talent to enter the industry? We will not answer all these questions today, but this first round table session should serve as a kick-off meeting to initiate dialogue and an interchange of ideas on future human resource needs for our industry. It is therefore with great pleasure that I introduce our Chair for the session who will lead us through this discussion, Professor Geoff Attenburrow. Introduction to the Research Round Table by the President of IULTCS, Mr Marc Folachier: There are several ways to look at the research activity and innovation in the leather industry. From the presentation of Volkan Candar who chairs the Research Commission of the Union, you will see that the research activity was and is quite intense. Exploiting this database, Senior Managers or Technical Directors of tanneries could find some ideas to solve industrial issues or develop new products. But, on the other hand, if we look back to the last quarter of century what major innovation have been introduced in the Leather Industry? If any, their origins are either Chemical Suppliers or Machine Manufacturers. In 1987 the IALTC, the ancestor of the IULTCS, was formed with the object of adopting standard methods of analysis. John Williams reminded you this morning of the success of this outstanding international co-operation of the Leather Industry. The other declared aim was to try uniting research work worldwide for the leather industry. The goal of the new IUR commission created last year is to make the dream of the 19th century a reality of the 21st. The Research round table is a Kick off meeting for a new era of co-operation during which the IULTCS IUR commission could be the catalyst and also act as a Think Tank. I give now the floor to Volkan Candar. Introduction to the Marketing of Leather Round Table by Jean-Pierre Gualino of ATC, France. Also a member of the IUR Commission of the IULTCS. The target of marketing and the goals of the round table are the optimisation of profit, by selling the right product to the right customer, at the best possible price. For that, each actor in the leather chain has to understand the needs of their customers, and should anticipate the evolution of the fashion and technical trends of the leather as a component product. In the past, most probably these considerations were
not enough in the minds of the people working in the leather sector.
That is why so many articles made of leather have disappeared. • the farmer should know the needs and the
constraint of raw hides and skins dealer Thanks to ILF, we have in the audience, for the first time at such an event, representatives of each profession. By exchanging our thoughts and ideas, it is the perfect occasion to know and understand each other, supplier and customer, and give responses to the following questions: • how to bring about more innovation Introduction to the Communication Round Table by the President of IULTCS, Mr Marc Folachier: In a Communication World you do not exist if you do not take the floor. Communication is a tool at the service of a strategy. Collective communication is a way to improve the global image of the Leather Industry, of its material, its products and its jobs. To reinforce the positive image of Leather in the mind of consumers is, to me, a real necessity, a way as well to impact on the unconscious mind to justify market prices. To modify the old image of the Leather Industry is also a necessity to attract young brains and talents, our companies need for the future. We have to emphasise the fact that the Leather Industry is a unique historical example of recycling of the non-returnable packaging of meet, which without us would be a simple waste! We have to emphasise the fact that, in the framework of sustainable development, the utilisation of a renewable raw material is really positive. We have to emphasise the fact that, conscious of their Social Responsibilities, the actors of the leather industry have made huge financial investments to respect the environment and to meet all existing regulations. This positive communication is appropriate when everything is OK, things are different when everything goes badly. Another kind of communication is “crisis communication”. There are particular methods in this case and there is a need for a database of prepared information because rapid reactivity with a reasoned response is a key success factor. To introduce the debates I suggest giving the floor to a communication specialist who will develop both aspects of communication. I leave the floor to Estelle Chaubell President of the Communication Agency “La Vie en Rose”. LIST OF INSTITUTIONS OFFERING LEATHER TECHNOLOGY COURSES Brazil SENAI Centro Tecnologico Do Couro Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul China Shaanxi University of Science and Technology Wenzhou University Ethiopia Leather and Leather Products Technology Institute
(LLPTI)
France
Germany Lederinstitut Gerberschule
India Bharath Institute of Higher Education and
Research Central Leather Research Institute College of Leather Technology Harcourt Butler Technological Institute
( HBTI )
Italy ITIS "GALILEI" High School University of Pisa
Pakistan National Institute of Leather Technology
(NILT) Institute of Leather Technology, Gujranwala.
Govt. Polytechnic Institute, Sialkot
Romania GH Asachi Technical University Spain Technical University of Catalonia Turkey Ege University United Kingdom British School of Leather Technology United States of America American Leather Chemists Association
LEATHER R & D GUIDE 2007 Argentina Centro de Investigacion y Desarrollo del Cuero (CITEC Australia CSIRO Leather Research Centre(Only Testing Facilities) Austria HBLVA für Chem. Industrie Versuchsanstalt f. Lederindustrie Brazil Centro Tecnologico do Couro (SENAI) UFRGS (Rio Grande do Sul Federal University) Centro Tecnologico de Couro, Calcados e Afins Bulgaria Institut of the Shoe, Leather, Fur & Leathergoods Scientific & Technical Institute for Leather and
Shoe Industry Chile Instituto Tecnologico del Calzado Costa Rica Centro de Tecnologia del Cuero (CETEC) Centre Technique Cuir Chaussure Maroquinerie - CTC Germany Forschuninstitut fur Leder und Kunstsoffbahnen GmbH Prüf- und Forschungsinstitut(PFI) Pirmasens e.V. Lederinstitut Geberschule Reutlingen Hungary BIMEO Testing & Research Ltd Co Sci Soc of Hungarian Leather Shoe & Allied Ind. India Bharath Institute of Technology B. R. Ammedkar National Institute of Technogy Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) Govt. College of Engineering and Leather Technology Hartcourt Butler Technological Institute Institute of Leather Technology Italy Centro Tecnologico Conciario Conciaricerca Italia PO.TE.CO. SCRL Polo Tecnologico Conciario Stazione Sperimentale per l'Industria Delle Pelli e
Delle Materie Concianti Japan Hyogo Prefectural Institute of Industrial Research Scleroprotein & Leather Research Institute Mexico CIATEG AC New Zealand LASRA, Leather & Shoe Research Association of New
Zealand Nigeria Leather Research Institute of Nigeria Pakistan PCSIR Leather Research Centre Paraguay Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia y Normalizacion - INTN Peoples Republic of China Guangdong Leather Chemical Institute Huazhong Applied Science Research Institute Shanghai Leather Industry Reseach Institute Poland Section of Leather Technologists & Chemists Romania Polytechnic Institute of Iasi Russian Federation Central Scientific Research Institute for the Leather
& Footwear Industry Spain Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) Instituto Espanol Del Calzado Y Conexas Asociacion De
Investigacion (INESCOP) Asociacion De Investigacion De Las Industrias Del Curtido
Y Anexas (AIICA) Tunisia Centre National du Cuir et de la Chaussure (CNCC) Turkey Ege University, Engineering Faculty, Leather Engineering
Department Ukraine Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute for the Leather
& Footwear Industry BLC Leather Technology Centre Ltd British School of Leather Technology W2O Environmental Greentech + Associates United States of America Central Research Laboratories The Leather Institute Leather Research Institute Leather Industries of America, Leather Research Laboratory US Hide, Skin & Leather Association Laboratory USDA, Eastern Regional Research Center, Fats, Oils and
Animal Coproducts Research Unit Eastern Regional Research Center, United States Department
of Agriculture - Dr. William N. Marmer Uruguay Centro National de Tecnologia y Productividad Industrial
Zimbabwe Leather Institute of Zimbabwe
Minutes of the IULTCS Executive Committee
Meeting The President, Mr M Folachier called the meeting to order at 13:30 hrs. The President passed on good wishes to the Secretary for his wife's recovery and thanked the Secretary for the work he has done, especially for this Congress. Attendees: Attending: Mr M Folachier (President), Mr E L Hurlow (Vice-President), Prof J Cot, Mrs K Streit, Dr H-P Germann, Mr H Schulz, Mrs P Casey de Polzinetti, Dr D Castiello, Dr C T Page, Dr S Rajamani, Prof G Attenburrow, Dr V Candar, Mr C Zhanguang, Madam Zhang Shu Hua and Mr D Sanchez. Also, on 21.06.07, Mr D Banerjee, Dr Bi Shi and Mr A Toumi. The President welcomed Mr Dilip Banerjee attending on behalf of Mr Arnab Jha, Mr Chen Zhanguang together with Madam Zhang Shu Hua, attending on behalf of Mr Su Chaoying and Mr H Schulz attending on behalf of Dr M Meyer. 1. Apologies for absence: 2. Minutes of the Executive Committee meeting
of 19 September 2006 in Paris, France: 3. Matters arising from the minutes: a). Report on the XXIX IULTCS Congress in
Washington DC, USA, 20-24 June 2007: b). Report on the XVII Latin-American Conference
of FLAQTIC/IULTCS in Brazil, 2008: An IUE meeting will be held during this Conference. Abstracts must be sent to abqtic@abqtic.com.br by 30 November 2007. Registration costs for the Conference are as follows:
The above amounts include for participants: Opening
Cocktail, 2 coffee breaks, 2 lunches, closing dinner party, discussions. The IULTCS President expressed his appreciation that the South American Conference had transferred the date to 2008 to avoid clashing with the IULTCS International Congress. He emphasised that we must avoid any clash of the International Congress and Regional Conferences to ensure that both are financially successful. The IULTCS will do its best to support the Regional Conferences. c). Report on the XXX Congress in China,
2009: The China Leather Industry Association (CLIA) has started the work of organising the XXX IULTCS CONGRESS. The major preparations completed and the tentative schedule are as follows: 1. Time and place Date: Oct. 11-14, 2009 - This is
the best time for local weather conditions. 2. Tentative Schedule Monday, Oct. 11 Tuesday, Oct. 12 Wednesdays, Oct. 13
3. Organising Committee The organising committee has been formed which consists
of 5 persons from CLIA responsible for: Person in charge: Mr. Su Chaoying, Secretary General, China Leather Industry Association 4. Technical Committee The Technical Committee will be formed immediately after Washington Congress of 2007. Person in charge: Dr. Shi Bi, Sichuan University 5. Publicity campaign A series of publicity campaigns have been or will
be implemented which include: 6. Sponsorship campaign To be organised by the Organising Committee. It is expected to be initiated in August 2007. 7. Key dates set for the Congress • Abstracts for papers are to be submitted
by Dec. 15, 2008. d). Report on the XXXI Congress in Spain,
2011: Mr Daniel Sánchez Valencia is a city where ancient traditions live side by side with modern life. It has a wide range of activities to suit all tastes, painting exhibitions, concerts, festivals, sporting activities, the City of Arts and Sciences, health tourism, eating and drinking outside, the shopping areas, the Turia Park which runs from west to east across the city and the endless promenade. Besides that, Valencia is hosting this year the America’s Cup sailing’s event and it is going be holding also the European Grand Prix of F 1. Furthermore is the capital of a tourist, agricultural and industrial region with a strong tradition of the textile, ceramics, tanning and leather manufacturing. Although the Leather Industry is going through a worldwide crisis, AQEIC hopes to organise a Congress that will work as a reference point and will be useful to motivate the reactivation of this industrial sector. To make all this possible we are going count on the support of several Institutions, the Universities of Valencia, the Regional and Cultural Government of Valencia, the Spanish Ministry of Industry and the European Union. We want to invite all of you to come and visit our city, Valencia, to be delighted with its charm and the hospitality of its people and to join us with your contributions, papers or just with your presence and so to share in the Congress’ success. From now on we will be informing you, over the next Congresses, of any news that could be taking place regarding the 2011 IULTCS Congress. 4. President's Report: I represented the Union at the 7th Asian Leather Conference in Chengdu (Sichuan China). It was a success and the level of the given lectures represents the level of the research activity for the leather industry in this area of the world. With the help of Dr Rajamani we suggested that the next Asian Leather Conference should be considered as an IULTCS Regional Congress. Normally the next one should be organised in India and Dr Rajamani said that we have to negotiate at that time with the organisers. Taking into account that the next IULTCS International Congress will take place in Beijing (China) in 2009, the 8th Asian Leather Conference should be organised in 2010. It took me also a lot of time to find the sponsors to balance the budget for the organisation of the International Leather Forum in Paris next fall. I would like on behalf of the EC members to express my thanks to the boards of CNC, CIDIC and CTC that allowed us to reach the 95K€ needed. Following the email exchanges you could have see the difficulties we had to identify the 100 VIPs for the list. To me it is a demonstration of the usefulness of the ILF for we discovered through the answers that people are unaware of the main personalities of the leather world outside the close circle of their acquaintances. It is only a few weeks ago that we succeeded in finalising the list of some 130 people and to obtain their postal addresses. With the help of a Press Agency we prepared the Invitation letter, the agenda and program, the registration form and a list of hotels. Now everybody should have received the documents and we will see how many positives answers will be returned. Depending on that number we will ask for your help to complete the invitations taking into account the representativeness of the continents and of the professions. I would like to thank now Geoff and Volkan, the chairmen of our two new commissions for the huge job they did for the preparation of the questionnaires needed to introduce the first two round tables. Following todays meeting of the IUR and the IUT Commissions, we need to prepare lists of research institutes, publication resources, training courses and schools, and details of VIP's, (who's who in the leather industry), as hand-outs to all participants of the ILF meeting. We need to use this information to increase traffic on the IULTCS website to promote ourselves and thus stimulate the sale of banners. A further meeting of the IUR and IUT Commissions has been agreed for Tuesday 21 August in Paris to ensure progress towards the ILF meeting. Concerning other relationships we decided to reactivate our contacts with ICHSLTA, ICT and COTANCE. I had at least one meeting with the Presidents and Secretaries of the three Federations. They are still interested in better relationships and I should say that our initiative to organise the ILF is one of the major items they wanted to discuss. If I did not succeed to convince them to attend the Washington Congress, all of them promised me to be in Paris. I had a further meeting with the President and the Secretary of COTANCE following some problems that occurred for the nominations of WG chairs in TC 289. I will let Campbell summarise the problem because I was not there myself. My only objective during that meeting was to explain the history of the IULTCS commissions and the rules we have for the nominations. As Campbell expressed it very well “What is needed are WG Chairpersons who are technically competent in the area of the WG and with sufficient ability to understand and communicate in English.” IULTCS activity generally speaking, and IU commissions joint working meetings with TC 289 WG, must not be polluted by political issues. However as nomination of WG convenors follows a specific procedure (candidates are proposed by national standardisation bodies) we “may be” have to communicate before for better co-ordination. To finish with my activity during the last months and weeks, I was also in Gramado Brazil attending the 16th UNIDO Leather Panel. It gave me the opportunity to talk about the IULTCS activities and to suggest that it was not too late for the registration to the Washington congress. I promoted also the ILF, asking mainly everybody to fill the questionnaires I distributed. I had a lunch with the past and present Presidents of ABQTIC. I took the opportunity of this meeting to thank them again as they accepted to postpone the FLAQTIC Congress in Rio de Janeiro in 2008 to respect the IULTCS guidelines. They were preparing a CD to promote the Congress and they asked me to read a speech in front of a Camera to add the IULTCS President message at the beginning of the CD. Coming back to the IU commissions I would like to express my thanks to the outgoing chairmen for the job they performed and also a special thank to Campbell Page who had agreed to continue. During this Congress the IULTCS will give the first Award of its history. I am really pleased and honoured to be the President at that particular time and also because this first Award is given to a famous leather chemist who was our President 20 years ago: Dr R.L. Sykes. At the end of this report I suggest to have particular thought for John Williams. As you know, for well-founded personal reasons, John had to cancel his participation to the Washington Congress and therefore to this EC meeting. I think that on behalf of all of you, I’ll send a message to John saying very simply that we will be thinking of him during this period of time and asking him to transmit to his wife our best wishes for a speedy recovery. With his usual efficiency he prepared everything perfectly from accounts to President speeches. Fortunately we will have a further opportunity to meet him in Paris in September. Personally and according to Campbell wishes I ask
him to remain our Secretary/Treasurer till the end of the year, in
order we transmit our two mandates simultaneously to Elton and Campbell. In conclusion the re-invigoration of the IULTCS is clearly shown by the next three Congress presentations we will be seeing later this week. It is a pleasure to for the IULTCS to be in so healthy a state. Following the President's report, Prof Cot congratulated the President for the improved contacts with COTANCE and the ICT and for the formation of the two new Commissions. He thanked the President for all his hard work during his term of office. It was stressed that the organisers of the Asian Leather Congress in 2010 must write to the IULTCS to confirm arrangements. They must be given seats on the IULTCS Executive Committee to ensure IULTCS recognition. Dr Rajamani will ensure this message is passed on. b). Election of Vice-President to serve from
1 January 2010 c). Election of new Secretary/Treasurer to
serve from 1 January 2008 5. Secretary/Treasurers Report a). Additional items for the agenda b). Update on Finances The Accountants report shows a working surplus for the period of USD 754.81. We believe that this is very satisfactory considering the considerable but worthwhile expenses in 2005 for publicity materials. The improvement in the IULTCS website and other promotional activities has had a very positive effect of the profile of the IULTCS. The break-even results for the two year period have been achieved without touching any of our capital investments with UBS Bank and Bristol and West International. Income from Subscriptions has been augmented by fees raised from the posting of Companies' banners on to our website. We are very grateful to these "Supporting Members" for their assistance in sustaining the IULTCS financially. Additional income came from the Delegates fees from the International Congress in Florence, Italy in 2005 and the Regional Congress in Istanbul, Turkey in 2006. During this two year period it was decided that Executive Committee meetings should be held at more diverse locations to make Members feel more inclusive. This will involve increased travel costs for the Secretary/Treasurer and it was agreed to show the travel expenses of the Secretary/Treasurer separated from other administrative expenses. Consequently it is difficult to draw direct comparisons between the figures for "Office Fees" and "Travel and Subsistence" for the two years to 2004 and the two years to 2006. Adding the two figures together for each of the periods will give a rough comparison. (USD 8,386 for 2004 and USD 7,205 for the 2006 period). This two year report on the IULTCS accounts is now presented for vote at the Executive Committee meeting on 20 June 2007 and, if accepted, will then be presented to the Council of Delegates meeting for vote on 23 June 2007. The table below shows the budget and actual income and expenditure for 2006 and the budget for 2007.
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