• Statutes
• Organization chart

Statutes

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ITALIAN FEDERATION OF ORGANIC AND BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURE

STATUTES

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Art. 1 – Denomination, Headquarters and Duration

1.      "FEDERAZIONE ITALIANA AGRICOLTURA BIOLOGICA E BIODINAMICA" – "FEDERBIO" (Italian Federation of Organic and Biodynamic Agriculture – FEDERBIO) – is a non-recognized Association created according to article 14 and following of the Italian Civil Code.

2.      The Association is ruled and disciplined by the norms contained in these Statutes and, for matters not overtly mentioned therein, by its internal Rules and Regulations, by the accepted Self-discipline Code, as well as by the ordinary and special laws in effect for this matter.

3.      The headquarters and legal seat of the Federation are in Bologna.

4.      The Federation can open subsidiary offices. It can also create regional and/or inter-regional entities with decision making autonomy, but maintaining a close relationship with the central institution.

5.      The Federation can carry out its activities also abroad, opening secondary quarters and offices as deliberated by the Board of Directors.

6.      The Federation has an unlimited duration.

Article 2 - Aim of the Federation

1.      The Federation is a private body, and it is a non-profit organization.

2.      The Federation is a multiprofessional entity, whose aim is to improve the quality and diffusion of organically produced agricultural goods, in conformity with the organic agriculture method as codified by Regulation (EC) No 2092/91 and following changes and integrations, by Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of  28.07.2007 (from the date of application), by national and regional laws adopted in conformity with these Regulations, and by the professional and deontological rules according to the IFOAM instructions.

3.      The term “organic agriculture” includes all organic and biodynamic agricultural models and procedures which – being conscious of Nature’s complexity, of its elements (minerals, vegetables and animals) and of their many interactions - employ means of production and solutions that:

-         promote a sustainable and fair-trade development;

-         are compatible with the above mentioned reality as well as with the even more complex human reality, in all of its implications (biological, physiological, psychological, moral and social);

-         avoid the use of Genetically Modified Organisms, pursuit all the means and methods that respect and help natural biological processes, excluding forced or unnatural growth-methods.

Article 3 – Principles of the Association and Social Purpose

1.      The “Italian Federation of Organic and Biodynamic Agriculture – FEDERBIO” intends to propose itself as the representative of the organic growing movement in Italy in its wholeness; it means to be the organizing entity of all the organs, bodies and associations working in the field. It aims at guaranteeing to each category and subject the same dignity and absolute and complete autonomy, with the objective of reaching a unitary decision making process, leaving space for diverging opinions, which have to be considered as richness rather then as unmendable breaking points.

2.      The Federation, therefore, aims at promoting coordination and collaboration among the associated organs, entities and bodies in order to develop and protect organic agriculture.

3.      To this aim the Federation, each Section of Members and each single Member will work towards:

a)       facilitate contacts between the Member entities, associations and bodies by coordinating initiatives with the objective of strengthening their operational capabilities in reaching the agreed upon common objectives;

b)      represent and safeguard on a Regional, National and International level the common basis of italian organic agriculture, especially regarding the growth of the organic movement in the recently widened Europe after the Treaty of Nice;

c)       propose to the legislators regulations for the safeguard and development of the field in its wholeness;

d)      promote consumers’ knowledge about organic products an agriculture, paying attention as well to highlighting the importance of quality products such as traditional and endangered items, safeguarding their survival through focused and specific actions;

e)       promote research, experiments, and the establishing of common standards;

f)        promote an activate services in the field;

g)       promote specific educational models aiming at the professional and cultural growth of the people working in each field of the organic movement;

h)      promote politics of highlighting and support of organic agriculture in Italy and abroad;

i)        verify the correct application of common standards and certification systems in accordance with the law development both in Italy and in the European Community;

j)        adopt a Self-discipline Code which is binding for all of the Members.

4.      The Federation, even through the Sections of Members, may implement all forms of promotional and cultural activities as well as stipulate conventions and agreements and underwrite contracts with private and public entities, whenever useful to reach the common objectives, even through collaborations (including taking part in mixed consortiums) with public or private entities, bodies and institutions following the objectives specified in article 2 of these Statutes.

5.      The Federation may also carry on all economic, financial, patrimonial, real estate or movable activities, including sharing in joint-stock companies or in other entities when this is deemed necessary or useful for the reaching of the statutes objectives.

6.      The Association cannot in any case perform credit-giving functions, but it can carry on financial activities of every kind and with all means in accordance to the law.

7.      Commercial activity is not included among the institutional purposes of the Association, but it can be carried on – just in a subsidiary way – to reach the above mentioned goals, and strictly for the time needed for this purpose.

Article 4 - Members

1.      The Federation shall have ordinary and honorary Members.

4.1 - Ordinary Members

2.      Only Bodies and Juridical Persons can be ordinary Members, regardless of their legal structure.

3.      An Ordinary Member must carry on, at national, regional or associational level one or more activities in the field of research, education, promotion, production, consumption and consumerism, representation, safeguard and warrantee, control and services in the field of organic agriculture.

Members working at a local level – even if they are partners of subjects which work at national level – must be juridical persons or, at least, be non-recognized but ritually formed associations.

All the Members must be fully authorized to represent common interest in the area where they operate.

4.      The faculty of associating individual operators as defined by article 4 (according to the specified definitions) of Regulation (EC) No 2092/91 of 24.06.1991 and following changes and integrations, and by article 2 (according to the specified definitions) of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28.07.2007 (from the date of application) is forbidden.

5.      It is however possible, in expressed waiver to the above paragraph, to associate individual control bodies and service providers, with any association structure, operating at a national or at least regional level, provided they have the features underlined in paragraph 3.

6.      The admission to the Federations follows a written request on the part of the interested parties.

7.      The Board of Directors deliberates about the admission of new Members with a positive vote from three quarters of its Members.

8.      Any requests of admission not expressly declaring the adhesion to the Federation objectives and the commitment to support its finalities and principles as specified in article 2, 3 of the present Statutes will not be accepted.

The requests must also contain the voluntary compliance with the Rules, to the Regulations of the Section of Members to which the Member asks to participate and to the Self-discipline Code, as well as the commitment to participate in the operation and financing of the Federation.

9.      Each Member must fulfil all of the requisites specified in the Statutes and regulations for the whole duration of the association relationship.

4.2 - Honorary Members

10.  Honorary Member shall be organizations, corporations, companies, institutes and natural persons, recognized or non recognized subjects who have made distinctive contributions in the fields where the Federation works, or who have made a meaningful contribution in terms of money or personal commitment to the Federation, as assessed by the Assembly.

11.  Honorary Members shall be invited in the Association - with a qualified majority of 3/5 of its Members – by the General Assembly and by the Assembly of the Section of Members, and have the same rights and duties of ordinary Members, but no active or passive voting rights.

4.3 - Common Rules

12.  Joining the Association has no time limit and cannot be requested or accepted for a temporary period.

However Members have the right to recede or can be excluded with the modalities and in the cases specified in the Statutes and Regulations.

13.  The Member status is dependent on the timely payment of the annual Membership Fee or on the extraordinary contribution as specified in article 6, paragraph 6, in case the Member is exonerated from the annual Membership Fee payment.

14.  Those concurring to the accumulation of the patrimony of the Association cannot request the total or partial restitution of the incurred payments, even of the Membership Fees, nor claim any rights on said patrimony.

15.  In case of execution the dept recovery and warrantee activities are carried out – in a subsidiary way – also towards those charged with the duty of legal substitution.

Article 5 - Sections of Members

1.      Sections of Members are created in order to facilitate the achievement of the social objective specified in article 2 and pursue the principles and social objectives as stated in article 3.

2.      Sections of Members represent the vertical structures of the Federation. They guarantee individuality and autonomy of each Member, who will be able to operate, within its specific field, with the sole limitation of not damaging the dignity of the Federation and/or of any other Section of Members, and of adhering to the deliberations and statements publicly rendered by the Federation.

3.      Regulations and Self-discipline Code concur to determine the preventive internal consultation rules set to this effect.

4.      Sections of Members organize the Members’ participation to the Federation’s activities and define common lines and proposals within it; moreover they organize the activities of common interest for Members belonging to the same category.

To this effect the Sections of Members can meet with modalities and schedules autonomously decided within their Assemblies, with the only duty of communicating such schedules as specified in the Statutes and in the Internal Regulations.

5.      The Sections of Members of FEDERBIO are those formed by Members belonging to the following categories:

-         recognized consumers’ associations;

-         control bodies and their ritually constituted associative bodies;

-         ritually constituted farmers associations;

-         ritually constituted associations of economic operators in the agro-food production chain and of service providers;

-         ritually constituted technicians and researchers associations;

-         ritually constituted cultural, ecologist and environmental associations.

6.      Upon initiative of the Board of Directors, the General Assembly may decide the creation of further Sections of Members, or the modification of those already in existence.

7.      Each Section of Members may give itself a name, provided it retains mention to its belonging to FEDERBIO.

Each Section of Members may also obtain juridical autonomy within the Federation, while highlighting in its Statutes and in other Regulations the compliance to the present Statutes, to the Regulations and to the Federation Self-discipline Code, and the peculiar nature of section of the Federation.

The Sections of Members may choose autonomous voting systems that take into account the national and regional weight of the Members.

Such faculty must be codified by a special Regulation which is unanimously approved by all of the Members of the Section.

8.      All the Federation Members must join one of the Sections of Members according to the prevailing characteristics of their social base or their activity, as assessed by the Board of Directors of the Federation at the time of admission.

9.      Joining a Section of Members takes place at the time of admission to the Federation, in compliance with the modalities specified by the internal Regulations.

10.  Any Member wishing to join a different Section of Members then the one originally chosen must file a request to the Board of Directors of the Federation - through the Secretary’s Office - specifying the reasons.

The Board of Directors opens a file and deliberates on the matter with a majority of three quarters of its Members.

11.  The Assembly of the Section of Members appoints a Coordinator among its members. He becomes a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation by right.

The Assembly also appoints a Vice Coordinator with the sole scope specified in art. 4.2 of the Regulations.

12.  The Coordinator of the Section represents the Section in public and private bodies and in the other Organizations for the peculiar matters of interest of the section.

In this case the Coordinator represents just the Section he belongs to.

13.  The Coordinator of the section must previously discuss the subject of his representation with the Board of Directors of the Federation in the attempt of reaching, whenever possible, a shared vision on the matter.

Article 6 – Members’ Rights and Duties

1.      Ordinary Members of the Federation who have paid their dues and extraordinary contributions have the right of active and passive vote in the Assembly decisions and in the social bodies.

2.      All Members have the right to be informed on the initiatives and activities carried out by the Federation, as well as to actively take part in the association life according to the modalities specified by the Statutes and the Regulations

3.      All Members must behave properly both in internal relationships with other Members and with third parties and accept and adhere to the rules and regulations contained in the Statutes of the Association, in its internal Regulation and in the Self-discipline Code.

4.      Ordinary Members must pay the Membership Fee and extraordinary contributions in the amounts and modalities established by the Assembly upon proposal from the Board of Directors.

5.      Honorary Members must pay the Membership Fee if they have been burdened with it.

6.      Besides paying the Membership Fee, all Members have the duty to contribute to the needs of the Association according to their means: in this case the Assembly has the faculty of levying extraordinary contributions from all or some of the Members, assessing with equity their capital availability as exposed in their Balance sheets.

Article 7 - Exclusion

1.      Causes for the exclusion from the Association are:

a)       withdrawal;

b)      exclusion;

c)       lost of requirements;

d)      arrearage in paying fees;

e)       bankruptcy, administrative compulsory settlement and/or other Member’s bankruptcy proceedings;

f)        death of the Member.

2.      The Member’ right to withdraw must be exercised through direct communication to the Board of Directors. The withdrawal takes immediate effect but gives no right to the restitution, not even in part, of the dues already paid for the current year.

The withdrawing Member must in any case pay the full Membership Fee for the current year and the entire annual extraordinary contribution (if applying) if he hasn’t done it already.

3.      The Member’ arrearage in paying the Membership Fee and the extraordinary contribution - if continued for the whole year - can lead to the exclusion of the Member.

4.      A Member’s exclusion, due to behaviour against the statutes and deliberations of the Federation’s organs, or else in contrast with the institutional objectives of the association or with the precepts specified in the regulations and in the Self-discipline Code, is decided by the Assembly after proposal of the Board of Directors or of the Assembly of the Section of Members.

5.      The loss of subjective and objective requirements as stated in the present Statutes and in the internal Regulations leads to the exclusion of the Member.

6.      A Member’s exclusion, implemented for whatever reason, must be decided by the Assembly. The Assembly’s deliberation of exclusion must always be taken after asking the Member for written communication of any justifications.

The request must be sent to the Member’s domicile as indicated by him at the time of associating, at least thirty days before the Assembly meeting date.

Article 8 – Association Organs

1.      The Federation organs are:

1)      General Assembly of Members;

2)      Assemblies of the Sections of Members ;

3)      Board of Directors

2.      Other Federation organs are:

1)      President;

2)      Secretary;

3)      Presidential Staff;

4)      College of the Auditors of Account

5)      Technical Committee

6)      Self-discipline Jury.

Article 9 – General Assembly of Members

1.      The Assembly of Members is convened and headed by the President or else, in case of his absence or other instances, by the oldest Vice President (or in case of the latter’s absence or other instances by the other Vice President).

2.      The Assembly meets at least once a year, within June 30^th, in order to approve the Balance sheet, the Annual Report and to renew the social offices, if needed.

3.      The Assembly of Members is also convened and headed by the President or else, in case of his absence or other instances, by the oldest Vice President (or else by the other Vice President) whenever this is deemed necessary.

In any case the Assembly of Members must be convened when at least one third of the ordinary Members asks for it or following request from an Assembly of a Section of Members or from the College of the Auditors of Account.

4.      All the Members who have paid the Membership Fee or extraordinary contributions (when applying) for the current year have the right to participate to the General Assembly of Members.

The power of attorney is allowed only to another Member; ordinary Members cannot delegate honorary Members; honorary Members can receive delegations only from other honorary Members.

No Members can be given more than one delegation.

5.      The convocation letter must be sent by mail, fax or email to all Members at least 30 days before the Assembly date.

If the Assembly was called with motivated urgency procedure by one third of the ordinary Members or by an Assembly of a Section of Members or by the College of the Auditors of Account, the convocation time can be reduced to ten working days.

6.      The convocation letter must contain all the topics which the Assembly must deliberate upon.

7.      Regarding the validity of the Assembly deliberations the provisions of article 21 of the Italian Civil Code are applied, unless the Statutes or the Regulations provide for different majorities.

9.1 Assembly duties

1.      The Assembly duties and competences – other then those legally dictated - are to:

a)       decide, after proposal of the Board of Directors, upon the creation of new Sections of Members or upon the modification of those already existing;

b)      decide, after proposal of the Board of Directors, upon the institution of regional and/or interregional organs with decisional and economic autonomy, assessing the nature of the federal relationship with the central institution;

c)       provide for the nomination of the President and of two Vice Presidents of the Association (the latter must be ordinary Members); the elected individuals will also hold the office of President and Vice Presidents on the Board of Directors;

d)      provide – if necessary – for the nomination of the non- by right Members of the Board of Directors;

e)       provide for the nomination of the Members of the College of the Auditors of Account, designating a President among them;

f)        providing for the nomination of the Members of the Self-discipline Jury;

g)       decide the possible compensations to be paid to the Members of the Board of Directors, of the College of the Auditors of Account, of the Self-discipline Jury and of the Technical Committee;

h)      deliberate upon the exclusion of Members, as proposed by the Board of Directors;

i)        decide the general guidelines to be followed to achieve the social purposes;

j)        settle controversies among different Sections of Members, if appointed by the Board of Directors;

k)      approve the Balance sheet and the relative Annual Report on the activities carried on during the year;

l)        deliberate upon the amount of the annual Membership Fee for the honorary Members and for the ordinary Members, as proposed by the Board of Directors;

m)    impose extraordinary contributions to all or to some Members, assessing with equity their capital availability as exposed in their Balance Sheets;

n)      deliberate upon the modifications of the Statutes, according to the procedure contained in the Regulations;

o)      approve the modifications of the internal Regulations for the carrying out of the Federation activity - as proposed by the Board of Directors – either under private seal or under the seal of a public officer, if this is deemed necessary;

p)      deliberate – if needed – on the execution of the articles 20 and 21 of the present Statutes and approve the Annual report of the College of the Auditors of Account;

q)      approve the Self-discipline Code as prepared by the Board of Directors;

r)       deliberate upon the dissolution of the Association.

Article 10 –Assembly of the Sections of Members

1.      The Members belonging to a Section of Members meet in an Assembly to:

a)       elect the Coordinator of the Section of Members (and the Vice Coordinator); deliberate upon the nomination of their candidates for the Board of Directors of the Federation (if the General Assembly of Members assessed to elect some non-by right Members)  nominate their delegates for other needs, if necessary;

b)      elect their entitled Members of the Board of Directors of the Federation, if the Section of Members Statutes assesses it;

c)       examine subjects in the order of the day of the statutory organs of the Federation or any other subjects of interest; define positions and proposals regarding them,

d)      define the organization modalities of meetings, Assemblies and activities of the Section of Members;

e)       approve, upon the proposal of the Coordinator, the possible internal Regulations of the Section of Members;

f)        propose to the Assembly the exclusion of Members in the cases defined by the present Statutes by the Regulations and by the Self-discipline Code.

2.      The Assembly is convened by the Section of Members Coordinator; he must convene it when at least one third of the Members of the Section ask for it.

The Assembly can be also convened by the Federation President, who has a specific surrogate power in this circumstance.

The modalities of meeting and deliberations are the same as those of the Federation general Assembly of Members.

3.      Documents adopted and positions taken by the Assembly of the Section of Members  which are regarding specific topics of interest for interested categories must be made available within reasonable time to the Federation through its Secretary office

4.      The Federation President must in any case know the contents of the adopted documents and of the positions taken by the Assembly of the Section of Members which regard specific topics of interest for the interested category, in order to activate procedures – as codified by the internal Regulations - aiming at standardizing external policy of the Federation or of its Members.

Article 11 – Board of Directors

1.      The Board of Directors is formed by Members by right and by a maximum of 10 elected Members – when deemed appropriate - by the General Assembly of Members.

All of the Members of the Board of Directors (except the President and the Secretary) are chosen within the Members and hold the office for three years.

The appointments can be annulled at any time by the General Assembly of Members. The Members of the Board of Directors can be re-elected.

2.      The Regulations state the modalities of election and designation of the rightful and elected Members of the Board of Directors.

3.      Each Section must have at least one delegate in the Board of Directors.

11.1 Functions of the Board of Directors

1.   The Board of Directors sees to:

a)       manage the Federation in all of its aspects according to the lines delineated by the Assembly, performing all necessary actions of ordinary and extraordinary administration

b)      deliberate upon new admission requests, with a majority as stated in article 4;

c)       adopt the deliberation mentioned in article 5, paragraph 10 of the Statutes as well as those contained in article 2.2 of the Regulations;

d)      propose to the Assembly the exclusion of Members in the cases established by the present Statutes, by the Regulations and the Self-discipline Code;

e)       take notice of the Member’s withdrawal, after evaluating the properness of the withdrawal communication;

f)        prepare the Balance sheet, the Balance Annual Report and the annual activity report to be presented to the Assembly for approval;

g)       propose the amount of the annual Membership Fee (both for ordinary and honorary Members, when the latter are charged with it) to the Assembly for approval;

h)      propose the levying of extraordinary contributions from all or some of the Members assessing with equity their capital availability as exposed in their Balance sheets.

i)        prepare the Self-discipline Code to be approved by the Assembly as specified in article 9;

j)        deliberate upon the possible institution of subsidiary quarters and seats, also abroad;

k)      nominate Members of the Federation’s Technical Committee;

l)        nominate the Secretary upon proposal of the President;

m)    evaluate and determine the composition of the Secretarial Staff;

n)      propose to the Assembly the adoption of the determinations specified in article 20 and 21 of the present Statutes.

2.      The Board of Directors can entitle one or more of its Members to perform specific actions in the name and on account of the Federation; it can also entrust one Section of Members, through its Coordinator or another Member specifically indicated by the Section of Members, with representing the Federation in relationships with other Organizations in which the Federation participates or with other pertaining situations for the field of interest of that Section of Members.

3.      In both cases underlined above, the contents and limitations of the proxy power must be specified in the deliberation of the Federation’s Board of Directors, and the actions of the delegated Member or organ must always be ratified by the Board of Directors before committing the Federation.

11.2 Validity of meetings and deliberations

1.      The meeting of the Board of Directors is valid when the majority of its counsellors is present. The Board of Directors can be convened also in a location other then the social quarters.

2.      The Board of Directors is convened at least four times a year, through written notice sent by mail, fax o email and containing the order of the day to be delivered to all of the counsellors, following the President’s orders and in the care of the secretarial staff, at least five days before the convocation date.

In case of urgency the notification period can be reduced to two work days.

In the lack of the fore mentioned formalities the meeting of the Board of Directors is still valid when all the counsellors in office are present, or else when the majority of the counsellors is present and the absent parties have produced a valid document stating the knowledge of the order of the day and entitling the operations of the Board of Directors.

3.      The Board of Directors may deliberate only in the presence of the majority of its Members and all resolutions are taken with the absolute majority of the Members.

In case of equality of votes, the President’s vote will be prevailing.

No power of attorney among the Members of the Board of Directors is allowed due to the trust nature of the office.

4.      In case of deliberations directly concerning a specific Section of Members or subject which were already decided upon by the Assembly of a Section of Members, the deliberation of the Board of Directors is valid only when at least one of the reference Section of Members’ appointees is present.

In case of absence of the appointee the subject in question will be treated in the next meeting of the Board of Directors; in this occasion the resolution will be taken even in unjustified absence of the mentioned appointee.

5.      The resolutions of the Board of Directors must be summarized in minutes written by the secretary of the Federation and unsigned by the President.

6.      In the case of cessation for whatever reason of an elected counsellor he will be replaced by the first non-elected candidate from the candidate list as mentioned in article 5.4, paragraph 8 and 10 of the Regulations.

In the case of cessation for whatever reason of a counsellor by right he will be replaced by another Member, as indicated by the Section of Members from which the receding Member was coming.

The new counsellor will remain in office for the same residual period as all other counsellors.

7.      In the case of contemporary cessation of the majority of counsellors, the whole Board of Directors is considered extinguished, and it is necessary to re-elect it integrally.

To this effect the President of the Federation and/or the remaining counsellors must rapidly convene the General Assembly of Members of the Federation.

Article 12 –President

1.      The President represents the Federation and has both active and passive legitimation with regard to third parties.

The President remains in charge for three years, but can be revoked at any time by the General Assembly of Members (art. 6.2 Regulations).

The President can be re-elected for a maximum of three consecutive turns.

2.      The President has the following functions:

a)      carry on the deliberations by the General Assembly of Members and by the Board of Directors; monitor the proper administrative management of the  Federation;

b)      verify the compliance by all of the Members with the Statutes, the Regulations and the Self-discipline Code;

c)      chair the Assembly and the Board of Directors and coordinate its work (art. 3.2 Regulations);

d)     undersign the Assembly minutes and store them in safe-keeping in the headquarters of the Federation;

e)      propose a Secretary to the Board of Directors.

3.      In case of absence or impossibility of attendance of the President, his functions are carried out by the oldest Vice President, elected by the Assembly in accordance with article 9 of the Statutes.

In the case of absence of the oldest Vice President, the other Vice President will be in charge.

4.      The President is helped by a secretarial staff, coordinated by the secretary of the Federation.

Article 13 –Federation Secretary

1.      The Federation Secretary helps and collaborates with the President and, upon his request, sees to the ordinary internal administration of the Federation.

He cannot represent the Federation with third parties other then in merely administrational matters, always in agreement with the President.

2.      The Secretary is appointed by the Board of Directors upon suggestion from the President, and must have the requisites listed in article 7.2 of the Regulations.

Article 14 – College of the Auditors of Account

14.1 Appointing, Composition and Duration of Office of the College of the Auditors of Account

The College of the Auditors of Account, appointed when legally requested or chosen by the Assembly, is composed of three effective Members and two substitution Members, elected by the Assembly, which also chooses a President among the three effective Auditors of Account.

No individuals in the conditions specified in the article 2399 of the Italian Civil Code may be appointed as Auditors of Account and, if already appointed, will lose their office.

The Auditors of Account stay in office for three years, and release their duties when the Assembly convenes to approve the annual Balance Sheet for the third consecutive year.

They can be re-elected.

The College of the Auditors of Account is fully composed by Auditors of Account listed in the Registry kept by the Justice Department.

The annual dues for the Auditors of Account are determined by the Assembly at the moment of the appointment for the whole period of their office.

The College of the Auditors of Account must meet at least every 90 days, and write minutes which are undersigned by the present Members, in accordance and with the modalities specified by article 2404 of the Italian Civil Code.

14.2 Duties of the College of the Auditors of Account

-           Monitors the compliance with the law and the Statutes;

-           monitors the respect of proper administration principles, in particular regarding the adequateness of organizational, administrational and book-keeping practices implemented by the Association, and its actual management.

At the time of the Balance Sheet approval, the Auditors of Account report upon the criterions used in the balance to achieve the mutualistic purpose and to guarantee the prevalence of the mutualistic nature of the Federation.

The College of the Auditors of Account implements its auditing function:

-           verifies, during the year and every three months, the regular bookkeeping and the correct recording  of the management activity in the book entries;

-           verifies the correspondence of the balance sheet with the book entries and with the controls, and its conformity to the pertinent regulation;

-           writes a specific report judging the Balance Sheet.

Article 15 –Self-discipline Jury

1.   The Self-discipline Jury is composed by three Members elected by the Assembly. They stay in office for three years and can be re-elected. They can be removed at any time by the Assembly.

2.      The Self-discipline Jury monitors the compliance with the Self-discipline Code and refers to the  Board of Directors upon the possible actions to take against Members who don’t respect the rules contained in the Code; the carrying out of these actions must be deliberated upon by the Assembly

3.      The Self-discipline Jury appoints a President within its body; in case of absence of the President his functions are carried out by the oldest Member.

4.      The validity of the meetings and deliberations of the Self-discipline Jury are stated by the dispositions contained in the Self-discipline Code.

Article 16 - Properties

1.   The properties of the Association are composed of:

-         movable and real estate goods, entrusted to the Federation by individuals or legal persons, public or private bodies;

-         budgetary surpluses.

2.   The Federation uses all its properties, including possible budgetary surpluses, to achieve the institutional purposes as specified by article 2 and 3 of the present Statutes.

Article 17 - Membership Fee

1.   The amount of the annual Membership Fee is decided by the Assembly on proposal by the Board of Directors.

2.   The payment of the Membership Fee– as well as of any extraordinary contributions – does not result in any participation or part-ownership right to the association patrimony.

The payment of the Membership fee does not create participation or part-ownership quotes which can be transmitted to thirds as a result of:

-         singular succession;

-         universal succession;

-         deed among living persons;

-         Member’s death and/or bankruptcy;

-         bankruptcy and/or extinction of the Members (legal persons or bodies).

Article 18 – Donations and Legacies

1.   Donations are accepted by the Board of Directors, which deliberates upon their use according to the Federation’s purposes. The donations cannot be accepted if they are submitted to conditions or if they imply encumbrances or expenses for the Federation.

In exceptional cases and when proved useful for the Association, the General Assembly of Members – with a qualified majority – can authorize the Board of Directors to accept donations which imply encumbrances or expenses for the Federation.

2.   Legacies are always accepted with benefit of inventory.  

The Board of Directors deliberate upon its use according to the Federation purposes, as specified in the Statutes.

The President puts into effect the acceptance deliberations and the subsequent juridical deeds.

Article 19 - Incomes

1.   The Federation can use the following incomes to achieve its purposes:

a)       payments done by the Members as contributions, annual Membership Fees, extraordinary shares;

b)      revenues obtained in the development of the institutional activity;

c)       contributions, donations and other forms of liberality done by individuals, private or public bodies;

d)      revenues from  subscriptions and fundraising activities organized in order to achieve the statutory purposes;

e)       incomes from any commercial activities carried out as non-principal activities.

Article 20 - Destination of Profits

If the annual accounts show a budgetary surplus, 5 % of the surplus will be used for a Statutory Reserve, not divisible among the Members, while the remaining 95% will be used according with the decision of the Assembly of Members, which can allocate it for the Extraordinary Reserve or divide it among the Members, proportionally with the activity between them and the Association.

Article 21 – Drawbacks 

If the annual accounts show a budgetary surplus and in order to achieve a complete fulfilling of the Federation purposes, the administrative organ has the faculty, with a special deliberation which has to be ratified by the Assembly of Members by and not later than the approval of the relating Balance sheet, to pay drawbacks to the Members (just ordinary Members) which have to be imputed in the relating Balance Sheet.

The Assembly, when approving the Balance sheet, deliberates upon the drawbacks destination; they can be distributed through a direct allocation. The same Assembly’s deliberation can ratify the allocation of drawbacks as already assessed by the administrators.

The distribution of drawbacks to the Members must be done taking into account the quantity and quality of the exchanges among the Federation and the Members, according to the Assemby and/or administrative organ’s deliberation.

Article 22 – Statements and Associations’ Fiscal Year

1.      The Association’s fiscal year ends on December 31st of every year. Each year a balance sheet must be prepared, composed by the states of assets and liabilities, the profit and loss account and the Balance annual report.

2.      By May 31st, the Board of Directors must meet to prepare the Balance Sheet and the Annual Report to be submitted to the Assembly for approval.

3.      The Balance sheet and the Annual Report must be kept in the Federation’s headquarters – in the days between the sending of the convocation letter and the date of the Assembly convened for the approval – to be available for all of the Members.

Article 23 – Internal Normative Instruments

In order to discipline the organization, define the operative structures and acquire all the necessary provisions for the execution of the present Statutes, the Federation will adopt, within 180 days from the adoption of the present Statutes and with a General Assembly’s deliberation – a Self-discipline Code that will be added to the Internal Regulation, already enclosed to the present Statutes.

Article 24 – Internal Normative Instruments Hierarchy

For what is not expressly ruled by the Law, the Association activity is normed by the rules contained in the present Statutes, then by the Regulations rules, then by the Self-discipline Code, then by the usual procedures.

Article 25 - Dissolution

In the event of dissolution, the funds of the Federation shall be devolved to another Association with similar purposes or  with recognised purposes for public benefit, according to the control organism as specified in article  3, paragraph 190 of the Italian law no. 662 of 23.12.1996, (as later renewed and modified), if not differently normed by law.

Article 26 - Refer to Laws

For what is not expressly specified in the present Statutes refer to the Civil Code rules, to Laws and Regulations in force regarding associations, and to the General Principles of the Italian Legal System.