Japanese Association for Food Immunology

Constitution

Article 1: General Provisions

(Name)

Section 1.  The Association shall be referred to as the Japanese Association for Food Immunology, abbreviated as JAFI (hereinafter referred to as the Association).

Article 2: Objective and Projects

(Objective)

Section 2.  The objective of the Association is to establish food immunology as a new field of science, and make progress and development in the related fields in order to contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of the health of the Japanese people.

(Projects)

Section 3.  The Association shall engage in the following projects in order to achieve the objective stated in the preceding section.

  1. Hosting academic conferences and lectures on food immunology, and holding academic exchanges with relevant organizations
  2. Promoting food immunology globally
  3. Conducting research on methods of collecting, organizing, and evaluating academic information on food immunology
  4. Publishing newsletters, bulletins, etc.
  5. Promoting information sharing and mutual friendship between members
  6. Any other activities deemed necessary in order to achieve the objective stated in the preceding section

Article 3: Membership

(Membership)

Section 4.  The Association shall be comprised of individual members and corporate members who support the objective and projects stated in Section 2 and Section 3, respectively.

  1. Individual members: Individuals who have joined the Association because they support the objective of the Association (In principle, individuals employed by a company will not be permitted to join the Association as an individual member)
  2. Corporate members: Companies who have joined the Association because they support the objective of the Association (The number of people a company can register is stated in the supplementary provisions)

(Enrollment)

Section 5.  Any person wishing to join the Association must submit an application form to the President and obtain the approval of the Board of Directors. Any company wishing to join as a corporate member must, in principle, be engaged in food immunology research.

(Withdrawal)

Section 6.  Any member wishing to withdraw from the Association must submit a letter of withdrawal. Any unpaid membership fee at the time of withdrawal must be paid before leaving the Association.

(Expulsion)

Section 7.  The President, with the approval of the Board of Directors, has the authority to expel a member in the event of any of the followings.

  1. In the event a member disrupts the control of the Association by dishonoring the Association, or interfering with the Association’s projects
  2. In the event of a delinquent payment of the membership fee by one year or longer without providing a valid reason

(Loss of Rights)

Section 8.  Any person who has withdrawn or been expelled from the Association shall lose all membership rights, and is not eligible for refund of any assets, including membership fee and other contributions that the person has already paid.

(Membership fee)

Section 9.  Members must pay a membership fee, as prescribed in the supplementary provisions. The fee will not be refunded under any circumstances.

Article 4: Executive Officers

(Executive Officers)

Section 10.  The Association shall appoint the following executive officers.

  1. President: One (1)
  2. Directors: A minimum of ten (10)
  3. Councilors: A minimum of twenty (20)
  4. Auditors: Two (2)

(Executive Advisors)

Section 11.  The Association may appoint several Executive Advisors to the Association.

  1. The Executive Advisors shall be appointed by the President and are subject to the same term of office as the Executive Officers.
  2. The Executive Advisors shall advise and assist on the affairs of the Association.

(Honorary Members)

Section 12.  The Association may appoint honorary members.

  1. The President may appoint a person, who has made significant contribution to the Association and the advancement of food immunology, as an honorary member of the Association. This shall be a lifetime membership.
  2. Honorary members shall hold the same status as an individual member.

(Appointment of Executive Officers)

Section 13.

  1. Directors, Councilors, and Auditors shall be appointed in the General Meeting.
  2. The President shall be appointed from among the Councilors by the Board of Councilors.
  3. A Director, Councilor, and Auditor may not hold more than one position at one time.
  4. In the event a Director, Councilor, or Auditor appointed from among the corporate members withdraws from the position during term of office, the person may be replaced, with the approval of the Board of Directors and the President, with another registered member from the same company. In the event a Director, Councilor, or Auditor appointed from among the individual members withdraws from the position during term of office, a new executive officer may be appointed, with the approval of the Board of Directors and the President, from among the individual members. The term of office of the replacement shall be the remainder of the original appointee’s term of office, and the new appointee must obtain approval in the next General Meeting.

(Duties of Executive Officers)

Section 14.

  1. The President shall manage the affairs of the Association as well as represent the Association.
  2. Directors shall execute the affairs of the Association.
  3. Councilors, when consulted for advice from the Board of Directors, shall advise on matters deemed important.
  4. Auditors shall audit the accounts of the Association.

(Term of Office of Executive Officers)

Section 15.  The term of office of the executive officers of the Association shall be two years but they may be reappointed.

Article 5: Meetings

(Types of Meeting)

Section 16.  Meetings held by the Association shall be divided into the General Meetings, Meeting of the Board of Directors, and Meeting of the Board of Councilors.

(Function of the General Meeting)

Section 17.  The General Meeting shall be comprised of members of the Association, and shall preside over the following matters.

  1. The Constitution
  2. Project reports and settlement of accounts
  3. Project plans and budgets
  4. Appointment of executive officers
  5. Other matters deemed important by the Board of Directors

(Convocation of a General Meeting）

Section 18.  General Meetings shall be divided into the Ordinary General Meeting, held at least once a year, and the Extraordinary General Meeting, held at any time deemed necessary. The meetings shall be convened by the President.

(Quorum and Resolution of the General Meetings）

Section 19.

  1. General Meetings must be attended by more than one-half of all members. Any member who is unable to attend may submit a letter of proxy and be considered to be in attendance.
  2. A General Meeting resolution shall require an affirmative vote of the majority of those in attendance.

(Meeting of the Board of Directors)

Section 20.

  1. Meetings of the Board of Directors shall be comprised of the President and the Directors, and shall be convened by the President when deemed necessary or when there is a request to convene the meeting by at least one-third of the Directors.
  2. The Meetings of the Board of Directors must be attended by at least one-third of all Directors. Any Director unable to attend may submit a letter of proxy and be considered to be in attendance.
  3. The Meetings of the Board of Directors shall deliberate on the following matters, and a resolution shall require an affirmative vote of the majority of the Directors in attendance.
  4. Execution of matters resolved during the General Meeting
  5. Matters to be discussed in the General Meeting
  6. Execution of affairs of the Association that do not require the resolve of the General Meeting

(Meeting of the Board of Councilors)

Section 21.

  1. Meetings of the Board of Councilors shall be comprised of the President and the Councilors, and shall be convened by the President when deemed necessary or when there is a request from the Board of Directors.
  2. The Meetings of the Board of Councilors must be attended by at least one-third of all Councilors. Any Councilor unable to attend may submit a letter of proxy and be considered to be in attendance.
  3. The Meetings of the Board of Councilors shall deliberate on matters referred by the Board of Directors, and a resolution shall require an affirmative vote of the majority of the Councilors in attendance.
  4. Directors and Auditors may attend the Meetings of the Board of Councilors to express their opinions.

(Meeting Minutes)

Section 22.  Meeting minutes must be taken to keep as record of the General Meetings, the Meetings of the Board of Directors, and the Meetings of the Board of Councilors, and must be signed by the chair of the meeting and at least two signatories appointed from among the attendees of each respective meeting.

(Committees)

Section 23.

  1. The President, after resolution by the Board of Directors, may establish various kinds of committees in order to ensure smooth operation of the Association’s projects.
  2. Members of the committee shall be appointed by the President, with the approval of the Board of Directors.
  3. The committee chair shall be elected by the members of the committee from among its members.
  4. Matters crucial to the operation of the committee shall be decided by the President, after resolution by the Board of Directors.
  5. The term of office of committee members shall be two years but they may be reappointed.

Article 6: Accounting

(Expenses)

Section 24.  Expenses of the Association shall be covered by membership fees and donations.

(Surplus Fund)

Section 25.  Any surplus fund shall be carried over to the following financial year.

(Financial Year)

Section 26.  The financial year of the Association shall commence on April 1 of each year and conclude on March 31 of the following year.

Article 7: Miscellaneous Provisions

(Amendments to the Constitution)

Section 27.  Any amendments to the Constitution must be approved by at least three-fourths of attendees of the General Meeting.

(Dissolution)

Section 28

  1. The Association, with the approval of at least three-fourths of the attendees at each of the following meetings—the General Meetings, the Meetings of the Board of Directors, and the Meetings of the Board of Councilors—may be dissolved.
  2. Any remaining assets upon dissolution shall be disposed of in a manner agreed to in the General Meetings.

(Secretariat)

Section 29.

  1. The Association may establish a secretariat for the purpose of processing the administrative work of the Association.
  2. The secretariat may have several dedicated staff, who may be given positions such as advisors.
  3. In addition to the matters specified in the preceding items, matters related to the secretariat will be specified separately.

Article 8: Supplementary Provisions

(Bylaws)

Section 30.  Bylaws regarding the enforcement of the Constitution may be established separately, after resolution by the Board of Directors, the Board of Councilors, and the General Meeting.

(Supplementary Provisions)

  1. Executive officers at the time of establishment of the Association shall be, regardless of Section 13 and Section 15, appointed in the General Meeting of Establishment and shall serve until March 31, 2006.
  2. The project plans and budgets at the time of the establishment of the Association shall be as stipulated by the General Meeting of Establishment.
  3. Corporate member companies may register between one and five persons per company. The registered persons have voting rights in the General Meetings. At any time, a corporate member may change the number of persons registered at any time within the five-person limit and/or replace a particular registered person with another, provided the corporate member informs the Association.
  4. Membership fee shall be 3,000 yen*¹ per individual member, and 200,000 yen per corporate member. The Association must be informed promptly in the event an individual member becomes an employee of a company, or a student member transfers to an individual membership or becomes an employee of a company.

*¹ Membership fee of students of graduate schools, universities, colleges, and vocational schools that have joined the Association because they support its objective, shall be 2,000 yen. Honorary members shall not be charged a membership fee.

  • The financial year of the Association at the time of establishment, regardless of Section 26, shall commence on the date of establishment and conclude on March 31 of 2005.
  • This Constitution shall come into effect on October 21, 2004.

Enacted: October 21, 2004
Amended: May 17, 2006
Amended: June 1, 2010
Amended: November 15, 2018
Amended: November 16, 2020