3. Official Bodies

3.1. World Association - Congress

As a rule, a general meeting of members is held every two years in the form of a congress.

The congress is convened by the Board of Directors by giving twelve (12) weeks advance notice with an announcement of the agenda in the four official languages of WACS.

Religious and national political themes may not be discussed.

Each National Member Society may be represented at the congress with only one (1) vote and must be named in writing to the Board of Directors no later than 14 days before the Congress.

There is nothing to prevent the attendance of further representatives of societies. The congress costs of all delegates from societies will be paid by their respective societies.

Each National Member Society which is unable to send their own representative to the Congress is entitled to be represented by one other member society. This fact must be notified to the Executive Committee not less than two (2) weeks before the Congress. Each National Member Society may carry only one (1) additional vote other than their own.

 

As the supreme body of WACS, the congress takes decisions on all important matters figuring on the agenda by a majority of the votes cast.

Voting by ballot may be requested by the Board of Directors or at least five (5) National Members Societies which have voting rights.

Every four (4) years, the delegates elect a legitimate National Member Society to represent the WACS Presidium together with the elected WACS Continental Directors who will comprise the WACS Board of Directors.

 

Amendments to the statutes require a two-thirds majority vote of the congress participants and proxy holders who are entitled to vote.

The Congress is the supreme body of WACS and its decision on differences of opinion within the Congress is final. All the legitimate parties belonging to WACS must accept this arbitration ruling in a democratic manner.

By the conclusion of each Congress, the legitimate National Society Members determine the venue of the World Congress by casting votes in order to decide the hosts for the proceeding four years.

The next congress venue (in two years time) is also confirmed by the Board of Directors.

The President is responsible for ensuring orderly proceedings at the Congress.

The President may order WACS participants who do not respect the agenda or the statutes or fail to respect the meeting, to stop speaking.

3.2. WACS Board

The WACS Board is composed of the duly elected Executive Committee and the Continental Directors. The President convenes the meetings and conducts their proceedings. He is required to convene a meeting if three members of the board so request and the financial situation of the World Association so permits.

The Board normally holds one meeting a year.

3.3. WACS Executive Committee

WACS is headed by the Executive Committee which consists of the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary General and the Treasurer. The Executive committee has its seat in the country from which it has been elected by the Congress. The elected WACS President appoints the WACS Vice-President, the WACS Secretary General and on a proposal from the Swiss Cooks’ Society, the WACS Treasurer.

The term of office is four (4) years.

In the event of any disputes between legitimate WACS member societies the Executive Committee may be asked to act as an intermediary if the parties wish to be mediated.

The WACS elected Executive Committee is also required to intervene on its own initiative if the interests or unity of WACS are threatened. Towards this purpose and for fair and equal handling of the issues, supporting documents are requested to be made available by the relevant WACS member parties. The WACS Executive Committee and the Board of Directors will issue a statement which should be considered final and no further correspondence may be entered into.

3.3.1.WACS President and Vice President

The WACS President and Vice President supervise the administration and the business of WACS.

3.3.2. WACS Secretary General

The WACS Secretary General conducts the correspondence of WACS on behalf of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors. He drafts the reports, writes the minutes, and handles the current correspondence of WACS.

3.3.3. WACS Treasurer

The WACS Treasurer is responsible for the handling of the financial matters of WACS, at the discretion of the WACS Board, on behalf of the WACS National Member Societies and Extraordinary Members.

The Treasurer keeps and maintains the permanent address lists of all WACS members and ensures the safe continuity of WACS business by maintaining the officially designated WACS office in Switzerland. The Treasure works alongside the WACS Secretary General to obtain this objective.

3.4. WACS Continental Directors

The WACS congress elects the Continental Directors for a term of office of four (4) years.

The Continental Directors represent the areas of Africa-Middle East, Americas, Asia , Europe and Pacific Region

The WACS Continental Directors are elected from the National Member Societies which do not belong to the Executive Committee.

Election of the Continental Directors for the Africa-Middle East, Americas, Asia , Europe and Pacific Region, will be voted by the legitimate National Member Society representing each continent.

The Continental Directors represent the National Member Societies in their respective regions and advise the WACS Executive Committee on all important matters of WACS, in particular on professional matters, questions of training and further training, the organization of competitions and new membership.

3.5. WACS Ambassador

As a general rule, the outgoing WACS President is appointed as WACS Ambassador for a one four (4) year term of office.

The WACS Ambassador assists and advises the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors.

The Ambassador may be asked to handle special tasks and projects for WACS.

3.6. WACS Culinary Committee

The Executive Committee appoints a WACS Culinary Committee which is instructed to prepare guidelines and rules on WACS international culinary exhibitions and competitions, and to ensure the further development of such events.

It also supervises the correct conduct of such competitions and the qualification criteria of the jurors accredited by WACS and their training.

Furthermore the WACS Culinary Committee reviews requests for WACS sanctioned events and makes recommendations to the WACS Board of Directors.

The tenure of the WACS Culinary Committee is reviewed by the WACS Board of Directors.