BIR General Assembly to adopt new BIR Statutes and By-laws

To all BIR Effective Members

As you know, BIR has revised its current statutes and by-laws, with the professional assistance of the law firm Bird & Bird LLP, in order to achieve better governance and to address important issues resulting from the continuous development and globalisation of our world organisation.

Among the topics which have been considered in the revised BIR rules are: respect of competition law and anti-trust rules; data protection; conformity with the new tax legislation, in particular VAT; need for a prompt and efficient decision-making process within the organisation; incorporation of a best practice among international trade associations; commercial disputes between member companies, etc.

In accordance with our invitation letter dated 26 July 2010 to all BIR Effective Members, a General Assembly will be convened in Brussels on Monday, 25 October 2010 on the occasion of the BIR Autumn Round-Table Sessions (25-26 October 2010), to adopt these revised BIR Statutes and By-Laws, which were tabled in Istanbul on 1 June 2010 but which could not be officially agreed because the required quorum was not met.

The different language versions of the revised statutes (English and French – the legal version) are available on the BIR website in the Members’ Area.

The General Assembly will start at 18.00 hrs sharp in the Salle des Nations of the Brussels Sheraton Hotel, in the presence of a notary and the BIR lawyers.

Voting delegates from Effective Member firms and associations are requested to be able to present an official ID document and possibly a proof that they are employed by the company they represent.

For more details about this matter please consult our e-mail dated 26 July 2010. The few comments which we received before the deadline of 15 July have been incorporated in the revised statutes and no particular discussion is expected. There should be enough time to reach the Welcome Evening party.