Letter from the ICC President - December 2009
Dear Friends,
December 2009 marks the halfway point in my presidency of ICC, so for me it is a time for both reflection and planning ahead.
2009 has been a busy and important year for ICC and several notable events took place.
Chief among these was the launch of our own scientific journal "Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods", or QAS for short. Although it is early days, QAS is beginning to be an important source of up to the minute information on new methods for measuring the safety and quality of grain foods. I trust that you are enjoying reading QAS and I look forward to receiving back from you about the journal.
In June, ICC held a Summit on Grain Food Security in Vienna, which was attended by many ICC member countries and corporate members. The major outcome of the Summit was the Declaration by ICC to commit its expertise in cereal science and technology to help improve the world grain staple food supply, the safety of grain foods and the nutritional value of grain foods. To achieve this, ICC is actively seeking involvement for member organisations in international collaborative projects concerning grain food security, and will continue to do so in 2010 and beyond.
Concerning collaborative projects, ICC continues to very successfully coordinate the MoniQA network of excellence on harmonisation of monitoring strategies for food quality and safety assessment in the food supply chain. The results of MoniQA activities are now coming in and during 2010 these will be communicated to ICC members by various means.
In July in Vienna, ICC hosted the 4th International Dietary Fibre Conference. This was a highly successful conference which communicated the latest cereal science and nutrition research into the benefits of dietary fibre as well as developments in new dietary food products.
Last, but by no means least, during 2009 a consultative Taskgroup developed a package of improved ICC member benefits and more flexible membership options. These include:I am most gratified to inform you that these changes were unanimously approved by ICC members by electronic ballot which took place in November 2009.
- New Institutional class of ICC membership for scientific institutions
- Flexibility of country membership, whereby two or more member institutions in a country can constitute a Country Member
- Improved discounts for National Delegate participation in ICC supported conferences and discounts for ICC conference participation extended to Deputy National Delegates
- Reduced Country Membership fees for developing countries
- Free subscription to the QAS scientific journal for National Delegates
- ICC Subscriber option for individuals entitling them to free subscription to QAS, plus other benefits
Looking ahead to 2010, in February, I am personally delighted to host the CST-ICC International Grains Symposium which will take place in my home city of Pretoria in South Africa. With regard to communication of the results of ICC projects, in May in Lund, Sweden there will be a conference to communicate the findings of the Healthgrain project on phytochemicals in cereals. In June, in Krakow, Poland, there is a MoniQA public meeting.
An important goal for 2010 is to deepen our collaboration with related associations. In this respect, I am very pleased to announce that in October, ICC will be holding a symposium on grain food safety and our General Assembly during the AACC International Annual Meeting in Savannah, Georgia, USA. Also for those of you who will be attending the IUFoST world food science and technology congress in Cape Town, South Africa in August, there will be a short ICC session.
Above all, in 2010 I would like ICC to better serve member needs through ICC's technical activities. To this end, through our collaborative project work, we have been able to increase the number of headquarters staff. A major activity will be to update the ICC standard methods and to gain wider acceptance of these methods by international authorities. Your participation in the methods update is critical for its success.
I wish you all as members and associates of our ICC family everything of the best for 2010.
If there is any issue that you would like to discuss with me personally, please just write to me atjohn.taylor[AT]up.ac.za.
Prof. John Taylor
ICC President 2009-2010
Pretoria, South Africa
21 December 2009
ICC Membership: Improved Benefits and More Flexibility
ICC is most pleased to announce improved membership benefits and more flexible membership options.
In response to feedback from ICC members, during first half of 2009 a Task Group on Membership chaired by ICC President Prof John Taylor evaluated ways to improve member benefits and make ICC membership more flexible, so that as many people as possible around the world can be involved in the ICC family. In making its recommendations, the Membership Task Group consulted with all ICC members and also evaluated the membership structures of other associations.
The Task Group's recommendations were accepted by the ICC Executive Committee at its annual meeting in Vienna in June 2009 and will be implemented from January 2010.
Improved Membership Benefits
These include
- Improved discounts for National Delegate participation in ICC supported conferences
- Discounts for ICC conference participation extended to Deputy National Delegates
- Increased representation for ICC Country Members in the General Assembly
- Reduced Country Membership fees for developing countries
- Free subscription to the ICC scientific journal QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods for National Delegates
- Detailed improved benefits for Corporate Members
More Flexible Membership Options
- Scientific institutions can now become Institutional Members of ICC with individual voting rights in the General Assembly, plus other benefits
- Two or more member institutions in a country, depending on the size of the country, can constitute a Country Member with full membership rights and benefits
- Subscriber option for individuals entitling them to free subscription to the ICC scientific journal QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, plus other benefits of being associated with ICC
New Membership OptionsOfficial letter from the ICC President announcing improved ICC membership benefits and options.
- ICC Country Membership
New fees and discounts, new additional benefits!
Application form- ICC Institutional Membership
New additional category! New benefits!
Application form- ICC Corporate Membership
New additional benefits!
Application form- ICC Individual Services Subscriber Package
New additional category! New benefits!
Application form
New Yearly ICC Membership Fees (status 2010)
- ICC Country Membership
Based on population with three categories:
A = 0-10 million: € 2,950.-
B = 10-50 million: € 4,950.-
C = >50 million: € 6,950.-
All fees (status 2010) are in EURO and subject to the Austrian inflation index.
Optional: Discount for low income countries
Low income countries qualify for an optional 25% discount on ICC country Membership. Qualifying countries for a discounted ICC Country Membership fee can be found in the United Nation's Human Development Index (HDI) list of 2008 as low and/or medium human development countries OR in the World Bank's list of economies' income as low-income, lower-middle-income economies, and upper-middle-income economies. Making use of the discounted fee reduces the number of votes in the General Assembly, however an upgrading to become a fully paying Country Member is possible at any time and thus securing full voting rights.
Application form- ICC Institutional Membership
Yearly fee: € 2,000.-
Application form- ICC Corporate Membership
Yearly fee: € 1,000.-
Application form- ICC Individual Services Subscriber Package
The yearly ICC Individual Services Subscriber fee: € 100.-
Special students discount
(enrolled at an educational institution and age <26): € 70.-
Special senior discount:
(>64 years) € 70.-
Application form
Sign up today!
Contact: Sabine Gatzer, ICC Membership Administration, ICC Headquarters, Marxergasse 2, A-1030 Vienna, Austria, office@icc.or.at.
A formal approval by the ICC General Assembly through electronic voting resulted in an overwhelming support for the new structure.
Should you have any questions about the improved ICC membership benefits and flexible membership options, please contact either ICC President Prof. John Taylor (john.taylor@up.ac.za) or ICC Secretary General, Dr. Roland Poms (roland.poms@icc.or.at).
John Taylor
ICC President
Roland E. Poms
ICC Secretary General/CEO
Report on the ICC Expert Summit on Food Security, Vienna, Austria, 29-30 June 2009
Over 60 ICC delegates and invited experts from 28 countries gathered in Vienna on the 29th and 30th June 2009 to address the issue of food security with the aim of considering the "critical research and development needs for a safe, sustainable and sufficient food and feed supply". The meeting comprised a series of short 'scene-setting' presentations before delegates split into working parties to consider different elements of food security and to develop ideas which could form the basis of suitable research proposals. An ICC Summit Declaration was drafted and will be published shortly. A comprehensive report on the event will be published in QAS – Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, Volume 1, Issue 3, to appear online shortly at www.icc.or.at/journal/qas. The photo-gallery of the event can be viewed at http://www.icc.or.at/galleries/expertsummit2009/
Press Release
Please find the press release of the ICC Expert Summit Declaration below:
ICC Expert Summit Declaration from 30 June 2009 published on 02 Sept. 2009
ICC Headquarters is EMAS certified
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