Minutes of a meeting of the International Council of T.V.U. held at the University of Maryland, Catonsville, U.S.A. on the 9th and 10th July, 1983

Present: Dr. Gordon Latto (President), Mr. Jay Dinshah, Mr John LE Grice and Dr. German Alberti (Executive Vice-Presidents), Mrs Pat Takacs, Miss Melinda Marks (9th July only), Mrs Madge Darneille, Mr. Jashu Shah (Elected Members), Mr. Brian Graff (Reg. Sec. for North America), Mr. Maxwell Lee (Hon. General Secretary).

1. Chairman's Welcome

The President welcomed all and stated that he looked forward to a happy and productive meeting. He referred to the previous World Congress held in the United States in Maine and to the great success it had proved.

The Hon. General Secretary reported the passing of Mr. Geoffrey Hodson of New Zealand who had been an honorary fellow of I.V.U. and a keen supporter of the world vegetarian movement.

2. Apologies for Absence

Mr. Ulrich Schroter, Mr William Parrott, Mr. Burggrabe, Mr. Beeldman, Mr Bhamgara, Mr. Chomitz, Mr. Fleischanderl, Mr. Gunn-King, Mr. Heller, Mr. Karolyi, Mr. Khalik, Mr Kocken, Mr. Mehta, Mr. Meyer, Mr. Pick and Mr. Stolov.

3. Minutes of Last Meeting

The minutes of the International Council meeting held in Ulm, West Germany on 23rd, 24th & 26th July, 1982, were approved with an amendment to minute 6 of 23rd July. The names of Messrs Shantilal Mehta and Indirit Jain were removed from the list of Hon. Vice-Presidents and the name of Mr Surendra Mehta was put in their place.

4. Matters Arising

23rd July Meeting
Minute 6 The General Secretary reported that he had sent a suitably prepared certificate to Mrs. Eikeboom-Broekman who had registered her appreciation of it.

26th July Meeting
Minute 10 No suggestions had been received by thc Hon General Secretary for new publications.

5. Minutes of the General Meeting held in Ulm

The minutes were approved for submission to the next World Congress General Meeting after the names of Messrs. Shantilal Mehta and Indirit Jain were removed from the list of Hon Vice-Presidents and Mr. Surendra Mehta put in their place.

6. Hon. General Secretary's Report

The Hon. General Secretary reported on the contacts he had made since the last meeting of the International Council. He emphasised the problems which arose from members not replying. The system of Regional Secretaries was not operating effectively due to some not actively carrying out the duties, not replying to correspondence and not actively promoting I.V.U. Miss Marks suggested giving Regional Secretaries a guide to make clear to them what their responsibilities were.

The Hon. General Secretary suggested the need for more secretarial assistance to ensure that his duties could be more effectively carried out. It was agreed to consider this after the Council had considered the financial report.

7. World Congress, 1984

i) Responsibilities
It was emphasised that every effort should be made to involve as many vegetarian organisations as possible and to encourage their support. A meeting of interested parties would be held in September to determine the allocation of duties etc. N.A.V.S. would be legally responsible for the Congress.

ii) Aims
It was agreed that the aims of the 1934 World Congress should be to gain wide publicity among the general public and to promote vegetarianism. Specifically, it was suggested that vegetarian organisations in North America should be promoted and that local groups should be encouraged, that people should be trained for vegetsrian activity and that the Congress should promoLe I.V.U. Particular attention should be given to encouraging non-vegetarians to attend the Congress. Members were invited to suggest to the organisers how the aims could best be achieved.

iii) Costs
After some discussion, it was agreed to accept a range of charges with a low registration fee for those booking by 15th November from North America and 29th February, 1984 from outside North America. Later bookings would involve payment of a higher fee. A list of other charges was approved. It was agreed that there would be a reduced registration fee for senior citizens, students and people under the age of eighteen.

iv) Financing
N.A.V.S. will be responsible for financing the Congress but I.V.U. will provide an interest free loan of up to £2,000 should one be required to pay early Congress accounts. Such loan to be entirely for Congress purposes. If a reasonable profit is made on the Congress, N.A.V.S agreed to make a donation to I.V.U.

v) Numbers
The university is able to accommodate up to 880 persons but additional participants can be allowed to camp.

vi) Youth Provision
Allowing camping and a reduced registration fee should encourage young people. It was agreed that suitable items should be provided in the Congress programme.

vii) Publicity
A number of approaches to publicity were discussed. The need to ensure the co-operation of all vegetarian and associated groups in North America was emphasised.

viii) Programme
Simultaneous translation will be provided for any language group with thirty or more participants. Ideas for the programme were discussed and it was agreed that a wide variety of activity should be provided. In particular the organisation of workshops and advisory sessions was felt desirable. The final programme would be drawn up by N.A.V.S. and submitted to the Hon. General Secretary for I.V.U. approval.

ix) Financial Assistance
N.A.V.S. offered to give two free places at the Congress for participants from Poland. Member societies would be asked to donate towards the travel costs for the two participants from Poland. Member societies should be invited to sponsor delegates from countries which would not be able to send delegates without such assistance.

3. Financial Report and Appointment of Auditor

The International Council approved the appointment of Mr. James F. Burton, a Certified Accountant, as honorary Auditor.

In the absence of the Hon. Treasurer, the Hon. General Secretary presented the financial report. The financial report was approved. It was requested that the previous year's figures should be given to enable a comparison to be made.

9. Membership

The Hon. General Secretary reported on the level of membership. The need to stimulate interest in membership was agreed. It was considered that all persons elected at a Congress should be members of member society or individual members or patrons of I.V.U.

10. Regional Congresses

The importance of such Congresses was agreed. Latin America was holding a Regional Congress every two years. It was agreed that the Italian Society might be given another opportunity to organise a Regional Congress.

11. Regional Secretary for Europe

The difficulty over financing the activity of a Regional Secretary was considered. The Hon. General Secretary reported the correspondsnce with the Netherlands Vegetarian Society. It was agreed that, as an experiment, a European Secretary should have reasonable expenses paid at the discretion of the Hon. General Secretary. The Hon. General Secretary was authorised to negotiate the appointment of a Secretary for Europe.

12. 1986 World Congress

The General Secretary reported that he had received offers to host the 1986 World Congress from two vegetarian societies in Israel from the Japanese Vegetarian Society and from the Yugoslav Vegetarian Society. He reported the views of absent International Council Members who had written to him but pointed out that they only had knowledge of the Israeli and Japanese offers as the one from Yugoslavia had not arrived in time to inform members.

Only those members present at the meeting of the International Council may vote. After considerable discussion it was agreed to vote on the offers and, as a result, it was decided to accept the offer from Yugoslavia. Should a Congress not prove possible in Yugoslavia for any reason, then the Japanese should be Invited to host the 1986 World Congress.

13. Manker International Foundation

The General Secretary reported that he considered there was still a need to co-ordinate the activities of the Foundation. It was agreed that an account should not be maintained in Antwerp and that the money should be transferred to the account in Britain.

It was agreed that income from the Foundation could be used to help defray the cost of the General Secretary's speaking tour of North American Vegetarian Societies as this was one of the aims of the Foundation.

The annual audited accounts for monies held in India should be sent to the General Secretary as soon as possible after the year end. Any expenditure from the Fund's income should only be with The approval of the General Secretary.

14. Patron's Fund

The General Secretary reported the names of those admitted as Patrons since the last meeting. Members were asked to encourage applications for acceptance as Patrons.

15. S.C.I.V.U.

Correspondence from Dr. Pellnat concerning the continuing problems of activating S.C.I.V.U. was reported. It was agreed to leave the review of S.C.I.V.U.'s future until the nexb World Congress.

16. Regional Secretaries' Reports

Reports were read from Africa, Australia and the Middle East. Dr. Alberti gave a report for Latin America. Concern was expressed about the level of activity and the need for Regional Secretaries to be more active.

17. Publications

It was agreed that the General Secretary might develop the publications activity and employ authors as necessary. It was agreed that a total of up to £1,000 per year might be spent on publications and secretarial activity.

18. International Council Meetings

It was agreed that observers should only attend by special invitation for particular matters.

19. World Vegetarian Day and Reverence for Life MonLh

It was agreed that all members societies should be asked to celebrate Reverence for Life Month and particularly significant days during the month. A suitably worded proclamation was prodaced by N.A.V.S. and approved of.

The success of the Baltimore Vegetarian Society in obtaining the support of the Mayor of Baltimore for World Vegetarian Day was highly commended.

20. Newsletters

Members expressed appreciation of the newsletters produced by the General Secretary. It was agreed that they served a valuable service to members.

21. Furthering World Vegetarianism

Various approaches were discussed. The need for more offers of help was emphasised. It was agreed that the General Secretary should develop speaking engagements and be prepared to travel to help groups in need.

22. Election to I.V.U. Office

The need to have full information about candidates in advance was agreed. Member societies should be encouraged to send in suitable nominations prior to the next Congress.

23. Any Other Business

Mr. Brian Graff raised the question of the theme for the 1984 Congress. It was agreed that this should be "Animal Rights and Non-Violence".

A proposed banner for the 1984 Congress was shown. The idea was liked for internal consumption but it was agreed that something much more outgoing was needed for external consumption.