RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL CENTRE FOR BOTTLING AND RELATED PACKAGING(CETIE) ADOPTED BY THE EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON 30th June 2023.
1 – MEMBERSHIP FEES
1.1 General provisions
The Board of Directors determines the basic membership fee each year and has it ratified by the General Assembly.
It may vary from year to year as necessary to balance the budget as a non-profit-making association.
Fees are due on 31 December each year, at the request of the Chair of the Association or by delegation, at the request of the Secretary General. Membership is not automatically renewable. All Full Members will receive a renewal notice in December at the latest for membership in the following calendar year.
The deadline for membership renewal is 30 April; failure to renew membership by that date shall, as stated in the Statutes, automatically be interpreted as meaning that the Full Member in question has forfeited their membership, unless the Chair of the Board of Directors decides to suspend their exclusion for a period of grace to allow said Member to pay their fee; such a decision shall be based, for example, on a written statement from the Full Member expressing their intention to settle their financial obligations subsequently.
It shall be inferred by failure to pay the membership fee after the due date that the Member in question has resigned. The latter shall, however, still be required to pay the sum in question to the association.
Fees are due for the whole calendar year and are not subject to pro rata. However, if a Full Member joins Cetie after August and states its intention, on the membership form, of pursuing membership into the following year, special terms may be applied, for the first year of membership, at the discretion of the Secretary General.
Individuals’ capacity to join an association is determined by the national laws in force in their home country. In joining the association, Members therefore confirm their capacity to become a member, in full conformity with the laws under which they are governed.
In the event that a Member loses their Member status due to loss or lack of their legal capacity to join the association, all proceedings of the collegial bodies in which they would have taken part shall remain valid, and no refund of membership fees shall be due.
1.2 Payment terms and conditions
Membership is the result of a call for subscriptions and does not involve a purchase order. Cetie issues a call for subscriptions and collects payment without a corresponding purchase order. If a Member issues a purchase order, then it will be for the Member’s administrative convenience only.
The Member shall pay the basic fee(s) due in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the corresponding call for subscriptions.
It is specified that Full Members who are not French nationals shall be required to pay any taxes imposed in their country or in France, and/or resulting from costs incurred by bank transfers, in addition to the amount of the fees.
Consequently, Cetie does not cover intermediary or beneficiary banking fees.
1.3 Membership fees according to the Full Member’s organisational structure
Membership fees depend on the Full Member's organisational structure, as explained below. The fee may therefore be re-calculated from one year to the next, if the Full Member’s structural organisation changes (merger or acquisition, etc.).
In addition, it is also reminded that organisations/associations/federations joining on their own behalf and as representatives of all or some of their members (hereinafter, “the Collective”), undertake, from the start of their membership, to comply with, and have their members comply with, the statutes, these rules of procedure, the technical working groups operating charter and the terms of the confidentiality commitment that each participant in the working group is required to sign.
1.3.1 Individual members
A single annual basic fee is due for entities applying individually that are not represented in several countries.
1.3.2 Case of a Collective with the legal structure of a Federation
Federations or professional associations grouping together several legal entities may join:
- Either in their own name and on their own behalf, in which case they shall pay a single basic fee, and the status of Full Member shall only be granted to the federation or professional association in question,
- Or in their own name and on their own behalf, and in the name and on behalf of all or some of their own members, provided they can provide proof of a representation mandate signed by each member of the Collective in question.
In that case, the status of Full Member is granted to the Federation alone, and the members of said Federation, represented by the latter, may appoint their expert staff within the technical working groups, provided the Federation has duly paid the fees owing, as per the following terms:
- 2 entities represented: 2 annual basic fees due
- 3 entities represented: 3 annual basic fees due
- 4 or more entities represented: 4 annual basic fees due.
In each case are considered as Cetie members for participation in Cetie technical working groups and access to the Cetie Extranet, all persons employed directly by the Full Member Federation or mandated by the companies represented, provided the basic fees have been duly paid, as specified above.
1.3.3 Case of a Collective with the legal structure of a Multinational Company or Group
For multinational companies, the number of annual basic fees due is to be considered on a case-by-case basis with the following guidelines:
- For multinational companies operating in the same sector in different countries: 1 annual basic fee due per country,
- For multinational companies operating in different packaging segments: 1 annual basic fee per segment (glass, PET, etc.) and per country.
Any subsidiary/parent company which is not located in one of the countries covered by the membership terms of the Collective, a multinational company, shall pay an annual basic fee on its own behalf and acquire the status of Full Member.
1.4 Membership and participation in the documentary work carried out by Cetie
1.4.1 Cetie provides a framework enabling its Members to develop and publish industrial standards and practical guidelines of common interest through a collaborative process. By “framework”, it is meant mainly:
- A permanent staff
- Premises including a meeting room
- A Website
1.4.2 Becoming a member of Cetie implies:
- Having access to the technical working groups created by Cetie, made up primarily of any expert staff mandated by each Member; To this end, Members shall appoint, in simple written form, the experts to whom they confer a mandate, bearing in mind that participation will be subject to their prior signature of the appropriate Cetie confidentiality commitment,
- Access to the Cetie Extranet for each of the appointed experts,
- Access to the Cetie digital documentary database.
2 – RESIGNATION - EXCLUSION - DEATH OR DISSOLUTION OF A MEMBER
2.1. Resignation
Notice of resignation shall be sent to the Secretary General of the Association in any written form compatible with acknowledgement of receipt. Resigning Members shall not be required to explain the reason for their resignation; said resignation cannot be withdrawn and shall not require acceptance in any form either from the Secretary General, the Board of Directors or the Assembly.
2.2. Exclusion
As laid down in the Statutes, the Board of Directors shall be entitled to exclude Members for any form of serious misconduct.
Serious misconduct includes the following:
• failure to participate in the activities of the Association;
• any breach of honour or integrity;
• any behaviour that runs contrary to the interests of the Association;
• Any serious breach of the Rules of Procedure or the Statutes.
In any case, the Member concerned shall be notified of the allegations against them and the penalty incurred, and be asked to defend their case before the Board of Directors. To this end, said Member shall be summoned one (1) month in advance, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, with a copy of the meeting agenda referring to the possible penalty.
The Member shall be entitled to enlist assistance from the counsel of their choice. The Member shall be entitled to appeal against this decision before the Ordinary General Assembly, as per the procedures laid down in the Statutes.
2.3. Dissolution
In the case of the dissolution of a legal entity which is a Member of the Association, the beneficiaries or recipients of the assets of said Members shall not be entitled to claim continued membership of the Association, unless they are personally approved in the conditions laid down in the Association Statutes and these Rules of Procedure.
2.4. Effect of the loss of Member status
Loss of Member status, regardless of the cause, shall result in an immediate end to the Member in question’s participation in the running of the Association, including participation in the technical working groups.
3 – USE OF PROXY IF A REPRESENTATIVE OF A FULL MEMBER IS ABSENT OR UNABLE TO ATTEND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Each Full Member appoints a substitute to represent them if their appointed representative is unable to attend a meeting of the General Assembly. The Full Member in question shall notify the Chair of any change in the appointed representative and/or the substitute as soon as the change occurs.
If both the appointed representative and the substitute are unable to attend, the Full Member shall be entitled to give proxy to another Full Member via a specific proxy form sent prior to the General Assembly.
4 – COMPOSITION AND RENEWAL OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Members of the Board of Directors are appointed for a three (3) year period. They may be renewed without breaking off their mandate.
The Board submits a list of candidates to the General Assembly once a year; the number of candidates may differ from the number of outgoing Directors or the number of Directors who have left since the last Assembly.
5 – GUESTS OF THE ASSOCIATION’S COLLEGIAL BODIES
Any qualified figure or expert whose opinion may be helpful to the discussion may be invited:
- By the Board of Directors or the Secretary General to attend said Board meetings or one of its advisory committees,
- By at least half of the Full Members (in terms of number of votes) within the General Assembly, by the Chair of the Board of Directors or by the Secretary General, to take part in the ordinary or extraordinary General Assembly.
Any director or Full Member shall be entitled to contest the participation of the third-party guest, even during the meeting, for the sole reason that said participation runs contrary to their business interests, and they shall be required to explain the basis thereof at the next meeting of the body concerned.
All guests shall be subject to the strict application of a confidentiality clause, by means of an ad hoc agreement, except if the guest in question is already bound by a legal confidentiality obligation, as verified by the Chair, before the start of the meeting.
6 – CREATION OF ONE OR MORE COMMITTEES
At the initiative of the Board of Directors, one or more specific standing or temporary committees (such as an ethics committee), on which its members serve, may be created for the purpose of carrying out specific assignments. Such committees act in an advisory capacity.
The Board of Directors has the option of enlisting support from third-party experts, subject to the strict application of a confidentiality clause, which the Chair or his/her delegate shall be required to verify prior to their participation.
The duration of the duties of the Members of said committees, the scope of their assignment and the type of work carried out are set out in the Board of Directors report acknowledging the creation of the committee.
Committees are convened by the Chair, according to the frequency stated in the Committee creation document, and follow an agenda approved by the Chair beforehand; at the start of the meeting, the committee members appoint a rapporteur (by a simple majority) in charge of drafting the related meeting report, no more than fifteen (15) days after the committee meeting is held.
The reports are approved by the committee members at the following meeting. The Chair is responsible for sending the content of the reports to the other directors.
Any proposals put forward by these committees in relation to the purpose of their assignment are not binding for the Board of Directors that created the committee.
No representation is authorised within the committees.
7 – DELEGATION OF POWER FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL
At his/her sole discretion, the Chair may decide to grant a delegation of power to the Secretary General and authorise that person to sub-delegate, within a scope and time frame set out in the delegation of power document, for all routine administrative matters, i.e., matters over which the Chair has authority and which do not therefore require express delegation from the Board to the Chair.
Any delegation of power from the Chair to the Secretary General that falls within the scope of special delegations of power granted by the Board of Directors to the Chair shall require prior authorisation from the Board of Directors and, unless agreed otherwise by the Board, shall not include, for the Secretary General, the right to sub-delegate to another staff member of the association.
8 – OWNERSHIP OF INCOMPLETE, VALIDATED OR PUBLISHED TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION
8.1 Documentation produced by technical working groups and validated technical documentation
As mentioned in the Cetie technical working groups operating charter, all Cetie drafts and working documents shared in the Cetie working groups are confidential.
All results, drafts, working documents and technical documentation (hereinafter, “the documents”), regardless of whether they are incomplete or validated, resulting from the collective reflections of the technical working groups, belong to Cetie, regardless of whether they are protectable, protected, non-protectable or non-protected by an intellectual property right, as laid down in the working groups operating charter approved by all Cetie Members and which the latter undertake to observe, through the very act of becoming a Member.
The Member and its experts, for whom the Member gives an undertaking, agree therefore not to disclose any such documents to non-Members and agree to maintain the confidentiality of such content.
8.2 Publication of technical documentation
Based on the opinion of the technical working group, Cetie decides to publish a validated technical document which, in principle, shall be considered “confidential” and may be shared with third parties by Cetie further to a duly accepted request.
Without prejudice to the above, any working group expert associated with a sitting Member can access the technical documentation published in the Cetie documentary database, provided that said Member has authorised the opening of a user account for the expert concerned.
In cases other than experts associated with association Members, user accounts giving access to the technical documentation published on the association website shall be opened if approved by the Chair or Secretary General of Cetie.
Anyone who has access to published technical documentation that is not marked as “non-confidential” undertakes not to disclose said documentation to third parties without the agreement of Cetie.
9 – ACCOUNTING AND BUDGETARY FRAMEWORK
The accounting period and the budget year coincide with the calendar year. The association’s budgetary and accounting documents comprise:
- For the annual forecasts, an annual budget,
- At the end of the period, a balance sheet, an income statement and notes to the financial statements, along with a budget execution report.
10 – ANNUAL DRAFT BUDGET
The annual budget is drawn up by the Board of Directors, which consults the Secretary General, and is submitted to the General Assembly for approval.
For each income and expenditure item, the provisional amount for the budget year shall be shown, along with the forecast and actual amount of the preceding year, so that a budget variance can be calculated. If the budget variance is significant, comments should be made to provide the General Assembly with insights regarding future management of the association.
11 – APPROVAL OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
With support from the appointed accounting firm, the association produces annual financial statements, no later than six (6) months after the end of each reporting period, and said statements are submitted to the General Assembly for approval.
When the final accounts are produced, the accounting figures and the budgetary forecasts for the same year are compared in order to identify and explain, if necessary, the most significant deviations.
Any adjustments required are made to the initial financing plan.
IF THIS DOCUMENT IS TRANSLATED INTO A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, AND IN THE EVENT OF A CONTRADICTION OR DIFFICULTY OF INTERPRETATION BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT LANGUAGE VERSIONS, THE FRENCH VERSION SHALL BE APPLIED AS PRIORITY.
Adopted by the Extraordinary General Assembly on the 30th June 2023.