CONSTITUTION OF THE WORLD FEDERATION OF ACUPUNCTURE-MOXIBUSTION SOCIETIES (WFAS)

(7^th Edition, adopted in Beijing, China, on December 2, 2017)

CHAPTER I               TITLE AND HEADQUARTERS

Article 1.          The World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS) is a non-governmental international union of acupuncture-moxibustion societies, having official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Article 2.          The Headquarters of WFAS is in Beijing, People’s Republic of China. The emblem of WFAS is a round pattern on which the world map and five needles are encircled by two bunches of moxa leaves.

CHAPTER II            OBJECTIVES

Article 3.          The objectives of WFAS shall be to promote understanding and cooperation among acupuncture-moxibustion groups throughout the world, to strengthen international academic exchanges, to develop the medical science of acupuncture-moxibustion, and to enhance the state and function of acupuncture-moxibustion in the medical health care of the people of the world, thereby contributing to the health of mankind.

Article 4.          To attain these objectives, WFAS shall undertake the following responsibilities:

(1)     Organize international conferences, medium-sized symposiums and seminars on acupuncture-moxibustion;

(2)     Promote cooperation among acupuncture-moxibustion groups throughout the world, and encourage various kinds of academic exchanges on acupuncture-moxibustion;

(3)     Take responsibilities required by the official relations between WFAS and WHO, accomplish the cooperation plan with WHO and implement the strategy of WHO on traditional medicine;

(4)     Publicize and promote the science of acupuncture-moxibustion, strive for legal status of acupuncture-moxibustion in all countries;

(5)     Develop education and training of acupuncture-moxibustion, and improve its professional quality;

(6)     Promote the service of acupuncture-moxibustion treatment and acupuncture research.

(7)     Publish periodicals on acupuncture-moxibustion, and provide information service;

(8)     Formulate and promote organizational standards and international standards of acupuncture-moxibustion;

(9)     Any other work necessary for realizing the objectives of WFAS.

CHAPTER III         MEMBERSHIP

Article 5.          WFAS is composed of member societies. A member society must be a lawful acupuncture-moxibustion society or organization of at least three year’s history in a country/region and must have at least fifty individual members with three fourths of them satisfying one of the following conditions:

(1)     be a qualified acupuncturist or doctor of traditional Chinese medicine who:

A.   holds a certificate or a license registered with the appropriate authorities in his/her own country or region to practice acupuncture or traditional Chinese medicine; or

B.   has been formally trained and qualified by examination as an acupuncturist or doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, or has been awarded a certificate of equivalent qualification, in a country where acupuncture is a traditional medical practice; or

C.   has practiced acupuncture-moxibustion and qualified as an acupuncturist or doctor of traditional Chinese medicine in a country/region where the practice of acupuncture-moxibustion is legally recognized, and has subsequently emigrated to a country or region where such practices have not yet been legally recognized;

(2)     be a qualified doctor of western medicine, who:

A.   has received a certificate after completing the courses of an international training center established in cooperation with WHO; or

B.   has graduated and been awarded an acupuncture-moxibustion training certificate recognized by the administrative authorities in his/her own country or region; or

C.   has received at least 120 hours of basic training and at least 100 hours of clinical training in acupuncture institutions recognized by the administrative authorities; or

D.   has been engaged in acupuncture-moxibustion research, albeit with no clinical qualifications.

(3)     Researchers of other disciplines engaged in acupuncture research.

(4)     acupuncturists passing WFAS International Acupuncturist Proficiency Test

Article 6.          Societies that do not have the qualifications laid down in Article 5 may also be admitted as members by the Executive Committee of WFAS by a majority of three fourths.

Article 7.          Applicants shall submit application forms to the Secretary-General. Membership shall be granted after consideration by the Executive Committee and approved by a majority of delegates at the General Assembly. When the General Assembly is not in session, membership can be granted by the Executive Committee after postal ballot, or after examination and vote at the executive meeting during international symposium once every year.

Article 8.          Society members shall enjoy the following rights:

(1)     to vote;

(2)     to elect and to be elected; This right shall be automatically forfeited when a member fails to pay the annual membership fee for two consecutive years.

(3)     to appoint the assigned number of delegates to attend the General Assembly;

(4)     to enjoy priority and preferential treatment in international academic conferences and seminars on acupuncture-moxibustion and any other activities organized by WFAS;

(5)     to have priority in obtaining periodicals and other WFAS publications.

Article 9.          Members shall accept the following obligations:

(1)     to abide by the Constitution of WFAS;

(2)     to pay the annual membership fee when due;

(3)     to implement the resolutions of WFAS and perform the tasks assigned by WFAS.

Article 10.      Membership of members may be terminated under the following conditions:

(1)     application to withdraw from WFAS;

(2)     failure to pay the annual membership fee for an accumulative total of four years;

(3)     performance of activities contrary to the objectives of WFAS.

CHAPTER IV         ORGANIZATION

Article 11.           The organs of WFAS shall be the General Assembly, the Executive Committee, the Secretariat and the Working Committees.

CHAPTER V            GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Article 12.      The General Assembly shall be the supreme governing body of WFAS. It shall be held every five years either in conjunction with the World Academic Conference on Acupuncture-Moxibustion or not.

Article 13.      Delegates to the General Assembly shall be elected from each member society. The number of delegates shall be fixed according to the individual number of members of the society, on the following basis:

-          one delegate for member societies with up to 200 individual members inclusive;

-          two delegates for member societies with 201-400 individual members;

-          three delegates for member societies with 401-600 individual members;

-          four delegates for member societies with 601-800 individual members;

-          five delegates for member societies with 801-1000 individual members;

-          six delegates for member societies with no less than 1001 individual members.

Article 14.      The functions of the General Assembly shall be:

(1)     to review the progress and financial reports of the Executive Committee;

(2)     to examine and approve the admission and termination of members;

(3)     to elect members of the Executive Committee and appoint the honorary president and other honorary titles;

(4)     to examine and approve the proposals for the programs of work of the current Executive Committee submitted by the previous Executive Committee;

(5)     to determine matters concerning the next session of the General Assembly.

Article 15.      A simple majority of the delegates present, including proxies, shall constitute a quorum. One delegate must have no more than two proxies.

Article 16.      All delegates attending the General Assembly shall be entitled to vote. All proposals shall be decided by vote. Resolutions of the General Assembly shall be valid when approved by a simple majority of the delegates present (including proxies) and voting. Amendments to the Constitution shall require a two-thirds majority of the delegates present (including proxies) and voting.

Article 17.      Voting shall be:

(1)     by a show of hands;

(2)     by secret ballot.

If the votes are equally divided, the President shall have the casting vote. Those special occasions that should be decided by the General Assembly after the closing of General Assembly will be settled by voting through communication with the same procedure.

CHAPTER VI         THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Article 18.      The Executive Committee shall be the permanent governing body of WFAS when the General Assembly is not in session. The Executive Committee shall meet once every year in conjunction with annual conference or world conference on acupuncture. For those problems which need immediate attention, the Presidential Meeting may discuss and decide at any time, and inform the members of the Executive Committee of the decision of the meeting. The Presidential Meeting is composed of the Honorary President(s), Former President, President, Executive President, Vice Presidents, Secretary-General, and Treasurer. Those who are absent because of special reasons may join the presidential meeting for consultation by letter.

Article 19.      The Executive Committee shall consist of 80-110 people: one Former President, one President, one Executive President, 20-35 Vice Presidents, one Secretary-General, one Treasurer, and a number of Executive Committee Members.

Article 20.      The President shall chair the President Meetings and the Executive Committee. When a vacancy occurs in the presidency, the position shall be filled for the remainder of the term by one Vice President who is elected by the Executive Committee.

Article 21.      Executive President. The Executive President for one year is the Chair of the Organizing Committee for WFAS conference of that year, who is responsible for the organizing and preparation of the WFAS conference in that year. Normally, the person to be the Chair of the Organizing Committee for WFAS conference shall be a Vice President of the Executive Committee. In the case that the Chair of the Organizing Committee being a member of the Executive Committee, the person who finishes the one-year service as the Executive President is to automatically become a Vice President of the current Executive Committee. In the case that a member of the Executive Committee being the Chair of the Organizing Committee of the last year’s WFAS conference in the same term, that person shall be considered as a priority candidate for Vice President for the next term.

Article 22.      The Vice President shall assist the President. If the position of a Vice President becomes vacant, it shall not be filled until the next General Assembly.

Article 23.      The Secretary-General shall supervise the activities of the Secretariat. When a vacancy occurs in the position of Secretary-General, an interim Secretary-General shall be nominated by the host country and approved by the Executive Committee to hold the office until the new Secretary-General has been duly elected for the next term.

Article 24.      The election of the Executive Committee shall be held once every five years in conjunction with the General Assembly. The President, Vice Presidents, Treasurer, Secretary-General and EC members may be re-elected consecutively. The term of office for the Former President shall be finished as the President finishes service.

Article 25.      At an Executive Committee meeting, half the total number of members shall constitute a quorum. Decisions on important matters shall require a three-fourths majority of the Executive Committee. Ordinary matters shall be decided by simple majority. If necessary, a vote shall be taken in accordance with the provisions of Article 18.

Article 26.      The functions of the Executive Committee shall be:

(1)     to convene and preside over the General Assembly;

(2)     to propose draft amendments to the Constitution of WFAS for discussion at the General Assembly;

(3)     to decide on matters concerning the World Conference, medium sized symposiums and seminars on acupuncture-moxibustion;

(4)     to review the work report of the Secretary-General and the financial report of the Treasurer;

(5)     to submit proposals for admission or termination of members to the General Assembly for approval;

(6)     to examine and implement the cooperation plan of WFAS with WHO;

(7)     to entrust the host country with various activities arranged by WFAS;

(8)     to assess the financial position of WFAS and to decide on the amount of the annual membership fee for society members;

(9)     to appoint auditors;

(10) to submit proposal for Honorary Presidents and other honorary titles of WFAS to the General Assembly for approval;

(11) to establish organizations when necessary and appoint working staff;

(12) to supervise the implementation of resolutions of the General Assembly;

(13) to decide on any other important matters.

CHAPTER VII      THE SECRETARIAT

Article 27.      The Secretariat shall be the administrative organ of WFAS and shall undertake routine responsibilities. The Secretary-General shall supervise the activities of the Secretariat.

Article 28.      The functions of the Secretary-General shall be:

(1)     to submit reports to the Executive Committee;

(2)     to propose programs of work and the detailed rules and regulations of WFAS and submit them to the Executive Committee for consideration;

(3)     to prepare proposals on important matters for consideration and decision;

(4)     to appoint assistants to the Secretary-General or Vice Secretary-Generals;

(5)     to appoint Secretariat staff;

(6)     to perform any other duties assigned by the President and Vice Presidents.

Article 29.      The functions of the Treasurer shall be:

(1)     to submit a financial report to the Executive Committee;

(2)     to prepare the draft budget for approval by the Executive Committee;

(3)     to mobilize funds for WFAS and collect the annual membership fees;

(4)     to prepare detailed regulations concerning revenue and expenditure, and to supervise their implementation.

CHAPTER VIII   Working Committee

Article 30.      Article 30 Working Committee

(1)     The Working Committee shall be an organ under the guidance of the Executive Committee with specific work under the administration of the Secretariat.

(2)     The Working Committee shall consist of professionals of this industry competent for international organization management, familiar with WFAS business and willing to undertake tasks of the Working Committee.

(3)     The Working Committee shall have the president, the vice-president and the secretary-general.

(4)     Major responsibilities of the Working Committee: to make surveys and argumentation on the development strategy, work measures, business development and other great issues of WFAS, to provide suggestions on the solution, and to carry out other activities of this industry.

CHAPTER IX         THE HONORARY PRESIDENTS AND OTHER HONORARY TITLES

Article 31.      Those who have made important contributions to the establishment and development of WFAS may be engaged as Honorary Presidents; those who have made considerable contributions may be invited as Honorary Vice Presidents or Advisors.

Article 32.      The Honorary Presidents shall be approved for life, Honorary Vice Presidents and Advisers may be invited consecutively. Each term for Honorary Vice Presidents and Advisers shall be four years. After the General Assembly, the Executive Committee can invite famous scholars and experts to form the Advisory Committee if necessary.

Article 33.      The Honorary Presidents, Honorary Vice Presidents and Advisors shall have voice but no vote in the Executive Committee.

CHAPTER X            THE WORLD CONFERENCE ON ACUPUNCTURE-MOXIBUSTION

Article 34.      The World Conference on Acupuncture-Moxibustion, which is an international scientific meeting, shall be held by WFAS once every four years.

Article 35.      Society members may apply to the Executive Committee to act as organizer to the World Conference on Acupuncture-Moxibustion. The application shall be considered by the Executive Committee and then submitted to the General Assembly for approval.

Article 36.      Once a member society is chosen to host the World Conference on Acupuncture-Moxibustion, it shall elect the chairman of the conference, who may attend the Executive Committee meeting as a nonvoting member.

CHAPTER XI         FUNDS

Article 37.      The sources of funds of WFAS shall comprise:

(1)     annual membership fees, to be paid in internationally convertible currency, calculated in US dollars. Under extraordinary circumstances, with permission of the Executive Committee some members may be permitted to pay in other than internationally convertible currency.

(2)     income from undertakings sponsored by WFAS;

(3)     donations by individuals, societies and organizations.

Article 38.      The annual membership fee shall be counted in Basic Units (B.U.), and the amount decided according to the number of individual members in the member society. The amount of currency represented by each Basic Unit shall be decided by the Executive Committee.

(1)     a member society with up to 200 individual members: 2 B.U.;

(2)     a member society with 201-400 individual members: 5 B.U.;

(3)     a member society with 401-600 individual members: 8 B.U.;

(4)     a member society with 601-800 individual members: 10 B.U.;

(5)     a member society with 801-1000 individual members: 15 B.U.;

(6)     a member society with more than 1001 individual members: 20 B.U.;

The annual membership fee shall be paid to the Secretariat before 30 June of each year.

Article 39.      The function of member of the Executive Committee shall be honorary.

Article 40.      Salaries of the staff of the Secretariat shall be paid out of the revenue of WFAS, after submission by the Secretary-General to the Executive Committee for approval.

CHAPTER XII      SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

Article 41.      The working languages of WFAS shall be Chinese and English.

Article 42.      The right of interpretation of the Constitution shall be vested in the Executive Committee. Matters not provided for in the Constitution shall be decided by the Executive Committee and approved by the next General Assembly.

Article 43.      The Constitution shall come into force upon its adoption.

The Constitution was adopted at the First General Assembly of WFAS, held in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, on November 22, 1987. Written in Chinese and English, both versions being equally authentic.