International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)

The global federation of national associations representing 2 million pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists around the world.

ARTICLE 1: Section Creation

§1.1. The Industrial Pharmacy Section (hereinafter called IPS) was constituted in 1955 in accordance with article 22 of the Fédération Internationale Pharmaceutique / International Pharmaceutical Federation (hereinafter called FIP), as a Section of FIP.

ARTICLE 2: Section Mission

§2.1. The mission of the Section is to "to represent and serve the pharmaceutical profession and pharmaceutical sciences within the pharmaceutical industry worldwide".

§2.2. In order to achieve its mission, the Section shall establish a strategic plan listing key activities for several years. This plan will be then adopted by the Board of Pharmaceutical Practice (hereinafter called BPP). Based on this approved plan, the Section may run all or any of the activities mentioned in this plan.

ARTICLE 3 - Membership

§3.1. Membership of the Section shall be open to both individual and honorary members of FIP who work in the area of activities covered by Article 2 or who have an interest in those activities. IPS membership should be composed of pharmacists or others actively involved in the pharmaceutical industry.

ARTICLE 4: Revocation of Membership

§4.1. Membership in the Section will cease if any of the following circumstances holds:

a.    When a person ceases to be an individual member of FIP;

b.    Where the member, in the opinion of the Section’s Executive Committee (hereafter called ExCo), acts in a manner inconsistent with the Section’s mission. A member adversely impacted by such a decision shall have the right of appeal to the next Section Assembly meeting.

ARTICLE 5: Section Organization

§5.1. The Section shall consist of a Section Assembly and an Executive Committee (“ExCo”) – whose roles and functions are described in Articles 6 and 7.

ARTICLE 6 - Section Assembly

§6.1. The Section Assembly is composed of all members of the Section acting as individuals.

§6.2. The Section Assembly shall meet at least once every two years in association with, and at the location of, the FIP Annual Congress.

§6.3. The prime purpose of the Section Assembly is to elect ExCo members and to approve the general policies of the Section. Decisions, including elections, taken by the Section Assembly will be by simple majority of voting members at the meeting. In the event of a tied vote, the President of the Section, acting as Chairman of the meeting, shall have a deciding vote. Specific rules of procedure may be adopted by the Section Assembly covering the conduct of the Section Assembly Meetings and on the voting procedure.

§6.4. Section members shall receive a notice of a meeting of the Section Assembly in writing, at least 45 days before the Assembly takes place (such notification can be performed by any suitable means).

§6.5. The Section Assembly shall serve as a forum for members to express their views to ExCo, and for ExCo to provide informational reports on Section activities.

ARTICLE 7 - Executive Committee

§7.1. General:

§7.1.1. ExCo shall consist up to 8 members. Among these members, the President, the Vice President, the Secretary, the Treasurer are elected by ExCo.

§7.1.2. Any vacancy for a position within ExCo shall be notified to all Section members at least 90 days before the Section Assembly meeting where the election for the position will occur.

§7.1.3. The term of office for all ExCo Officer positions shall be for 4 consecutive years.

§7.1.4. In so far as possible, Section members elected to ExCo should represent different geographic areas and/or different areas within the Section’s fields of activities.

§7.1.5. Only Section members can stand as candidates for a position on ExCo. Any Section member wishing to stand for a position within ExCo can apply by submitting a Letter of Intent accompanied by their resume to the Section Secretary. The application needs to be received by the Section Secretary at least 60 days prior to the meeting of the Section Assembly where a candidate intends to stand for election. Such application shall be communicated to Section members together the notification of the Section Assembly meeting at least 45 days before the Section Assembly meeting where election for ExCo positions will be voted on.

§7.1.6. Members of the ExCo shall be candidates for the positions of President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary only if they have previously served at least one term as an ExCo member, prior to election to any of these positions.

§7.1.7. To enhance continuity within ExCo, the Section Secretary and Treasurer shall be elected by ExCo from among their members for their four year terms, two years apart, such that their terms of office overlap.

§7.1.8. ExCo acts on behalf of the Section between Section Assembly meetings. All legal actions of ExCo shall be ratified by the Section Assembly at its next meeting.

§7.1.9. ExCo is responsible, among other responsibilities, for:

a. proper organisation of the activities of the Section (including Section programs for FIP congresses, conferences and workshops);

b. approval of the budget and the annual accounts;

c. Implementation of decisions of the Section Assembly.

§7.1.10. All members of ExCo shall have one vote in ExCo decision making. In case of a tied vote, the President will have the deciding vote.

§7.1.11. ExCo may appoint an observer as a representative of developing countries without voting rights. The observer can be invited to serve for a maximum term of four years.

§7.1.12. ExCo members shall be bound by FIP’s general rules regarding officers’ activities and ethics.

§7.1.13. ExCo shall meet in person at least once every year.

§7.2. Section President

§7.2.1. The Section President shall be elected by ExCo from among their members for a single term of 4 years, unless exigent circumstances otherwise dictate.

§7.2.2. The function of the President is, among other things, to:

a. Be the official representative of IPS, representing IPS in all matters related to FIP, BPP and other organizations internal to, and external of, FIP. The IPS President is the ‘face’ of IPS;

b. Lead ExCo in a manner that assures fulfilment of the Section’s mission.

§7.2.3. The President may appoint interim officers to fill vacancies on ExCo, until the next Section Assembly, at which event an election shall be held to fill the unexpired term.

§7.3. Section Vice-President

§7.3.1. The Vice-President President shall be elected by ExCo among their members for a single term of 4 years, unless exigent circumstances otherwise dictate

§7.3.2. The Section Vice-President represents the President in the absence of the President.

§7.3.3.The function of the Section Vice-President is to:

a. Assist the President in any manner requested by the President; and deputizes for the President when necessary;

b. Serve as a back-up for the Treasurer and/or Secretary in the event that they are unavailable for any meeting, or cannot perform their function;

c. Audits, with the Treasurer, the IPS annual financial report;

d. Represent IPS within the framework described in Article 8.

§7.3.4. In the event that the President is unable to perform the function of President, the Vice President shall become the President until the next election for the office.

§7.4. Section Secretary

§7.4.1. The Section Secretary shall be elected by ExCo among their members for a single term of 4 years, unless exigent circumstances otherwise dictate.

§7.4.2. The function of the Section Secretary is, among other things, to:

a. Take minutes of all ExCo meetings;

b. Communicate ExCo minutes to all ExCo members in a timely manner;

c. Communicate IPS matters to BBP and/or FIP Council;

d. Coordinate IPS needs and activities with FIP;

e. Arrange the logistics of ExCo telephone conferences;

f. Organise the Section Assembly and its related activities;

g. Collate and report the results of all elections;

h. Submit an annual report of IPS activities to BPP (in accordance with Article 10);

i. Act as the official address for formal correspondence between IPS and other FIP groups and between IPS and other organizations

§7.4.3. The Secretary is responsible for co-ordination of the Section’s administrative matters, and the timely reporting of Section matters to ExCo, the Section Assembly, Section members and to the FIP General Secretary.

§7.5. Section Treasurer

§7.5.1. The Section Treasurer shall be elected by ExCo among their members for a single term of 4 years, unless exigent circumstances otherwise dictate.

§7.5.2. The function of the Section Treasurer is, among other things, to:

a. prepare the Section’s annual budget;

b. monitor Section spending to assure that it is in accord with the Section’s approved budget;

c. issue quarterly report/summaries of the Section’s accounts to ExCo;

d. issue an annual financial report in accord with article §9.3.

§7.6. ExCo may assign specific tasks to some or all of its members, and provide a job title to that function. Such function/title should be approved by the BPP.

ARTICLE 8 - Representation

§8.1. The Section shall be represented at the FIP Council meetings by the President, or if absent, by an alternate appointed by ExCo.

§8.2. The President and the Secretary shall represent the Section at the Board of Pharmaceutical Practice (BPP). If the Section has more than 500 members, the Vice-President shall be a 3rd IPS representative at BPP.

§8.3. The Section may be represented at a non-FIP event (workshop, conference, congress, etc.). In such event ExCo shall approve such representation, and FIP’s General Secretary shall be informed of the Section’s representation.

ARTICLE 9 - Finance

§9.1. The Section’s income shall consist of:

a. Section fees;

b. Net profits derived from conferences (organized in accordance to FIP’s Rule of Procedure on Guidelines for Congresses and Conferences), or other activities organised by the Section;

c. Donations and voluntary contributions from individuals, organizations or from for-profit and/or not-for-profit groups associated with the pharmaceutical industry. Sponsorship of companies should be in line with FIP’s Rule of Procedure on Guidelines for Sponsorship.

§9.2. A specific rule of procedure may be adopted by the Section Assembly regarding financial matters and responsibility.

§9.3. The annual account shall be audited by the IPS Vice-President and a signed copy sent to the General Secretary of FIP, normally before March 1st of every year. The accounting year shall be January 1 to December 31.

ARTICLE 10 - Annual Report

§10.1. The Secretary shall prepare and submit an annual report of the Section’s activities during the prior year to FIP’s General Secretary, in accord with FIP’s published schedule. A copy of this report shall simultaneously be distributed by an appropriate mechanism to the Section’s membership.

ARTICLE 11 - Working Groups

§11.1. The Section may form, and disband, Working Groups for specific purposes as and when deemed fit.

§11.2. A proposal to form a Working Group should include details of the purpose for which the Working Group is to be formed, its goals and objectives, a means of measuring the achievement of these goals and objectives and an estimated time span of life of the Working Group.

§11.3. The Chairman and members of such Working Groups shall be appointed by ExCo.

§11.4. Working Groups may be jointly organised with other FIP Sections or other FIP Special Interest Groups (SIG's), constituted under the Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences (BPS).

ARTICLE 12 - Recognition of Services

§12.1. An individual who has given outstanding services to the Section may be voted by the Section Assembly, following nomination by ExCo, as an Honorary Member of the Section.

§12.2. Bestowing the title “Honorary Member” shall exempt the Honorary Member from paying Section membership fees for as long as the Honorary Member remains a member of FIP.

ARTICLE 13 - Section Awards

§13.1. The Section may sponsor a Section Award, or several Section Awards. The term “award” means any tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction, denoting an accomplishment based on achievements, skills, talents and/or abilities, or in recognizing excellence in attainment of the Section’s mission (as defined in article §2.1)

§13.2. Sponsorship of an Award shall be in accordance with the FIP’s Rules of Procedures.

ARTICLE 14 - Correspondence Address

§14.1. The IPS Secretary is recipient of official mail between IPS and other FIP and non-FIP groups. The postal address of the section shall be the address of the FIP Secretariat. However electronic mail shall be sent to the Secretary at an e-address that the Secretary shall designate.

ARTICLE 15 - Amendments to the statutes

§15.1. A proposal to amend the Section’s statutes shall be circulated in writing to all Section members by any appropriate means, at least 45 days prior to the Section Assembly where such amendments will be voted on.

§15.2. Any amendment of the Section’s statutes needs to be submitted for approval to the Section Assembly, and shall then be submitted to FIP’s Council for approval. Amendments to the Section statutes shall not become effective until approved by FIP’s Council.

§15.3. The effective date for implementing any amendments to the statutes shall be the date approved by the FIP’s Council or, if none is given, the date of the Council meeting at which approval is given.

ARTICLE 16 - Section Dissolution

§16.1. A proposal to dissolve the Section may be submitted by ExCo or by FIP’s Council to the Section Assembly. All Section members shall be informed, at least 45 days prior to the meeting of the Section Assembly that a dissolution proposal is to be placed on the Section Assembly agenda for deliberation and vote. 

§16.2. For a vote to take place a quorum or at least 10% of the Section membership shall be present at the Section Assembly. The proposal will be adopted by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present at the Section Assembly meeting discussing the proposal. If less than 10% of the Section's members  are present at the Section Assembly the meeting is inquorate and the Section Secretary shall arrange for a postal ballot of the Section membership to take place within 2 months of the inquorate Section Assembly. Returned votes shall be tallied and the results of the postal election shall be announced no later than 4 months after the inquorate Section Assembly. This postal ballot shall be determinative regardless of the number of completed ballots returned.

§16.3. For Section dissolution to become effective, FIP’s Council shall approve the Section Assembly’s proposal to dissolve the Section.  The effective date for Section dissolution shall be the date approved by FIP’s Council or, if none is given, the date of the Council meeting at which dissolution approval is granted.

§16.4. In the event of Section dissolution, all Section assets shall be transferred to FIP.

ARTICLE 17 - General

§17.1. These statutes are subordinate to FIP’s Statutes. No Section decision shall be effective if its implementation conflicts with FIP’s Statutes. In the event of a dispute concerning the interpretation of FIP’s statutes, the FIP Bureau will arbitrate such dispute.

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