Food Protection Trends - July 2009 - 426

“COMMENTARY” from the executive director A F P n ow h a s 4 5 a f f i l i a t e d organizations around the world. Our international reach has expanded greatly through our international meeting participation and issuance of charters to new international Affiliates. Over the past 12 years, we have chartered eleven international Affiliates in addition to a few new ones in the USA and Canada. We now have Affiliates in Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom! Our newest international Affiliate is the Hungarian Association for Food Protection. Representatives of this Affiliate were unable to be with us at IAFP 2009, but they will receive their Charter in a presentation to take place at our European Symposium in Berlin this October. There was a Charter presentation to the Arkansas Association for Food Protection at IAFP 2009, making them the newest IAFP Affiliate from the USA. Affiliation with IAFP offers a number of benefits including access to the IAFP Executive Board Speaker Program. Affiliates can call upon IAFP Board Members to come to their local meetings to give presentations on subject matter where the Board Member has expertise. IAFP supports the travel expenses to get the Board Member to the Affiliate meeting. This allows the Affiliate group to improve their program offerings to attract attendees to their meeting. The speaker program has proven to strengthen ties between our Affiliates and IAFP. Many of our Affiliates take advantage of the speaker program, but even if they don’t we are able to send printed materials along with a DVD to each Affiliate meeting. This, in addition to a tri-fold poster presentation, provides Affiliate members with information about IAFP. I By DAVID W. THARP, CAE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR “Affiliation with IAFP offers a number of benefits” One of the most important changes to affect Affiliate members is the reduction in base membership fees for IAFP. We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of new IAFP Members as a result of the lower, more economical fee structure. What are some reasons that groups want to become affiliated with IAFP? For one, each Affiliate organization has one representative (known as an Affiliate Delegate) who serves on the Affiliate Council. The Affiliate Council keeps in contact throughout the year and trades information on holding meetings and educational conferences along with providing tips on newsletters or communication methods (Web sites, E-mail, etc.) with each other. Additionally, the Affiliate Council selects its leadership, a Council Chairperson and the Council Secretary, and the Affiliate Council Chairperson serves a one-year term on the IAFP Executive Board. Therefore, the Affiliate Council provides direction to the overall Association t h ro u g h t h e A f f i l i a t e C o u n c i l Chairperson. Other reasons for Affiliation include increasing the stature or prominence of the Affiliate and to serve as the host organization for an IAFP meeting. Last year, both our Brazil and our Portugal Affiliates served as hosts for our meetings outside of North America while our Ohio Affiliate served as host for the Annual Meeting in Columbus. This year, the Texas Affiliate was host for IAFP 2009 and the Korean Affiliate will host the Asia Pacific Symposium on Food Safety in Seoul in November. I A F P A f f i l i a t e s p rov i d e a n important service for their members by holding localized, educational sessions. Some do this on an annual basis; others hold sessions more often such as quarterly or monthly. Each Affiliate can be comprised of members with a certain focus. Some may be more dairy oriented (similar to the roots of IAFP) while some direct their attention to sanitarian issues at the state level. Others have evolved with IAFP and cover a broader topic of food safety and food science. Whatever the focus of an Affiliate organization, IAFP does not “force” the Affiliate to fit within a certain mold. This has ensured that each Affiliate organization has its 426 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | JULY 2009

Food Protection Trends - July 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - July 2009