BYLAWS

Section 1: Name

Article 1: The name of this congress shall be International Congress on Nutrition and Integrative Medicine (“ICNIM”)

Section 2: Purpose and Operations

Article 2: The purpose of ICNIM is to investigate effects of functional foods by conducting basic and clinical research in the field of integrative medicine and contribute to the development of disease prevention and treatment with the use of integrative medicine and functional foods.

Article 3

ICNIM executes the following operations to fulfill the purposes mentioned above.

To hold annual conferences and other academic meetings
To publish in-house newsletters and annual reports
To promote research
Any other operations necessary to achieve the purposes.

Article 4: Executive Office of ICNIM is located at Amino Up Co. Ltd., 363-32 Shin-ei, Kiyota, Sapporo, 004-0839 Japan.

Section 3: Members

Article 5

Members shall be researchers who agree to the purpose of ICNIM, are involved in research of integrative medicine and functional foods, and completed required procedures.

Those who wish to become members of ICNIM should fill in an application form with all necessary information and submit it to the Executive Office.
If there are any changes to the registered information, members should immediately notify the Executive Office. Changes shall be reviewed and processed by the Executive Office.

Article 6: ICNIM shall collect membership fees as needed.

Article 7: Members shall receive in-house newsletters. They also have the right to attend and report their research achievements at annual conferences.

Article 8: Membership may be terminated upon request of the member.
If a member violates the bylaws, dishonors ICNIM, or becomes detrimental to ICNIM and/or any member of ICNIM, such member can be expelled as per decisions of the Board of Directors.

Section 4: Executives and Organization

Article 9

Directors and organization of ICNIM are as follows:

・Directors
・President: One
・Vice-President: Less than three
・Board Members: Approximately ten
・Advisors: Unspecified
・Executive Director: One
・Executive Office: Located at Amino Up Co., Ltd.
・Executive Office members: Approximately ten.

Article 10: In principle, directors shall be recommended by the Executive Office among members of ICNIM and appointed at annual Board meetings in accordance with the previous articles of the bylaws. At the time of recommendation, President, Vice-President, Board Members and Executive Director, along with responsibilities of each director shall be specified. The term of directors shall be two years, and reappointment is possible.

Article 11: The President shall manage ICNIM and shall act as a chairman at annual conferences and the Board meetings. The Vice-president shall assist the President and fulfill the responsibilities of the President in his absence.

Article 12

The Board of Directors are as follows:

・President
・Vice-president
・Board members
・Executive Director

In principle, the Board meeting shall be held once a year to review activity reports, determine matters necessary for management of ICNIM, and approve the admission of new members. Extraordinary meetings may be called by the President when necessary. The Board meeting shall not be held or make a decision without the attendance of a majority of the Board. However, if a Board member has given his intentions in writing prior to the meeting, he will be considered present and the decision shall be made by a majority of present members. In case of an equal number of votes, the chairman shall have the casting vote.

Article 13

Members who have contributed extraordinarily to ICNIM shall be recommended to the Board of Directors as candidates for Advisors, honorary members, or honorary president by the Executive Office and obtain approval.

Advisors, honorary members, and honorary president shall proffer appropriate advice for the development of ICNIM.
Advisors, honorary members, and honorary president might attend the Board meetings and express an opinion.

Article 14

The Executive Office shall define its authority and services to facilitate the activities of ICNIM smoothly, as per implementation of its business. Authority and services of the Executive Office are as follows:

Confirmation of qualifications: Qualifications of each applicant for admission shall be confirmed based on the bylaws and reported to the Board of Directors.
Registration of members: Decisions on registration procedures, registration and cancellation process of members, and a management approach of the registration status shall be properly created and thoroughly revised.
Management of registrations: The registration status of members shall be managed.
Management of activities: Based on the bylaws, the activity status of members can be investigated upon request and necessary actions may be taken accordingly.
Management of ethical matters: Decisions regarding ethical matters in the activities of ICNIM shall be made based on the bylaws and related regulations when necessary. Decisions shall also be submitted to the Board of Directors.
All the operations related to its business shall be handled by the Executive Office. When necessary, the Executive Office might call for a Board meeting and shall operate in the scope of fair regulations.
Members of the Executive Office will be elected by the recommendation of the Executive Director and approved by the Board of Directors.

Section 5: General Assembly and Annual Conferences

Article 15: The General Assembly will be held once a year. However, it can be substituted by providing an “activity report” approved by the Board of Directors to members.

Article 16: Extraordinary general meetings might be held when the Board members consider it necessary.

Article 17: Annual conferences shall be held once a year to present research results and exchange opinions.

Section 6: Committees, Meetings for Research Promotion, and Branches

Article 18

Various branches, committees and meetings for research promotion might be arranged based on the 4th description of Section 2 under Article 3 of the bylaws.

Establishment, structures and administrative methods of branches will be planned by the Executive Office and be approved by the Board members. The activities of each branch shall be reported at Board meetings.
Establishment, structures, and administrative methods of committees will be planned by the Executive Office and be approved by the Board members. The activities of each branch shall be reported at Board meetings.
The meetings for research promotion shall be established to carry out detailed and practical discussions in order to achieve the purposes of ICNIM. Structures and administrative methods should be planned by the Executive Office and will be approved by the Board of Directors. The progress of research promotion activities shall be reported at annual conferences.

Section 7: Fiscal year

Article 19: Fiscal year is from June 1st to May 31 of the following year.

Article 20: Expenses of ICNIM will be covered by membership fees or by Amino Up Co., Ltd. if necessary.

Section 8: Changes in the Bylaws

Article 21: The bylaws may be amended if approved by a vote of two-thirds of the Board members present.

Article 22: Items that are not described in the bylaws will be discussed and decided by the Board members, and the decisions should be immediately communicated to all members.