Dear Members of RSPO:
ANNOUNCEMENT OF DATE & LOCATION FOR THE 8TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
We refer to the memo circulated to you dated November 30, 2011, whereby it was indicated that the 8thGeneral Assembly (GA8) will soon be organized.
We would like to announce that the GA8 is now confirmed to be scheduled on:
Date: Thursday, 8 March 2012
Time: 2.00pm - 6.00pm
Venue: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (exact location to be announced soon)
The purpose of this note is to allow our respected members to facilitate early scheduling and plans to attend the GA8. We will also soon be circulating a subsequent announcement on the online registration process; call for nominations for the Executive Board and call for resolutions.
For any enquiries on this matter, kindly send an email to [email protected] .
“Promoting The Growth And Use Of Sustainable Palm Oil”
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STATEMENT BY THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF RSPO ON THE 8TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY (GA8)
November 30, 2011
The 8th General Assembly (GA8) for RSPO Members was scheduled to be held on November 24th at 3.00pm at the Sutera Harbour Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. The RSPO is officially constituted in Switzerland and governed by the Swiss Law (Swiss Civil Code).
In the Statutes of the RSPO, it is stated that "The General Assembly meeting shall be validly constituted if more than 50% of the ordinary members are present or represented". The number of Ordinary Members eligible to vote based on our current membership is 549 members. However, only 224 members (less than 50%) attended and/or were represented (by proxy holders) at the meeting of November 24th in Sabah. As the quorum prescribed by the Statutes was not met, this meeting could not constitute a General Assembly.
It was proposed at the meeting of November 24th 2011 that a process of obtaining votes electronically from non-attending members might be adopted, and the majority of members present in Sabah were in favour of this proposal. However, the Executive Board has since sought legal advice on the matter and now confirms that this proposal is not constitutional.
In light of this, RSPO must again schedule an 8th General Assembly in accordance with the statutes and strive to ensure that the required quorum is attained. We expect this event to happen as soon as practicable, and reasonably within the next 4 months.
A notice for the 8th General Assembly will shortly be circulated to all members. The agenda items will include presentation of the audited accounts; appointment of auditors; proposal of those resolutions already received by the Secretariat and any others received prior to the date of the General Assembly; re-election of Executive Board members from 7 stakeholder groups; and any other business.
We urge all voting Ordinary Members to ensure that they register to vote or to provide their proxy vote at this General Assembly.
We believe that the recent increase in membership numbers, with so many spread over far and wide globally, while contributing to the strength of RSPO may also have contributed to this situation of not being able to meet quorum at the meeting of November 24th. Nonetheless, RSPO remains fully committed to its constitution and protecting the rights of its members. We will ensure that this process is carried out as efficiently as possible and aim to ensure that a similar situation does not arise in the future.
Due to this situation, the Executive Board and Officer Bearers remain constituted as prior to the originally scheduled meeting of November 24th and will continue to serve in the interests of the RSPO until the 8th General Assembly is convened.
“Promoting The Growth And Use Of Sustainable Palm Oil”
