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APOSHO Constitution
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE APOSHO
- Amended by the 14th APOSHO Annual Meeting held on 23 April 1998 in Seoul, Korea

Article 1. Objective

The objective of the Asia Pacific Occupational Safety & Health Organization (hereinafter referred to
as "APOSHO") is to promote mutual understanding and cooperation among the communities
in the Asia-Pacific region as well as to contribute to the enhancement of occupational safety
and health in these communities through the exchange of information and views among
competent people including top-level managers of the member organizations.

Article 2. Structure

APOSHO is composed of organizations mainly engaged in activities related to occupational safety
and health in the Asia-Pacific region. Asia Pacific region refers to the Asian countries and areas,
Australia and Pacific islands as shown in the list attached to the constitution.

Article 3. Qualification for Membership

Full Member

An organization which is an independent, non-governmental, and nonprofit public welfare organization
based in the Asia-Pacific region and mainly engaged in activities related to occupational safety
and health shall be eligible for the Full Membership.

Associate Member

In case that no organization qualified for 1) above exists in the said countries or areas,
any governmental organization engaged in activities related to occupational safety
and health in the said countries or areas may become a member of APOSHO as an Associate Member.

Affiliate Member

3 - 1
In case that an organization applies for membership from a country or area which is already
represented by its Full Member, then the new application will be considered for Affiliate Member status.

3 -2
Application for membership from any organization outside the Asia-Pacific region which is mainly
engaged in activities related to occupational safety and health will be considered for Affiliate Member
status.

Honorary Member

Any person from a member organization who has contributed significantly to the role
and function of APOSHO may be nominated and accepted as an Honorary Member of the organization.
Such acceptance must be ratified at an Annual Meeting.

The qualification mentioned in 1) above shall not be binding upon those organizations
which have already become the members of APOSHO by the time this constitution was approved
at the Annual Meeting held in 1993 at Jakarta Indonesia.

Article 4. Approval of Membership

Applications for membership shall be made in writing to the Chairperson.

The approval of the membership shall be given by a majority of the membership of APOSHO,
following the Membership Screening Committee's examination of the applicant's qualification
and its unanimous nomination based thereon. Voting by the members may be invited
and carried out by correspondence writing.

Article 5. Disqualification of Membership

If a member fails to attend three consecutive Annual Meetings without reasonable justification,
the member may be deprived of the membership through the decision of the Annual Meeting.

Article 6. Chairpersonship

The Chairperson shall not only represent APOSHO, but also superintend its overall operation.
The Chairperson shall be elected out of the representatives of the member organizations
by the consensus at the Annual Meeting.

The Chairperson's term of office shall be one year.
The chairperson shall report on a year's activities of APOSHO at the Annual Meeting.

Article 7. Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting shall be convened by the Chairperson once a year and be attended
by representatives of member organizations.

The decision on important matters concerning APOSHO shall be made, in principle, by the consensus
at the Annual Meeting.
The Chairperson of APOSHO shall preside over the Annual Meeting.
Full or Associate Members shall be eligible to offer and be invited to host the APOSHO
Annual Meetings.
Observers may be invited to the Annual Meeting with the consent of the Chairperson.

Article 8. Voting right

Only Full Members shall have voting rights at the Annual Meeting.

In case that a country or area is represented by only an Associate Member, the Associate Member
shall be given a voting right.

Article 9. Membership Screening Committee

Each time the Chairperson of APOSHO receives an application for membership,
the Membership Screening Committee shall examine the applicant's qualification and, based on
the result of the examination, nominate the new member to APOSHO.

The members of the Membership Screening Committee shall be elected out of Full Members
by the consensus at the Annual Meeting and its maximum number shall be five.

The Chairperson of APOSHO shall sit on the Membership Screening Committee and serve as its
chairperson.

The deliberation by the Membership Screening Committee may be performed by correspondence
in writing.

Article 10. Technical Committee

The Technical Committee shall implement activities or projects to promote balanced development
of safety and health conditions among member countries by encouraging benchmarking successful
practices and exchange of technical information on occupational safety and health.

The members and chairperson of the Technical Committee shall be elected by the consensus
at the Annual Meeting.

Article 11. Secretariat

The Secretariat shall be set up in the organization to which the Chairperson belongs.

The Secretariat shall attend to the office work pertaining to the operation of APOSHO under instructions from the Chairperson.

Article 12. Financial Affairs

The expenses pertaining to the Chairperson's duties and the operation of the Secretariat shall be
shouldered by the member organization to which the Chairperson belongs.

The host organization of the Annual Meeting shall bear the office expenses necessary for the operation
of the Annual Meeting such as those for securing the venue and preparing the materials, etc.
Other expenses involved in the holding of the Annual Meeting may be shared among
all the organizations attending the Meeting.

In spite of the provisions given in a) and b) above, other arrangements may be made in case
they become necessary or considered more appropriate in terms of the operation of APOSHO.

Article 13. Languages

The official language of APOSHO shall be English.

Arrangements for translation or interpretation services may be made by the Secretariat, however,
if the need arises, within the limits of available resources.

Article 14. Amendments

Amendments to this constitution may be proposed at the Annual Meeting by the consensus
of the attending organizations. The amendments, after circulation, can be confirmed
at the next Annual Meeting.

In case it is considered that the number of the attending organizations is too small to reflect the
collective will of APOSHO, amendments to the constitution may be made, as required,
by a majority of the membership of APOSHO. In this case, voting by the members may be invited
and performed by correspondence in writing.


APPENDIX TO THE CONSTITUTION

1. Article 1 (Objective), 2 (Structure) and 3 (Qualification for Membership)

There was a discussion concerning the objective of the APOSHO in Article 1 -
its role shall not be limited to the "enhancement of occupational safety and health" as a whole
but shall further enhance safety and health in a broad sense.
However, the consensus was made to have the objective as to serve for the "enhancement
of occupational safety and health" as a whole.

On the other hand, while the members of APOSHO shall be engaged in the activities mainly
related to "occupational safety and health", as in Article 2 and 3; it was agreed that the members
should not restrict their activities to "occupational safety and health" as a whole: it is acceptable
that the members may conduct safety and health activities out of "occupational" subjects,
and accordingly, the subjects other than the safety and health activities in occupation
may be discussed at the committee. As a result, it is agreed that the requirement to the members
in Article 2 and 3 shall be adjusted as an organization "mainly engaged in activities related to
occupational safety and health."

The interpretation of "non governmental" organization shall be "an organization other than
the very governmental institutions".

2. Article 6 (Chairpersonship)

It is agreed that the election of the Chairperson shall be conducted in the manner described in
2) of Article 14 if it is considered that the number of attending organizations in the Annual Meeting
is too small to reflect the collective will of APOSHO.

3. Article 7 (Annual Meeting)

It is agreed that two persons shall represent each member organizations and
2) of Article 7 shall be conducted in the manner described in 2) of Article 14 - as well as the election
of the Chairperson stipulated in Article 6.

4. Definition of Consensus

"Consensus" means general support of voting members.

Notes

The original Constitution was approved by the 9th APOSHO Annual Meeting held on 7 September 1993
at Jakarta Indonesia.

This Constitution was amended by the 14th APOSHO Annual Meeting held on 23 April 1998
at Seoul Korea.


---------------------- Attached List ---------------

Asia-Pacific Countries/region

  1. Afghanistan
  2. Bangladesh
  3. Brunei Darussalam
  4. Bhutan
  5. Cambodia
  6. China (People's Republic of)
  7. Hong Kong(SAR, China)
  8. India (Republic of)
  9. Indonesia
  10. Japan
  11. Korea(Republic of)
  12. Korea(Democratic People's Republic of)
  13. Laos
  14. Macau(SAR, China)
  15. Malaysia
  16. Maldives
  17. Mongolia
  18. Myanmar
  19. Nepal
  20. Pakistan(Islamic Republic of)
  21. Philippines(Republic of the)
  22. Singapore(Republic of)
  23. Sri Lanka(Democratic Socialist Republic of)
  24. Taiwan
  25. Thailand(Kingdom of)
  26. Vietnam(Socialist Republic of)
  27. Australia
  28. Fiji
  29. Nauru
  30. New Zealand
  31. Papua New Guinea
  32. Tonga
  33. Western Samoa