In these minutes:    the results of voting (motions and elections) are shown in italics on a separate line

CIA MEETING 2004 – INDEX TO MINUTES

Download ZIP file containing all the minutes, appendices (16), attachments (4)  

CIA OFFICERS, DELEGATES, ALTERNATE DELEGATES, SUBCOMMITTEE
MEMBERS, WORKING GROUP MEMBERS AND OBSERVERS
attending the Annual Conference in Debrecen, Hungary, 2004

                                                    Total 27 votes

CIA President, Jean-Claude Weber, welcomed Delegates and thanked Subcommittee and Working Group members for their work during the past year.

He then welcomed guests – FAI Secretary General Max Bishop, and Mr Tamás Szekér Chief Secretary of the Hungarian Aeronautical Association.

The Plenary Meeting then commenced with a moment of silence in respect of the following recently departed member of the ballooning community:

          Apologies for absence were received from:

Henning Sorensen, Denmark; Philippe de Cock, Belgium; Michael Klingberg, Norway; Juraj Brezan, Slovak Republic; Gongyu Wu, China; Agust Guomundsson, Iceland; Rick Gant, New Zealand, Bruno Schwartz, Brazil, Frédéric Moizard, France.

The Secretary called the roll and established that there were 25 voting members present plus 1 valid Proxy, making 26 votes in total, being sufficient for a Quorum (IR 3.2.3).

5.  PROXIES

Norway to Sweden.

        Delegates were reminded that the agenda order would be established by the President (IR 3.6.1).

Delegates were reminded of the procedures in respect of:
Motions (IR 3.7)
Rules of Debate (IR 3.8)

        Max Bishop (FAI) was nominated as the Counting Committee (IR 3.11.4)
                             Approved unanimously on a motion from the Chair

        The Delegates were reminded of the CIA Policy Documents in force for the meeting.

        The number of votes required to achieve an Absolute Majority was declared as 14.

        The number of votes required for a New Motion (2/3 Majority) was declared as 18

The Chair announced that the procedure to be adopted for the nomination of President, Vice Presidents and Secretary would be that; nominations should be submitted to the counting committee (Max Bishop) by 0830 on Saturday 13^th March 2004. The election would then be as set out in the CIA Internal Regulations.

        The Netherlands proposed the adoption of the minutes of the 2003 Plenary Meeting, seconded by Switzerland.

        The Chair stated that Subcommittee actions would be taken during the Subcommittee Reports.

The Chair reported on the actions taken by the Bureau in the previous 12 months.

The German Delegate asked about the discussion on the Smart Vent issue. The President stated that the discussion was between FAI the Australian Organisers and Kavanagh Balloons.

The Swedish Delegate stated that there was a difference between what was agreed by the President and what had been published on the World Championship website.

        The President gave an outline of the report published with the Agenda.

        There were no questions about the report.

FAI Secretary General Max Bishop gave a report on FAI activities in 2003 and the business of the 2003 FAI General Conference.

The Chairman, as CIA Representative on CASI, presented his report for 2003.

The main discussion point was the WADA code on Anti-Doping controls; this could mean an increase in anti-doping controls being carried out at CIA sanctioned events. These tests would be carried out by National anti-doping agencies.

The existing CASI President Bob Carlson (Canada) was replaced by Sandy Pimenof (Finland), there were no proposed changes to the General Section, except those concerning adoption of the WADA code.

The Chair informed Delegates that the document had been circulated with the Agenda and that he hoped that everyone had read it. This would be discussed now but it would be voted on within the RSC report, the Chair then outlined the proposals within the document.

The Delegate from Netherlands requested clarification as to whether any financial details included in the bid would be binding. Any bid has to be accompanied by an organiser agreement which has to be signed before the sanction is given. This means that any bid presented to the Plenary including any conditions, when accompanied by the Organiser Agreement will be a binding document.

Motion That Delegates will have one year to study this document and then a decision will be taken in 2005. (This motion will be included in the RSC report)

            The Delegates from the countries in attendance presented their reports to the meeting.

Hans Ĺkerstedt (SWE) reported on the work of the Jury Board and outlined how the Jury selection process was conducted.

On a motion from the Chair the Report was approved unanimously

14.1 JURY BOARD MOTIONS to the CIA PLENARY

Motion 1. The Jury Board request approval of the following Event Juries for 2004 events.

Motion approved unanimously

14.1 JURY BOARD MOTIONS to the CIA PLENARY Cont.

Motion 2. The Jury Board request approval of upgrading of the following jurors:

To Intermediate level: Gerrit Heirman

Motion approved unanimously

Motion 3. That version 8/2004 of the Jury Handbook is approved:

This is the same as approved in 2003 but with the scoring benchmark test updated to the current format and the Jury Board composition updated.

Motion approved unanimously

15. REPORT OF THE OBSERVER SUBCOMMITTEE - Appendix 4

          Rutger Coucke (NED) reported on the work of the Observer Subcommittee.

It was stated that the Review of the Observer Handbook had been completed, but due to a communications error this had not yet been published on the website.

On a motion from the Chair the Report was approved unanimously

The Delegate from Lithuania asked the Subcommittee chairman what he thought the future of Observers would be. The reply was a personal view but with the advent of GPS Loggers there was a good prospect for Observers to move to being Officials in these types of competition due to their previous experience.

Pat Brake (USA) reported on the work of the PR and Development Subcommittee.

The President of the CIA has tasked the PR & D SC to purchase plaques, medals, pins and certificates for the Hall of Fame awards. This will need to be completed by late summer in order for the award to be presented to the inductee. At this time we do not have the design work from the previous Hall of Fame awards.

In 2002 the PR & D SC presented a new concept for a CIA logo. Because the FAI was considering changing their logo, the new concept was put on hold. At this time, it appears the FAI will continue with the original logo. The PR & D SC would like to submit this new logo design for approval by the Plenary.

Motion from the USA Delegate: To accept the new PR& Dev Subcommittee logo for the CIA.

Discussion continued on the composition of the new logo and the colours to be used.

New proposal from the PR &Dev subcommittee to modify the design taking into account the comments made and propose 3 designs for the Plenary to choose from, these proposals to be presented later during the Plenary session.

As stated at the 2003 Plenary we only ordered medals, diplomas and flags to get us through 2003 because of the impending new FAI logo. In addition the PR & D SC is requesting the following to be purchased to replenish our supplies:

50	Flags @ $17.00 each	$ 850.00
	Shipping	$ 20.00
10 sets	Medals @ $16.00 each	$ 160.00
	Shipping	$ 25.00
	New Die Cut	$ 500.00
100	Revise CDs	$ 500.00 (Incorporate rule changes)
4 Boxes	Diploma stickers	$   30.00
200	Diplomas @ $2.50 each	$ 500.00
500	Pins	$ 500.00
500	Patches	$ 500.00
1000	Stickers	$300.00
	Hall of Fame	$1500.00
	TOTAL	$ 5,385.00

On a motion from the Chair the Report and Budget was approved unanimously

A presentation was made about International Youth Camp. Details of the camp have been circulated to the Delegates. Uwe Schneider (GER) gave a report on the activities of the camp, 50% come from Germany and 50% come from the rest of Europe.

A request was made by the PR& Dev subcommittee for a subsidy of €1500 to support this event.

On a motion from the Chair the subsidy was approved unanimously.

Two new versions of the logo were presented to the Plenary but no consensus was achieved. The chair moved that Delegates submit designs for a new logo to the PR & Dev Subcommittee by 1st May 2004. A choice will then be made and submitted to the Bureau for ratification.

On a motion from the Chair the proposal was approved unanimously

Alex Nagorski (CAN) reported on the work of the Event Planning and Advisory Service.

Discussion about the naming of CIA and FAI sanctioned events and when organizers should start implementing the newly adopted FAI policy on event naming. Also if a sponsors name is included in the event title, there will be an additional cost.

With only a few people working in EPAS it was felt that rather than have several Working Groups that all efforts and work would be done in the main EPAS group. Also much of the event sanction application work is done electronically before the CIA Conference so that the EPAS meeting time of half a day is more than enough to complete any outstanding work.

On a motion from the Chair the Report was approved unanimously

Motion 1 The EPAS Event Development and Assistance Working Group and the Event Standard and Evaluations Working Group be discontinued and their responsibilities be incorporated within the main Event Planning and Advisory Service group.

Motion approved unanimously

Motion 2 The EPAS budget for 2004 be set at 600 CHF.

Motion approved unanimously

18. REPORT OF THE RECORDS REVIEW SUBCOMMITTEE - Appendix 7

Hans Ĺkerstedt (SWE) gave a verbal report on the activities of the Subcommittee during the year.

On a motion from the Chair the Report was approved unanimously

Motion 1. The performance by Heinsheimer and Neushal in 1976 be accepted as minimum performance standard for future world record claims in the appropriate AS sub-classes provided that NAA send the dossier to FAI and that it will be approved by CIA.

Motion approved unanimously

Motion 2. That General Section paragraphs 6.8.2 and 6.8.4 be revised to permit that the time extension be granted in exceptional circumstance by the President of the Airsport Commission concerned

Motion approved unanimously

Motion 3. Provided the Motion #2 above is accepted by CASI, the performance in Motion #1 is accepted as world record in the appropriate sub-classes.

Motion approved unanimously

NOTE: Delegate from Serbia and Montenegro is now in attendance

Votes now 27, absolute majority is 14, 2/3 majority is 18.

Motion 4. An additional diamond be added in Sporting Code Section 1 Paragraph 8.2.1.3 that:
"Goal Diamond: A prior declared goal-flight of at least 3 km with a marker drop with 10 cm of the goal."

Motion approved unanimously

Motion 5. To add in Sporting Code Section 1 Paragraph 8.2.1.2 that:
"Three diamond performances will qualify for a gold badge."

Voting: 14 for, 4 against, 6 abstentions – motion carried by an absolute majority

 

Motion 6. To add in Sporting Code Section 1 Paragraph 2.1.1.5 that:
"A free balloon which obtains its buoyancy as a result of heating air using solar and or external radiation sources only may be included in this sub-class."

Motion approved unanimously

Bengt Stener (SWE) reported on the work of the Safety Subcommittee

He stated that there had been 7 events in 2003 but only 4 reports had been received. He also requested that in the coming year all reports should be submitted.

The committee are studying material for Safety Seminars and he requested that any Delegates who have Safety Seminars in their countries to please forward any material to the Safety Subcommittee so that it can be used in their discussions during the coming year.

There has been a change to the regulations within Europe for the transportation of liquefied gasses in pressure vessels. Uwe Schneider (GER) outlined the present situation and how the regulations had changed. This is not an airworthiness regulation but a transportation regulation. At present it is illegal to transport gas in aluminium cylinders and the situation for Stainless steel and Titanium cylinders will expire in June 2004, however it is expected that an exemption will be granted for these.

To obtain an exemption for aluminium cylinders a re-certification programme has to be undertaken, this will cost approximately € 6,500.- The German Balloon Federation has already started this re-certification process and when completed it will be valid for the whole of Europe.

On a motion from the Chair the Report was approved unanimously

Motion – That the CIA participates with up to €5000 to support the German Balloon Federation in the validation of aluminium cylinders. Amendment by Netherlands, 2nd by UK – That a donation of €2 per registered pilot, are taken from the 2003 statistics

Vote postponed until after coffee break. Max Bishop, FAI Secretary General outlined a proposal to collect these donations.

The motion from the Netherlands was withdrawn after discussion.

Motion – That the CIA participates with up to €5000 to support the German Balloon Federation in the validation of aluminium cylinders.

The proposed contributions are as follows.

Voting: 17 for, 2 against, 5 abstentions – motion carried by an absolute majority

Max Bishop offered to collect the contributions through the FAI offices in Lausanne.

20. REPORT OF THE COMPETITORS SUBCOMMITTEE - Appendix 9

Alan Blount (USA) reported on the work of the Competitors Subcommittee.

Typographical errors were addressed within the report prior to the presentation, these changes have been reflected in the report, (appendix 7) by the Secretary.

The Chair stated, that at this time we would only discuss the report not the Motions. It was requested by Switzerland and agreed that the report would be taken point by point.

20.1 COMPETITORS SUBCOMMITTEE MOTIONS to the PLENARY

Motion 1 Appointment procedures for selecting event directors of World and continental championships:

That the organizer propose 3 to 5 more than one names for the position of director and that the CSC have the ability to provide comment through the use of a representative of the CSC. It was further recommended that the CSC maintain the previously discussed Director’s List on the CSC website and that the list be used as a resource for names of potential directors

Voting: 10 for, 9 against, 7 abstentions – motion is lost

Motion 2 Competitors liaison at CAT I events.

The CSC requests the RSC to amend the AX and AAMERs as follows.
4.2.3 At least one steward shall have substantial experience as a competitor in international competition. That steward shall have the responsibility of dealing with competitors requests for assistance under rule 5.1 and shall also participate in the resolution of complaints.

Voting: 17 for, 5 against, 3 abstentions – motion carried by an absolute majority

Motion 3  Invitation process relating to deadlines:

It is recommended that all bids allow for the option of payment of entry fees by credit card. If the organizer has no ability to accept credit card payment, then the FAI another organization may serve as a payer account. It is further recommended that the organizer frequently update the progression of entrants into the event on a website to allow for the individual competitors to track the entries that may affect them.

Voting: 25 for, 1 against, 0 abstentions – motion carried by an absolute majority

Motion 4 Other business:

Recommend a diplomatic solution be pursued by the FAI, since Australian government is apparently the major sponsor.

Recommended as an immediate action the CSC requests that the Bureau discuss this problem concerning the 2004 World Championships at their forthcoming meeting including the following:

After lengthy debate the CSC has determined that the organizer is in serious breach of the sanction bid accepted by the plenary.

Due to unauthorized changes made by the organizer including restrictions arbitrarily imposed by the organizer the net result is that the pilots receive no subsidy. The organizer MUST adhere to all the terms of the bid.

If this matter is not rectified by March 21, 2004 there should be suspension by the FAI/CIA of the sanction and suspension of the Australian NAC from the FAI.

Since a major sponsor of the event is the government of the state of Victoria, it is recommended that the FAI inform the government of the state of Victoria that the travel, lodging and shipping subsidies are not reaching the competitors as promised in the bid.

20.1 COMPETITORS SUBCOMMITTEE MOTIONS to the PLENARY Cont.

Delegates outlined their concerns and personal experiences when dealing with the Organisers during the entry process for the World Championship.

The Australian Delegate was not aware of the number of problems that competitors had experienced. He confirmed that they had only received complaints from 3 countries, he also confirmed that 30% - 40% of competitors had already made their travel and accommodation bookings.

The Australian Delegate stated that he would take this information back to the Organisers and try to sort out the various problems.

The Motion was tabled for the day and the CIA President requested the CSC Chairman and the Australian Delegate to work together and try to resolve the various issues during the evening.

The CSC Chairman gave an update of the discussions that were held overnight, the Australian Delegate has spoken to the Organisers and the Government representatives but further consultation is required.

The CSC Chairman requested to table the Motion until further information was available. This was agreed, motion tabled until after the break.

CSC Motions Continued:

CSC recommend that the previous Motion 4 be replaced by the following 2 Motions:

CSC Motion

Whereas the MIBF (World Championship Organiser) is in serious breach of its organiser’s agreement as follows:

1. Restrictions imposed on the competitors travel, freight and housing subsidies which reduce the value of the agreement substantially.

2. Changed Entry Fee from $600 US to $1,000 AUD, effectively raising the fee by approximately $200 US.

3. Raised minimum requirements for third party insurance from $ one million to two million.

Therefore, it is moved that:

1. MIBF shall rectify the situation by complying with all terms of the bid and organizers agreement by March 21, 2004

2. If MIBF fails to comply as requested, then the Organisers Agreement shall be considered breached and the dispute will be handled by "Dispute Resolution" as per the Organiser agreement.

3. Dispute Resolution shall take place beginning March 22, 2004 at FAI headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland or a location mutually agreed to by CIA and MIBF. The CIA will appoint a senior representative who will work in conjunction with a representative of the CSC,

4. Dispute Resolution shall be concluded by March 24, 2004. In the event that Dispute Resolution fails to create an acceptable resolution to the dispute, then CIA shall exercise its right to void the agreement and cancel the sanction.

CSC Motion 2

Whereas the MIBF (World Championship Organiser) is in serious breach of its organiser’s agreement as follows:

1. Restrictions imposed on the competitors travel, freight and housing subsidies which reduce the value of the agreement substantially.

2. Changed Entry Fee from $600 US to $1,000 AUD, effectively raising the fee by approximately $200 US.

3. Raised minimum requirements for third party insurance from $ 0ne million to two million.

Therefore, the CIA shall Immediately communicate with all affected NACs, inform them of the issues and request that they correspond immediately with the Australian NAC and the Government of Victoria, regarding the breach of the Organiser’s agreement and the potential cancellation of the World Championship.

FAI Secretary General Max Bishop clarified the wording of the motion, which had referred to "Arbitration". This wording does not appear in the Organiser agreement where it is Dispute Resolution. It was agreed by the CSC that "arbitration" could be changed to dispute resolution. ( The above Motions have been changed by the Secretary to reflect the various discussions and recommendations)

Max Bishop stated that we were not yet in dispute and that all parties were still working to resolve the problems. However if dispute resolution breaks down the motion calls for the event to be cancelled, then both sides will have to seek legal advise and there are serious consequences for both sides if this course of action is followed.

The Canadian Delegate questioned the use of "shall" in Motion 1 paragraph 4.

The Chair requested that a roll call be taken, as some Delegates were not in attendance for this session.

Votes now 25, absolute majority is 13, 2/3 majority is 17.

Amendment Motion from Canada, 2nd by Switzerland to change "shall" to "may" in Motion 1 paragraph 4

.Voting: 3 for, 16 against, 2 abstentions – motion is lost

Motion 1 – This being very important the Chair requested a secret ballot. If you say YES you are in favour of the motion, if you say NO you are against the motion.

Voting: 20 for, 5 against, 0 abstentions – motion carried by an absolute majority

Motion 2 – The Chair stated that in this case the CIA means the Delegates, as it should be the Delegates that will be sending the letters to the NAC.

Voting: 22 for, 1 against, 2 abstentions – motion carried by an absolute majority

The President read the wording of the General Section 5.1.2. This requires that copies of the complaint must be sent to the Secretary General of FAI.

The President commented that he regretted that we have had to get into these discussions and that the CIA wants a successful Event and all our efforts should go in the direction to achieve this.

21. REPORT OF THE RULES SUBCOMMITTEE - Appendix 10

Masashi Kakuda (JAP) reported on the work of the Rules Subcommittee:

Item 2e Statutes, By-Laws and Sporting Code-WG summary of recommendations

The new anti-doping dispositions, adopted by World Anti-Doping Agency Code (WADA), will be active from 1st April 2004.

Item 2d Scoring-WG summary of recommendations.

The possibility of a part of the advisory COH document being mandatory. It is requested Sporting Code WG study this.

Item 4 FON problem.

There was a long discussion on the wording of Fly On rules 15.5.4 and 15.5.5 but we could not agree on a new wording to take care of all cases that can go wrong. Instead of this we propose that in such cases the COH is taken into consideration where all cases are listed and a solution is proposed.

Item 5 Input of other WG and SC

On input of Scoring WG rule the 3 letter abbreviations are mentioned behind each task and a list of abbreviation to be used in penalty descriptions is taken as an annex to the AX MER.

Item 6 Recommendation to other WG and SC

We recommend to the S&SC WG to revise S1 to allow a division of powers among an organisation director (overall responsibility of the event) and a competition director (competition responsibility).

We recommend to the Jury board that the Jurors are trained on the COH and in Jury decisions the recommendations given in the COH are taken into account.

On a motion from the Chair the RSC Report was approved unanimously

21.1 RULES SUBCOMMITTE MOTIONS to the PLENARY

Motion 1 That the Statutes, By-Laws and Sporting Code-WG recommendations "Item 3.a) 3) i) & ii)" be approved.

Recommendation from RSC that the changes to Section 1 are implemented with immediate effect, but will only apply to Events in 2005.

Motion approved unanimously

Motion 2 That the AA Working Group recommendations "Item 3 b) 3), 4), 9)" be approved

Motion approved unanimously

Motion 3 GPS Loggers will be used in Pre-Europeans 2004 and Europeans 2005, without observers. That the necessary changes in AX-MERs be approved.

Motion approved unanimously

Motion 4 That the rules for the following Category 1 Events be approved.

MOL Cop Pre Europeans 2004	Hungary
16th World Hot Air Balloon Championship	Australia
Mobilux Trophy 2004	Luxembourg
48th Gordon Bennett	France
10th World Gas Championship	Germany
2004 Motegi International Championship	Japan

Motion approved unanimously

Motion 5 That the AX MER rule changes "Item 3. e). 2)" be approved.

Motion approved unanimously

Motion 6 That the AX MER GPS Loggers rules changes "Item 3. e) 3)" be approved.

Motion approved unanimously

NOTE: Delegate from Greece has now left the meeting

Votes now 26, absolute majority is 14, 2/3 majority is 18.