Executive
Board

Meeting of the 135th Meeting of the IFCC Executive
Board, July 5-6, 2018

Minutes
The 135th Meeting of the IFCC Executive Board was held in Rome, Frascati at the hotel Villa
Mercede: http://www.villamercede.com/, meeting room: Chigi.
Participants:
EB Members
Howard Morris
Maurizio FerrariDavid Kinniburgh
Tomris Ozben
Rolf Hinzmann

(HM)
(MF)
(DK)
(TO)
(RH)

President
Past-President
Secretary
Treasurer
Corporates Representative (Roche)

IFCC Regional Federation Representatives
Adekunle Bashiru Okesina(ABO) African Federation of Clinical Chemistry (AFCC)
Abderrazek Hedhili(AH)
Arab Federation of Clinical Biology (AFCB)
Sunil Sethi(SSE) Asia-Pacific Fed for Clinical Biochemistry and Lab Med (APFCB)
Sverre Sandberg(SSA) European Fed of Clin Chem and Lab Med (EFLM)
Rosa Sierra-Amor(RSA) Latin-American Conf of Clin Biochemistry (COLABIOCLI)Ann Gronowski(AG)North American Fed of Clin Chem and Lab Med (NAFCC)
Invited guest to specific sessions:
Graham Beastall(GB)
Sergio Bernardini(SB)

FEN Chairman
ETD Chair

1.0
Opening remarks from President
HM welcomed all and advised that the EB would address all items in the agenda briefly but would
allow time to address a few topics in more depth. Items to be discussed in more detail included:
Criteria for contracts with EB
Criteria for Corporate members
Future of FEN
Presentation from the ETD Div
Risk Management Workshop issue
GC Budapest Program
1.1.134 Minutes of 134th EB Meeting, Milan, Italy, February 17, 18 and 19, 2018
EB previously approved the Full Minutes and the Summary Minutes from the 134th Meeting.

Action List from 134th EB Meeting
Items from the Action List from 134th EB Meeting that were discussed.
PB will ask for quotes on Directors Liability insurance from an Italian provider.
Rosa followed up on request from COLABlOCLI for additional funding for Radio El Microscopio. The
response to IFCC is to be discussed at their next meeting.
DK is working on the study of the demographics of the membership on IFCC Functional Groups.
Strategic Plan:
The strategic actions and the individuals and functional groups responsible was reviewed andmodified as below.
Area A: Supporting our Membership
Strategic Action

No.
1

2

3

4

5

a)
b)

Integration of educational programsContinue to publicize educational resources
available from IFCCc) Work with National Members and Federations tomake better use of the educational resources
available from IFCCd) Continue to promote 2 way communication with
National Members and Federations and coordinate
activities.
e) Continue to develop and present a series ofwebinars to meet the needs of Members.
a) Maintain and improve communication with
COLABIOCLI and Members in Latin America, as
required.
b) Maintain and improve communication with AFCB
and Members in Arab countries, as required.
c) Maintain and improve communication with AFCC
and Members in African countries, as required.
d) Maintain and improve communication with EFLM
and Members in the European countries, as
required.
e) Maintain and improve communication with APFCB
and Members in the Asia-Pacific countries, as
required.
f) Maintain and improve communication with NAFCC
and Members in the North American countries, as
required.
Conduct a survey of Young Scientist, sex, geography
and corporate membership for all IFCC functionalgroups, and develop a plan to address any disparities.
Establish a Working Group made up of Corporate
Members to identify and prioritize their needs, andpossible
projects,
along
with
recommended
membership. Assign to appropriate Division.
Promote to Corporate Members the use of the IFCC
Registry of Experts.

HM / CPD
HM / CPD
EB, Reg Fed Reps, NS representatives

EB, Reg Fed Reps, NS representatives

HM / CPD
RSA / COLABIOCLI

AH / AFCB
AO / AFCC
SSA / EFLM

SSE / APFCB

AG / NAFCC.

DK / CPD

HM / RH / Corp Mem reps within Divisions/ Divisional
Exec Cttee’s EC

RH / Corp Mem reps within Divisions

Area B: Broadening Our HorizonsNo

Strategic Action

6

To translate the principles of metrology to one new
project each year in areas of laboratory medicine otherthan clinical chemistry.
Establish at least one new collaboration each year withan international clinical organisation.
An international scientific association, the European
Society for Clinical Cell Analysis (ESCCA, President
Anna Konstanti), is interested to join IFFC. Need to
identify a Project and then approach them.

7

HM / P Gillery, SD

MF to take responsibility for this.

8

9

10
11

Invite organisations from outside laboratory medicine tocontribute to the IFCC meetings to promote betterinteraction with healthcare professionals. Need to
identify a Project and then approach them.
Reach out to LIS vendors to collaborate on symposia
presentations and development guidelines andstandards of practice. Identify possible projects tostandardize and harmonize post analytical LIS
processes. Encourage IFCC Corporate membership.
Explore the use of electronic meetings by IFCC
functional groups. CPD to into this.
Explore the potential evolution of congress format toinclude electronic participation.

HM / RH

SSE / Robert Flatman

HM / CPD
HM, JW, C-CC

Area C: Improving the Quality of Laboratory Medicine
No. Strategic Action
12
13
14

In conjunction with others develop a route to laboratory
accreditation for developing countries
Identify the objectives with respect to a media campaign
to promote the IFCC and the value of lab medicine.
Strengthen the links and collaboration with the World
Health Organization (WHO)HM / EMD, DQCLM / ASLM/RSA
DK / CPD
HM / PG, SD / SSA to represent EB.

Area D: Improving the Effectiveness of IFCC
No. Strategic Action
15

Performance evaluation of functional units including EB

16

Develop a new fee structure and implementation plan for
Affiliate members
EB review and revise our Strat Plan mid-year 2019

17

2.0
2.3

2.4

3.0
3.2

DK, RH and SSA to Prepare a plan for theevaluation of Functional units including EB. PB tosend forms from GB and SSA to send forms that areused by EFLM
MF / TO
HM and all EB responsible

Full Member Societies
Withdrawal – Suspended Members
Honduras’ membership has been cancelled.
PB is waiting for statistics from IT to determine the IFCC website access by non-members.
Annual Dues for Full Members
It is difficult for some members to send money out of their countries. Other Members can bedifficult to contact or do not respond. We cannot contact Sudan or Peru. Honduras has now
withdrawn.
Agreed that we must continue to follow our policy with respect to payment of dues andsuspension of membership for non-payment. PB to see what countries that are not paying
dues are using our Web features. It was suggested that we should approach the countries
with personal contact to explain the advantages of membership. PB and TO to keep theFederation Representatives aware of status of dues in each region and they will continue tohelp to collect dues, where possible.
Corporate Members
Applications for Corporate Membership
There was discussion of Corporate membership criteria and it was agreed that they areappropriate. There was concern of potential loss of representation by large IVD companies if
membership shifts to small, non-IVD, companies. We do want to be open to new members
and be inclusive but we recognise this as a risk and will continue to monitor this situation. EB
must continue to be sensitive to what IFCC is providing to Corp members (as well all
members). We anticipate that the new Corporate Member WG will help address some ofthese issues.

3.3
3.4

4.0
4.2

4.4

5.0

Removal of Corporate Members
Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech Co. Ltd. discontinued membership in June 2018
Annual Dues for Corporate Members:
The decision with respect to non-payment of dues for 2016-2018 was deferred until next
meeting.
Other matters relating to Corporate Members
The EB agreed that we will support the MedTech code everywhere regardless of the local
code that may be in place. IFCC work with MedTech to suggest amendments to the code as
appropriate going forward. IFCC agreements that are currently in place for 2018 will behonoured but will be renegotiated to follow MedTech Code in the future. HM will meet withcorporates regarding new agreements when at AACC.
Affiliate Members
Application for Affiliate Membership
Kazakhstan -“Public Association -Federation of Laboratory Medicine” was approved as a new
Member. “Réseau de Laboratoires de Biologie Medicale Accrédités- LABAC, France”(“LABAC - French National Network of accredited Laboratories of Medical Biology”) wasapproved as a new Member.
Annual Dues for Affiliate Members
To consider a new proposal for calculating dues: MF
Affiliate Members receive almost all of the benefits that full members do except the right tovote. There is a concern that fees to not reflect the value of membership. HM will draft a
proposal and EB will then agree on amount of change.
Regional Organisations
Short reports from each of the Regional Federations were received.
A request was received to review the MOU between IFCC and COLABIOCLI. An invitation
was received for the EB to attend the meeting in Panama in 2019.
AFCB Federation will meet in Lebanon in 2021 and in Morocco in 2024.
The EB received a Request for $10,000 to cover the operational cost for Radio Africa. Capital
equipment was previously funded from FEN. HM will contact the African Federation (CC: Hilda
Matarira) for more details. IFCC does not have surplus funding in the current budget tosupport this expenditure.
The AACC annual meeting will be in Chicago, July 29 – Aug 2 and several EB members will
be in attendance.

6.0
6.1

International and Professional Organisations
World Health Organisation (WHO)The future relationship with WHO is likely to involve a substantial increase of work and time
which is strongly endorsed by the EB. HM is too busy to take on all activities, thus SSA will be
the EB representative/liaison for teleconferences, and other possible meetings, and the review
of certain documents. SSA could delegate some of these activities to the Divisions through the
Chairs.
6.23.1 Technical Advisory Group (ISO-TAG)
It was noted that Neil Greenberg will attend N569 ISO TC 212 meeting in Seoul Korea, 16-18
Oct 2018.
7.0

Committee on Congresses and Conferences (C-CC)
Report from Sergio Bernardini on Mediterranean Conference
There were 270 delegates attending. There were 40 papers that will be published in the IFCC
eJournal. We should consider what outcomes from the meeting that could lead to a next
meeting to focus on what laboratory medicine can do to provide a solution to some of theissues presented. We will need agreement between IFCC, AFCB, EFLM and FIFBCML tocontinue. HM will work with SB to send out a letter to each Board asking for members toevaluate the meeting and make recommendations on a future meeting.

7.2

International Congresses of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ICCCLM)
IFCC WorldLab Congresses
7.2.24 IFCC WorldLab 2020, Seoul (KR)
Seoul, May 24-28, 2020
HM will be the IFCC EB representative to the Congress Organizing Committee. The first meeting
is Nov 1, 2 and 3, 2018.
7.2.25 IFCC WorldLab 2023, Rome (IT)Rome, May 21-25, 2023
James Wesenberg will be the C-CC representative on the COC.
7.3 IFCC Regional Congresses of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
7.3.1.15 Asia Pacific Federation for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine – APFCB
2019, Jaipur – Rajasthan, 17-20 November 2019
SSE reported that the plans for the congress are underway and there are no problems.
7.3.2.23
European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine - EFLM
EuroMedLab 2019, Barcelona (ES), May 19-23, 2019
MF reported that the program is complete, the facility looks good and sponsorship is good.
Registration will open in Nov, 2018.
7.3.2.24
EuroMedLab 2021, Munich (DE), Munich, May 16-20, 2021
HM and TO will represent IFCC EB and Tomas Zima will represent C-CC on COC. For the
SPC Phillipe Gillery will be the Chair, and Christa Cobbaert and Sara Wittfooth will be the
IFCC members.
7.3.4.24
Latin American Confederation of Clinical Biochemistry -COLABIOCLIThe conference will be held in Panama, September 10-13, 2019
The Program is in progress as a draft.
7.3.6.15
Arab Federation of Clinical Biology - AFCB
MF and AH reported that the Congress held in Palestine in April, 2018, was very successful.
7.3.7.5
African Federation of Clinical Chemistry (AFCC) Congress
ABO reported that the meeting was very successful and IFCC participation was very muchappreciated.
7.4
IFCC Specialised Conferences
7.4.1.16
Roche Bergmeyer Conference (March, Eibsee, Germany)
HM to meet with Joe Passarelli to discuss this issue at the AACC congress.
7.4.9 IFCC-Abbott Turning Science into Caring (TSIC)
Shanghai, China, 13th -14th July, 2018
To note the EB approval by email to sign contract with Abbott re support for Christina
Trambas. The EB will honour signed contracts.
7.40 Other Business – invitation to World Medical Association Congress. October 2018.
AG will be attending the Ethics conference portion of the WMA congress.
8.0
8.1

Scientific Division (SD)SD Executive Committee
The EB previously approved by email to appoint Barnali Das to SD EC.
HM will follow up on the proposal to add a young scientist to the SD EC.
It was noted that the merger of C-MD and TF-PG is working well and the other mergers areproceeding.
8.13 Joint Committee for Traceability in Laboratory Medicine (JCTLM)
Graham Beastall will be stepping down as Chair of JCTLM in December 2018. HM toinvestigate possible replacements.
8.16 International Consortium for Harmonization of Clinical Laboratory Results (ICHCLR)
New arrangement is working well and Paola reported that there are no issues with thearrangement to provide office support for the ICHCLR.

9.0
9.1

Education and Management Division (EMD)
Division Executive Committee
It was agreed that the EB should use the Procedure Manual more frequently to guide actions
and maintain consistency. Therefore the Procedure Manual is required to be revised within
2018-2019. It was agreed that all candidates for election to EB should agree to act inaccordance with the Procedure Manual. It would be the responsibility of the EB to insure that
all other members of functional groups act in accordance with Procedure Manual. AG will
provide a copy of AACC's COI policy and disclosure form. It was suggested that a webinar
could be prepared by Ethics WG for all IFCC functional group members to watch and sign off.
HM to request this.
All new contracts will be reviewed by this EB.
9.4.1 Visiting Lecturer Programme
All funds have been spent. All speakers should be asked to sign a conflict of interest
statement, as part of their approval/funding and presentation. VLP funding is adequate at thistime and we will request the same amount. HM will sign the request as prepared by PB. HM
will respond to Nader and Leslie on this decision.
10.0 Communications and Publications Division (CPD
10.1 CPD Executive Committee
It was noted that the EB previously approved by email to appoint Tricia Ravalico as Corporate
representative to CPD EC.
EB approved T Pillay as new Head of CPD as recommended by CPD, as of Jan 1, 2019.
EB approved Katherine Psarra from Greece as next eNews Editor, as of Jan 1, 2019.
Public Relations Committee Chair is a new role, recognizing the importance of Social Media,
thus those skills will be key to the selection of the new Chair. Call for nominations will comeout soon.
Policy Document for Website is now in place, explaining how the website is managed.
New contract has been renewed with Elsevier for CCA as official journal, and there arenegotiations happening to improve conditions and finances for IFCC.
Some problems arose with CCLM re the publishing of abstracts for EuroMedLab meetings,
which alternates with CCA and CCLM.
CPD Webinars: From Survey of National Reps and their members (400 replies) many
respondents (<70%) are not aware of Webinars and did not attend. Those who are aware
regarded the program highly. The EB agreed with the strategy to integrate the educational
programs. The challenge is how to increase the number of Webinars. All of the Durban
presentations were recorded and there is a plan to include all VLPs. There is now a new
vendor of the Webinar product. This should start with the 2019 VLPs. There are 100+
Webinars that need to be completed. The new Coordinators could finish those, add objectives
and questions and help with the new VLP Webinars. Those viewing can get certificates for
PD. We could make or Webinars available to African non-members, where there are no
National Societies. They will be freely available to the public as per the funding provided bySiemens. There is an IFCC YouTube channel but it needs to be expanded. Advertisements
went out for the coordinators. Siemens contract ends Dec 31 2019 and there are significant
funds left. There are a number of qualified individuals to perform “coordinator work”. These
webinars will be linked to the e-curriculum. A challenge will be how to evaluate the webinars toensure they are quality presentations and viewers will be satisfied, and not discouraged bypoor webinars, especially as the numbers of webinars grow. They could be ranked by theviewers.
The CPD plan was endorsed by the EB, including the hiring and payment of the coordinators.
10.9.2 IFCC Booth AACC 2018 Chicago
The IFCC will have a booth at the AACC Congress in Chicago. The EB agrees that it is money
well spent in terms of visibility and the opportunity to meet and talk with colleagues, and holdmeetings. There will be a Leadership meeting with AACC as well as a meeting of the
Corporate Members. Agenda

11.00 Emerging Technology Division (ETD)
11.1 ETD Executive Committee: Sergio Bernardini update
Sergio Bernardini attended the EB meeting to present the ETD response to questions andsuggestions from the EB. All of the questions and suggestions from the EB were addressedby the ETD and the understanding is that the ETD will move forward a measured pace,maintaining close communication with the SD and the EFLM to ensure no overlap or
duplication of efforts.
The Chairs of the 3 initial committees will be: C-MHBLM Chair: Bernard Gouget. C-OT Chair:
Paolo Fortina. C-EPLM Chair Tim Lang. The ETD will advertise for positions on the various
committees
Terms of reference and objectives for the next 3 years were reviewed for committees. (CEPLM), (CMHBLM), (C-OT)
12.0
12.1

IFCC Awards
Awards Committee – Membership.
Chair is MF and will now have 6 members from the 6 Federations. MF will send the names
to the EB. The Procedure Manual will be amended to allow for up to 6 or 7 on the committee.
12.1.1 IFCC Distinguished Clinical Chemist Award
Possible support by “Yashraj Biotechnology Ltd.” – India.
12.1.2 IFCC Henry Wishinsky Award for Distinguished International Service (Siemens)
12.1.3 IFCC Award for Distinguished Contributions in Education (Abbott Diagnostics)
12.1.4 IFCC Abbott Award for Significant Contributions in Molecular Diagnostics(Abbott Molecular).
12.1.5 Distinguished Award for Laboratory Medicine and Patient Care (Sekisui Diagnostics).
12.1.6 IFCC Robert Schaffer Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Development ofStandards for Use in Laboratory Medicine (NIST-CLSI).
12.1.7 IFCC Young Investigator Award (IFCC)
12.1.8 IFCC Distinguished Award for Contributions to Cardiovascular Diagnostics (Hytest)
12.1.9 Gérard Siest-Biologie Prospective Award (Stabiligen).
12.1.10 IFCC-Yashraj Biotechnology Ltd. Distinguished Women Scientist Award forContributions to Affordable in vitro Diagnostics.
HM will contact all companies, including, Abbott, Biologie Prospective, Yashraj
Biotechnology Limited and NIST about name changes and process changes to the Awards.
Special Projects and Task Forces
13.1.01 Task Force on Ethics (TF-Ethics)
Membership update, Note that Nilda Fink has been appointed as the new Chair. AG will serveas the EB Liaison.
13.1.12 Special Project on History
The discussion on this matter was postponed until the next meeting.
15.0 Financial Matters15.1 Organization of Finances - Treasurer’s Report:
TO summarised the Financial Report as previously circulated. As of June 15, 2018, Total
Income was 782.293 CHF (Proposed 612.000), Total Expenses were 329.554 CHF (Proposed
1,712.107) and Net Income was 452,739 CHF (Proposed -1,100,107). TO reported that total
cash available in the three operational accounts at Credit Suisse is. 1,463,917.32 CHF. The
investment report of Credit Swiss indicates a return year-to-date for the period 31.12.2017 1.6.2018 of -1.57% and for the period 31.12.2016 - 1.6.2018 of 3.69%. The EB considered
this as a very reasonable return given our low risk investment position, and that we can now
claim the management fees for our investments as an expense against income earned.
15.40 Other Business
IFCC provides a 10,000 Euros grant to regional federations (where specified in the MOA)
depending upon receipt of an annual report from each region. The funds can go to anyactivity. The region puts forth a proposal and then the funds are released and a follow upreport is required to show how it was spent. The Head Office did not receive an annual reportfrom the Arab region, as yet. AH will follow up and send a report.
The EB reviewed the procedure for reimbursement of travel expenses and agreed on thefollowing:
IFCC Officers may buy their tickets thorough a travel agency. While doing so, the following
issues should be taken into consideration:
1. The IFCC EB agreed to keep the reimbursement rules as they are without any flexibility. The
most economical fare tickets are eligible only for reimbursements. The EB agreed that buying
a flexible/premium economy ticket is in the benefit of the individual, not the IFCC’s benefit.
2. Reimbursements can be made after participation in the event and submitting the claim forms.
IFCC cannot pay to the travel agencies in advance of the events.
Considering these issues, of course, MZ can provide their flight tickets based on the mosteconomical fares. If they provide tickets other than basic economy, MZ should ask the
difference from the officers. The officers may pay to MZ if MZ does not want to delay thereceipt of the ticket money after the events take place. This is between MZ/travel agencies
and IFCC officers. IFCC does not interfere in this.
16.0
16.1

16.3

16.4
16.5
16.6

Organisational Matters
IFCC OfficeUpdate on the GDPR Compliance and IFCC response as per Mauro email.
Some of our members will have personal information on individuals when they apply for aposition, such as the applicants’ CVs. DK and PB and Mauro will contact the EU Dataorganization for ruling on what we have to do with CVs. We may check with otherorganizations to see how they are dealing with this issue. We also have to identify anindividual as the Data Officer.
Nominations Committee – MembershipElections timeline 2021-2023
EB agrees on the timeline. A chair will be identified. Chair will name the other 2 individuals.
Annual Report.
The Annual Report has been published on the IFCC Website and notice sent out.
Handbook:
The Handbook has been published on the IFCC Website and notice sent out.
Procedures Manual:
DK and MF are working on the revision of Procedures Manual. It was agreed that the EB
should use the Procedure Manual more frequently to guide actions and maintainconsistency. Therefore the Procedure Manual is required to be revised within 2018-2019. It
was agreed that all candidates for election to EB should agree to act in accordance with theProcedure Manual. It would be the responsibility of the EB to insure that all other membersof functional groups act in accordance with Procedure Manual. AG will provide a copy of
AACC's COI policy and disclosure form. It was suggested that a webinar could be preparedby Ethics WG for all IFCC functional group members to watch and sign off. HM to request
this.

18. IFCC Foundation for Emerging Nations (FEN)
Process for future of FEN – Graham Beastall presentation
GB attended meeting to present a proposal relative to the decision to shut down FEN. TO also
represented FEN, and 2 other FEN Board members, Lucia Monaco and Michelle Rossier, also
attended via Skype. FEN understands position of EB but do not want to rush to close FEN.
The FEN Board feels they have made significant achievements and can still contribute to
IFCC. There needs be a timely decision before FEN goes into deficit in the fall due tooperational costs. The EB suggested that FEN close and enter into discussion with IFCC on
how to incorporate activities into IFCC as part of EMD and then submit a joint proposal backto EB.

19.0
19.6

Meetings
General Conference 2018, Budapest – Programme update
The EB reviewed the draft programme and their suggestions will be incorporated into the final
version which will be sent to the Division chairs for their input. DK will contact K Adeli and
CPD for suggestions on electronic systems to facilitate audience interaction and feedback
during sessions. A tracking system to monitor delegate participation was discussed and will
also be investigated. Note that after the EB meeting it was decided not to pursue a delegate
attendance tracing system. 160 National Representative delegates are expected. The
Representatives have been asked to identify the important issues affecting their organizations
and laboratory medicine, and what the IFCC can do to address these issues.
TO will prepare an estimated budget for the GC.
19.80 Executive Board Meetings
EB Meetings 2018
Rome, Thursday and Friday, 5-6 July 2018
General Conference, Budapest (HU), Thursday and Friday, November 8-9, 2018
EB Meetings 2019
Tunisia 2-4 February 2019
Barcelona 24-25 May 2019
Jaipur 21-23 November 2019