Articles of Association

of The Syrian Academy of Gastronomy

Article 1: A society for tourism is created in Syria under the denomination of “The Syrian Academy of Gastronomy”.

Article 2: This Academy aims to contribute in making the Syrian Cuisine and its peculiarities and richness known worldwide through:

1-     Organizing food weeks in all the provinces of the country.

2-     Organizing international tourism festivals in Syria, in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism, to enhance tourism and to make known the Syrian Cuisine.

3-     Participating with the International Academy of Gastronomy in its international festivals and having stands for the Syrian Cuisine in these festivals and inviting the International Academy of Gastronomy to organize similar events in the cities and provinces of Syria.

4-     Preparing studies and leaflets which promote the food and the tourism in Syria.

5-     Honoring the successful restaurants and chefs, and granting them certificates of appreciation and symbolic prizes.

Article 3: The financing of the Academy comes from its members’ subscriptions.  

Article 4: The Academy does not aim at making profits or at realizing personal benefits for its members. It works in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism in order to fulfill its goals in promoting and making known the Syrian Cuisine and its tourism industry.

Article 5: All amounts paid by the members to the Academy are considered as income, and cannot by returned to the donors. As well as all financial surpluses which could result at the end of any fiscal year will be considered as reserve, to be spent by the Academy to support the achievement of its aims and goals.

Membership and General Assembly

Article 6: Any Syrian Arab citizen has the right to join this Academy provided that he hasn’t been condemned for a crime, he enjoys a good reputation, that he is recommended by two founding members and that the governing body (“Board”) of the Academy has accepted his application.

Article 7: The candidate should be fluent in French (the official language of the International Academy of Gastronomy to which the Academy is affiliated).

Article 8: The procedure for the application for membership: two founding members submit to the Board the application form (approved specimen available at the Academy office) containing sufficient information on the candidate and signed by both founding members. The Board will study the application in its first meeting after the date shown on the application and will accept or reject the candidacy.

Article 9: The Academy is composed of all its subscribing members.

Article 10: The General Assembly holds its ordinary meetings upon a call by the Board, at least once a year, and it may hold exceptional meetings upon a call by the quarter of its members.

Article 11:
1 - Each member attending the General Assembly is eligible for one vote. In the case that the member cannot attend the General Assembly, he might give a power to another member to represent him and vote for him. A member attending the General Assembly cannot represent more than one (absent) member.
2 - The new member has the right to vote, he may elect a new board, and he may represent another member absent at the General Assembly, because the new member has all the rights from the day his membership is approved.

Article 12: Responsibilities of the General Assembly:

1-     Election of the Board by secret vote.

2-     Hearing the reports of the Board and discussing the achieved work and the projects for execution and giving its opinion on them.

3-     Submitting suggestions and recommendations to the Board.

4-     Discussing the budget of the Academy and ratifying the final accounts of the previous year.

5-     Amending the statutes of the Academy.

6-     The decisions of the General Assembly are to be taken by majority.

Article 13:  Board:

The Board is composed of five members elected by the General Assembly by secret vote, for a period two years, taking into account that to complete the quorum of the Board election meeting, more than half of the General Assembly members should be present.  

Article 14: Meetings:

The Board holds ordinary meetings upon a call by its President in order to discuss the points in the agenda. In his absence, these meetings might be held upon a call by the Vice-President.

Article 15:   

1 -     The legal quorum of the Board meetings is achieved upon the presence of more than half of the members and the meeting is to be opened by reading the report of the previous meeting for its approval.

2 - In the case there is no quorum, the second meeting will be considered as legal whatever the number of presents is, on the condition that this number is not less than the number of the members of the Board.

3 -     The decisions of the Board are taken by the approval of the majority of the present members. In case of votes equality, the vote of the president is to be considered the favorite.

Article 16: For facilitating their task, the titles of the Board members are as follows: President, Vice-president, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-treasurer.

Article 17: The “Syrian Academy of Gastronomy” has selected a temporary address, rent free, at: Aleppo, Azizieh, Husni Bldg., a suite in the ground floor.

Article 18: All that which is not mentioned in this regulation is subject to the rules of laws and touristic decisions in force.