So the FCI General Meeting was held in Leipzig in Germany as planned on 6th-7th November 2017, on the eve of the largest Dog Show ever held.

No fewer than 170 delegates from 80 members (countries) had accepted the invitation sent out by the FCI. There were 68 full members either present or represented along with 6 associate members and 6 contract partners.

The discussions were lively and interesting and lasted for two days, and while there were sometimes differences of opinion expressed by members, these were always constructive. A good part of the discussions on the first day dealt with the elections and, as a result, Mrs Molinari (PT) and Messrs Jakkel (HU) and Jipping (NL) were all re-elected to serve a further term of office (4 years) on the General Committee. Elections were also held to appoint the members of the Standards and Scientific commissions. Messrs Guintard (FR), Asnaghi (IT) and Friedrich (DE) were (re)-elected as members of the FCI Standards Commission whereas Mrs Durán (UY) and Mrs Kucerova-Chrpova (CZ), along with Mr Villalobos (MX), saw themselves (re)-elected to the Scientific Commission.

Four breeds were given final acknowledgement and can now compete for both the CACIB and the title of International Beauty Champion. These are the Russkiy Toy (352), the Cimarrón Uruguayo (353), the Polish Hunting Dog (Gończi Polski) (354) and the Tornjak (355).

In addition to this, four associate members, Turkey, Pakistan, San Marino and Bahrain, gained full-member status, whereas four contracted partners became associate members after four years. These are Kyrgyzstan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Vietnam and Armenia. Congratulations to these new members!

Finally, there was one other decision of major importance - Czech Republic (CMKU) will be hosting both the General Meeting and the 2021 World Show in Brno, whereas Brazil (CBKC) won the right to organise the 2022 World Show, which will take place in Sao Paulo.

Finally, other decisions on internal operational matters (non-mandatory commissions) were taken and, last but not least, an Extraordinary General Meeting will take place in Brussels next year solely in order to debate the new FCI Statutes and Rules, which are firmly designed to be transparent and modern.

The 2017 FCI General Meeting will be remembered for the excellent co-operation between the joint organisers, the VDH and the FCI. We would like to offer the VDH our warmest thanks for their help.

Y. De Clercq
Executive Director

To the photos of the General Assembly meeting