Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to Leipzig and to this FCI General Assembly Meeting, which I hope will be fruitful.

First of all, I would like to thank the German canine organisation, the VDH, for their help in organising this two-day gathering.

I would like to start this meeting with a retrospective of the main facts which have kept the members of the General Committee busy since last time we met in Milan. Since this meeting, which took place right after the last General Assembly Meeting in 2015, the General Committee has met 7 times.
I will mention especially the important meeting, which took place in Brussels in August 2015, to manage the situation of the World Dog Show in China and the specific invitation extended to CKU and NKK (respectively, the national canine organisation of China and this of Norway), which was, unfortunately, turned down by Norway. Since then, thanks to the efforts and the assistance of CKU, I was able - with the members of the FCI General Committee - to take a number of actions in favour of dogs and their welfare in China.

I would now like to remind you of a few highlights which left their mark on this two-year period:

• FCI extended to new emerging countries, as announced in the original application speech in 2013: Iran, Mongolia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Algeria. It is always extremely rewarding to open our federation to new cultures;
• following the request of some countries, the Working Group for Restructuring the FCI was set up to discuss in-depth changes of the FCI Statutes and Standing Orders going towards more transparency, modernisation and canine welfare issues;
• we managed the crisis generetad by Ecuador which, unfortunately, was not in a position to organise the WDS 2017. Many thanks to VDH for taking over;
• FCI Youth published many interesting guidelines and recommendations to help NCOs create their own Youth organisation and there has been a huge and enthusiastic response;
• the FCI stand was present in the framework of different dog shows: it is important to accompany our members and to have an opportunity to meet them to share some precious time with them;
• we put together several public campaigns: social media play an important role and we found it essential to strengthen our presence on Facebook and Linkedin;
• another important step was the launch of the official Anti-Yulin campaign with badges and stickers produced and distributed at our major shows in order to show the fierce opposition of the FCI against this canine slaughter;
• FCI headquarters published a campaign entitled Dogs are not consumer goods, with pins and stickers being distributed on the FCI stand. The campaign was republished by several FCI partners (NCOs, breed clubs,…) and by Four Paws;
• FCI headquarters signed an agreement with Brussels Airlines and the Lufthansa Group which gives a discount on a huge number of flights for those who take part in canine events; this agreement has been renewed in 2017;
• FCI headquarters carried on with their calendar of local events in Thuin, the city hosting FCI headquarters and proclaimed World Capital of Dogs in 2011: two major events are now organised on a yearly basis – a canine walk and a cynothon – both with an increasing audience;
• FCI headquarters has recently started a new “visiting dogs” campaign in two local institutions hosting people with light mental disorders;
• FCI headquarters is working with Vier Pfoten/Four Paws on recommendations to veterinarians in the framework of their duties during dog shows;
• we took part in the International Congress of kennel clubs organised by the KC and could listen to some interesting speeches.

In the framework of its meetings, and via virtual exchange too, the FCI General Committee has resolved a huge number of proposals, questions and problems related to the compulsory and non-compulsory commissions, to the FCI members, and to other institutions or partners.

In addition, the FCI General Committee is also working hand in hand with the commissions in order to publish standards, regulations and best-practice documents for our hobby, aiming at a sport practice which is safe, ethical, and respectful of animal welfare and health.

Our work as FCI General Committee members has been, is and will always be to serve all our members and contract partners’ interests, in the specific framework of the complexity of an international structure.

Let us all pay a tribute to several important cynological figures who passed away since our last General Assembly Meeting: Wilfried Schäpermeier, Bo Jonsson, Enrique Filippini, Uwe Fischer, Tibor Gellén, Hans Lehtinen, Manuel Loureiro Borges, Gert Christensen, Christian Eymar-Dauphin, Rita Trainin, Carlos Fernández Renau, Steve Gladstone, Ole Staunskjaer. This list might, unfortunately, not be comprehensive, some other friends having left us maybe, without us being informed.

It is now time to start a new concert of voices, so thank you in advance for your input;
I wish you a good FCI General Assembly Meeting!

Rafael de Santiago
FCI President