A new edition of the ICA Bylaws & Rules and Articles of Association will come into effect on 1 January 2023.
Here are some of the key changes that will be included;
- Small Claims Technical Arbitration
A change to the Articles of Association (Article 109.2) will mean that ICA Agents will be able to use Small Claims Technical Arbitration from 1 January 2023. The Article specifies that whenever the Principal to a cotton contract and their agent through or by whom the cotton contract was concluded are both Member Firms and/or Individual Members, any difference or dispute between them whatsoever arising under, out of or in connection with the cotton contract shall be referred to Small Claims Technical Arbitration in accordance with the Bylaws and Rules, unless specifically agreed otherwise.
- Increase to Arbitrator Fees
ICA Members at the AGM agreed to increase the fees for our arbitrators, and for the changes to Bylaw 358(1)(a) which puts this into effect. All those who use ICA arbitration services should be aware that the hourly rate for ICA Arbitrators will be increasing to GBP £190 from 1 January 2023, impacting the total cost of future ICA Arbitrations from this date. Arbitrator fees have previously remained unchanged for over 12 years. ICA carried out a review of equivalent roles in comparable organisations and the impact of inflation over the period and the review recommendation were agreed by the Board and by members. - Quality arbitration
Rule 224 highlights the method to identify the samples drawn for testing or arbitration. The sampling procedure has been slightly reworded to reflect that the drawn samples must be representative of 10% of the bales that comprise each identification defined on the commercial invoice or packing list. Rule 232 has been renumbered and revised from the previous Rule 231, in that the testing procedure is clarified that if the parties are unable to mutually agree a laboratory to verify any claim, either party may request the President of the ICA to nominate an ICA Bremen certified laboratory for testing the samples and issue a test report.
The new versions are now available on our website.
