At the same time, our Director-General was in Lisbon updating our European colleagues on IH&RA activities and our new Balkan Members were ardently promoting IH&RA and the prospects of their promising region.

The Foodservice industry was in the limelight this month. Our Ambassador and Board Member Mats Östblom was given an enthusiastic welcome in Qingdao, China, and spoke to a very attentive audience on the latest trends in the restaurant industry. In Chicago, USA, our Vice-President (Restaurants) Bruce Cotton updated colleagues at the National Restaurant Association on IH&RA advocacy work in the area of Foodservice. Both presentation and full report can be accessed via this newsletter. Take a look!

On the all important issue of Food Labelling, read the report on the recent annual meeting of the Codex Alimentarius' Committee on Food Labelling which has decided to proceed with the drafting of a definition of "advertising" in relation to "health claims" made in food advertising.

This is also the moment when we prepare our Quadrennial Report to the United Nations. As we look back from 2003 to 2006 over the past four years of activities with the agencies in the UN Family - International Labour Organization, UN World Tourism Organization, UN Environment Programme, World Health Organization and World Intellectual Property Organization - we are reminded of the numerous initiatives we have carried forward over this period and proud of what we have accomplished.

This mobility and readiness to serve are characteristic of what is essentially a "service" industry, by people for people, wherever they may be across the globe. So I am grateful to all our Members for their various contributions to the life of the Association.

In addition to that, I did promise you all during our General Assembly in Nice that I will stabilize the finances of IHRA. I can assure you by now that we are on the right track completely and the phantom of Bankruptcy is running far from our operations. Our Lawyer in Switzerland finishes preparing the status of the New IH&RA when we will move next year to Geneva. I am preparing now with our general Director the new proposed budget for operations in Geneva for 2008.

Its time now that All of you join me as well as our staff to participate actively in the life of our Association, Please don’t be a Silent member, I need you all. This is our Association and it will survive for long time but only with your participation, your feedback and your payment. I am giving my time but I still need to pay the IHRA’s bills, some bills are dated 3 years ago, I know that I can count actively on you, for payment of dues on time.

“Together We can Make Difference”

Wishing you all the best

Ghassan Aïdi