68th IUCAB Delegates Meeting

Also this year, the Delegates Meeting took place virtually, because the health conditions did not allow a personal meeting in Vienna, as planned. Presidents, secretaries and lawyers from many member associations came together to exchange experiences and make important decisions that will strengthen and promote the commercial agents profession.

The ongoing evaluation of the VBER (Vertical Block Exemption Regulation) and the VGL (Guidelines on Vertical Restraints) as well as the efforts of IUCAB to maintain the regulation were presented during the web meeting. VBER is one of the most important regulations which guarantees the legal certainty for commercial agents and their principals. The current exemption will expire on 31st May 2022 and requires constant involvement into the evaluation process.

The Secretary General presented the latest IUCAB developments and actions since the last annual meeting. Great attention was paid to the communications and social media channels. The followers increase constantly and additionally a monthly newsletter raises the visibility. The IUCAB B2B Platform was relaunched in 2020 and in the meantime about 13,000 commercial agents are registered. The public profile, a kind of website, ensures a higher visibility for the commercial agents and those who have already created their profiles get better rankings than their principals.

Mr. Enric Enrech, Mr. Ralf Scholz and Mr. Axel Sturmberger were confirmed for a further term as Vice Presidents.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the profession were analysed by the Spanish Member Association CGAC among the IUCAB Member Associations and the results were presented to the Delegates. The profession is badly affected. National governments offer different measures of financial support. Measures that have been considered more efficient and effective were shared among the participants.

In order to improve the relationship of the commercial agencies and their manufacturers a study is in preparation. Results will be available in
autumn 2021.

A partnership with GL Events Exihibitions was discussed and further steps towards a test case were agreed. IUCAB will prepare a conference to present and to promote the profession during the SIRHA, the world leading exhibition in the food service sector, which will take place in September in Lyon.

The IUCAB Training Selection Committee confirmed that the following Member Associations or its regional associations offer national training courses according to the IUCAB Training Standards: APAC (France), Bundesgremium der Handelsagenten (Austria), CAMEX (Peru), CGAC (Spain), COACB Barcelona (Spain), FNAC (France), PTZ (Slovenia), USARCI Piedmont (Italy) and VNHI (The Netherlands).

The Delegates congratulate Mr. Norbert Radocha (agency oenoproducts gmbh, Austria) on winning this year’s George Hayward Award.

Next year the Delegates Meeting is to take place from 26th to 28th May 2022 in Limassol, Cyprus.