Regulations on membership

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APPROVED
Minutes of the BelCCI
Presidium meeting
No.1 of March 25, 2016

REGULATION
on the membership in the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

1. General Provisions

1.1. This Regulation on the membership in the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation) is based on the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On the Chamber of Commerce and Industry” and the Articles of Association of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (hereinafter referred to as the BelCCI) and it defines the procedure for the acquisition and termination of fixed membership in the BelCCI, in particular of the payment of admission and membership fees and the provision to the BelCCI members of the right to use the BelCCI services on preferential basis.

1.2. The Regulation applies to all legal entities and individual entrepreneurs admitted to the BelCCI in accordance with the established procedure (hereinafter referred to as the BelCCI members), as well as legal entities and individual entrepreneurs who have the right and express their willingness to become the BelCCI members (hereinafter referred to as Applicants).

1.3. The Applicants are legal entities and individual entrepreneurs who accept and recognize the BelCCI Articles of Association and voluntarily assume the obligation to pay entrance and membership fees.

1.4. The Applicants acquire the memberership in the BelCCI, and the members terminate their membership in the BelCCI from the moment the Presidium of the BelCCI makes a corresponding decision on their admission or exclusion.

1.5. The membership in the BelCCI is certified by a BelCCI member certificate.

1.6. The BelCCI members are obliged to pay membership fees annually and in the amount as determined by the BelCCI Presidium.

1.7. In the year of admission only the admission fee is paid by new members.

1.8. The admission fee paid by the Applicant in November - December of the year of admission to the BelCCI is counted as the membership fee for the next year.

2. Admission to the members of the BelCCI

2.1. Admission to the members of the BelCCI is effected by the BelCCI Presidium on the basis of an application for the membership in the BelCCI (hereinafter referred to as the Application) submitted according to the established form, provided that the Applicant pays the admission fee in the amount established by the BelCCI Presidium.

The following documents have to be provided with the Application:

for a resident of the Republic of Belarus:

a questionnaire for a BelCCI member;
a document confirming the payment of the admission fee;
a copy of the state registration certificate;

for a non-resident of the Republic of Belarus:

a questionnaire for a non-resident BelCCI member;
a document confirming the payment of the admission fee;
a document confirming the legal status of the Applicant in the country of registration in accordance with the legislation of the country of registration (certificate of registration, extract from the trade register, etc.), legalized in accordance with the established procedure, with a certified translation into Russian;
a constituent document of the Applicant in accordance with the legislation of the country of registration (articles of association, memorandum of association, etc.), legalized in accordance with the established procedure, with a certified translation into Russian;
recommendation of the national or regional chamber of commerce and industry of the country of registration, with a certified translation into Russian.

2.2. The application and the questionnaire are signed by an Applicant’s representative, who has the proper powers by virtue of the law, articles of association or power of attorney, and are submitted as follows: by a resident of the Republic of Belarus - to an appropriate the BelCCI regional unitary enterprise (its branch, representative office) at the location of the Applicant, and by a non-resident of the Republic of Belarus - to the BelCCI.

2.3. The BelCCI regional unitary enterprises are in charge of the BelCCI members and the Applicants, registered in their regions. In exceptional cases, it is allowed to assign a BelCCI member (Applicant) to the BelCCI regional unitary enterprise, which is not located at the place of the BelCCI member registration (Applicant), but at the location of his manufacturing site (at the place of his business activity or where his services are rendered).

2.4. Documents submitted by the Applicant, which are incomplete or in a wrong format shall not be processed.

2.5. The following categories of Applicants can be admitted to the BelCCI members without imposing a direct obligation on them to pay membership fees:

republican government bodies, local executive and administrative bodies;
organizations admitted on a parity basis under the conditions of mutually acceptable and mutually beneficial cooperation of the BelCCI with them;
other organizations by decision of the BelCCI Presidium.

2.6. The refusal of the BelCCI Presidium to admit a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur to the BelCCI members may be appealed by this legal entity or individual entrepreneur in court within six months from the date of receipt of such a refusal.

2.7. Information about the decisions of the BelCCI Presidium on admission to the BelCCI membership is published in the BelCCI mass media channels.

3. Termination of the membership in the BelCCI

3.1. The membership in the BelCCI is terminated:

on the basis of a written application of a BelCCI member;
in case of violation by a BelCCI member of the Articles of Association, including the case of non-payment of membership fees by a BelCCI member within a year;
in case of liquidation (termination of activity) of a business entity, which is a BelCCI member.

3.2.The BelCCI Presidium is considering the issue of the termination of the membership in the BelCCI on the basis of a written application from a BelCCI member after its approval by the BelCCI regional unitary enterprise in charge.

3.3. The decision to terminate membership of a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur may be appealed by this legal entity or individual entrepreneur in court within six months from the date of receipt of such a refusal.

4. Procedure for payment of membership and admission fees

4.1. The amount of membership and admission fees and the criteria for determining their specific amount for the BelCCI members is established by the BelCCI Presidium:

for residents of the Republic of Belarus - as a multiple of the base amount established by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, which is in effect at the time of payment of the membership fee;
for non-residents of the Republic of Belarus - in US dollars.

4.2. The specific amount of the admission fee for the Applicant is established by the BelCCI regional unitary enterprise in charge, taking into account information about the Applicant available to the BelCCI at the time of invoicing the admission fee, which is calculated in accordance with the scale of membership fees approved by the BelCCI Presidium.

4.3. The specific amount of a membership fee for a BelCCI member is set based on the criteria established by the BelCCI Presidium and by the BelCCI regional enterprise in charge, based on the information available to the BelCCI about this BelCCI member at the time of membership fee invoicing.

5. Procedure for payment of membership and admission fees

5.1. Membership and admission fees are transferred to the BelCCI settlement account. It is allowed to pay the membership fee in installments.

5.2. If this does not contradict the legislation of the Republic of Belarus, the following methods of paying admission and membership fees are to be used:

direct payment from the settlement account of a BelCCI member (good discharge);
set off of homogeneous counter-claims;
payment of the membership fee on the basis of an agency agreement.

5.3. The basis for payment of the admission and membership fee is an invoice indicating the type and amount of the fee.

A membership fee invoice is to be provided to a BelCCI member no later than January of the year, for which the payment is made.

5.4. The BelCCI members pay membership fees no later than March 1 of the year, for which the fee is paid.

5.5. Membership and admission fees are considered paid at the moment of receipt of funds to the settlement account of the BelCCI. In case of payment of a membership or admission fee by offset, the fee is considered paid from the moment the management of the BelCCI makes a relevant decision.

6. Use of BelCCI services on a preferential basis

6.1. The right to use the BelCCI services on a preferential basis is given to:

an Applicant - from the moment of receipt of the admission fee to the settlement account of the BelCCI, in case an application for admission to the BelCCI has been duly submitted and until the BelCCI Presidium makes a decision to admit or refuse to admit an Applicant to the BelCCI;
a BelCCI member - from the moment the BelCCI Presidium takes a decision on his admission to the BelCCI.

6.2. For a BelCCI member who has not paid the membership fee in full within the period specified in clause 5.4 of this Regulation, the right to use the BelCCI (its unitary enterprises) services on the preferential basis is suspended until the full payment of the membership fee.

7. The certificate of the BelCCI member;

7.1. On the basis of the decision of the BelCCI Presidium to admit the Applicant to the membership of the BelCCI, he is issued a BelCCI certificate.