1. Concerning the Transition to a General Incorporated Association
(1) Heretofore JIRA has been authorized to operate by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and so been able to conduct activities while receiving various tax-related measures. In 2006, the Act on Authorization of Public Interest Incorporated Associations and Public Interest Incorporated Foundations was enacted with the aim of promoting the sound development of the private nonprofit sector and contributing to the promotion of the public interest. Accordingly, when this law became effective on December 1, 2008 JIRA automatically transitioned to the law’s new Specified Public Juridical Entity. The Specified Public Juridical Entity designation is a temporary corporate status applied to public interest corporations transitioning to the new law’s incorporated association or incorporated foundation status. A corporation must transition to an incorporated association or incorporated foundation within five years of enforcement of the Act or risk being dissolved.
(2) Consequently, at JIRA’s 2010 Ordinary General Meeting, the basic policy to transition to a “general incorporated association” was approved. Furthermore, since it is necessary that JIRA meet the criteria listed below to receive approval as a general incorporated association, new constitutional bylaws for JIRA that fully take these matters into consideration were created.
[1] Constitutional bylaws must conform to the laws governing general incorporated associations and general incorporated foundations.
[2] Public interest expenditure plans must be proper and made with the expectation that they will be reliably implemented.
2. Main Changes to Articles of Incorporation
(1) Change from “Incorporated Association” to “General Incorporated Association.” The Association’s English name will change from “Japan Industries Association of Radiological Systems” to “Japan Medical Imaging and Radiological Systems Industries Association.” The “JIRA” abbreviation will remain unchanged.
(2) Delete the definition of “medical imaging systems” in the present articles of incorporation (“devices and associated components/accessories in systems whose purpose is to utilize radiation in patient diagnosis and treatment”) in order to expand the scope of covered medical devices and related products.
(3) Specify that business activities be conducted both domestically and internationally.
(4) In accordance with becoming a general incorporated association, conduct the following activities to achieve our goals:
[1] Draft standards related to medical imaging systems and promote standardization
[2] Conduct research and surveys concerning the improvement of the quality, safety and technology of medical imaging systems
[3] Promote and improve the production, distribution and foreign trade for medical imaging systems
[4] Hold and participate in exhibitions, seminars and technical training courses related to medical imaging systems
[5] Disseminate information about laws, regulations, and standards related to medical imaging systems and cooperate with regulatory authorities
[6] Conduct continuing education for marketing supervisors at retailers and for responsible engineering managers at service companies handling specially controlled medical devices and/or controlled medical devices classified by the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law
[7] Conduct any other activities deemed necessary to achieve the aims of the association
3. Conclusion
JIRA’s original plan for 2011 included transitioning to a general incorporated association and preparations to that end were continually underway. It was in this situation that the Great East Japan Earthquake suddenly struck on March 11. This resulted in cancellation of ITEM 2011 (International Technical Exhibition of Medical Imaging 2011) which, in turn, had a major impact on JIRA’s income. Though we can say that 2011 has been an extremely irregular year for JIRA, we now have every expectation that our various business activities will resume and thus plan to move ahead as scheduled with procedures to become a general incorporated association.
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