Gentlemen,

As stated a moment ago in the report of our President, the Count of Lérida, the first decade of the Fédération Internationale Cynologique's post-war revival comes to a close today. It is surely interesting to take a quick glance back at this period, briefly summarising events.

The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in its original form was established in 1911, as many of you will recall. I myself had the honour of being the FCI's secretary from 1912 onwards, at the side of the late Dr Kloppert from Hilversum.

The Federation at that time covered the main countries of Western Europe. National cynology had been established on the mainland around 1880 by hunting dog enthusiasts, both connoisseurs and sports fans, and initially offered a certain unity, due to the fact that it widely mirrored English cynology. The evolution of the latter towards a predominance of breeding for beauty, to the detriment of breeding for work, a certain mercantile mentality deriving from this, together with the quarantine restrictions which shut English borders to imports, all resulted in the mainland countries adopting a different sporting culture to that of England. With only individual agreements between each other but no overall federation, they evolved in separate directions. Soon major differences were to be found in their regulations, to such an extent that even such common words as breeder, kennel name, championship or open class corresponded in each country to widely divergent realities. The fixation on national breeds specific to each region and their employment in their own specific usages served to exacerbate these differences.

The rapid development of new means of communication soon revealed the shortcomings of this situation. The international competitions which had become the fashion in all sports and were attracting not just dog breeders but also horse-owners, car drivers, tennis, football or polo players were made difficult by the idiosyncrasies of each sport's governing body. It was therefore a spirit of unification, along with a need for discipline and mutual support, which were to guide the FCI's founding members in 1911.

This was however no easy task, as, though each of them undoubtedly showed lots of willingness and courtesy, they were also guided by habits, national necessities and even the prejudices of very old clubs and breeders rooted in their routine. The annual meetings held in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Brussels soon however revealed the unanimous wish for unification. With the federal principle now generally accepted, things developed perfectly - until the outbreak of war in 1914 put an abrupt end to the first Federation.

In the course of 1919 and 1920, each country took stock of its remaining cynophiles and dogs, restored order in its own house and soon started thinking about its neighbours. The events had demonstrated the power of mutual help and the spirit of cohesion. On 10 April 1921 in Paris, the Société Centrale de France, represented by the late Duke of Lesparre, Count Clary and Count Jaubert, and Belgium's Société Royale Saint-Hubert, represented by Mr Victor Du Pré and myself, founded a new Fédération Cynologique Internationale in these very rooms where we are now sitting, with Count Clary as its first President.

No federation could have had such a modest starting point as the re-union of two partners. Things have changed a lot since then and we now have eleven governing bodies as members, ranging from the Green Erin to the Balkans, a Union of greyhound clubs and the general committee of an international stud-book devoted to a breed found throughout the continent and not belonging to any single country: the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

The fact is that the new Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI), from the very outset, fully intended to develop its scope. Leaving to time the task of appeasing certain sensibilities, the FCI appealed first to the governing bodies of the allied and neutral countries which had belonged to the federation before the war. The Federal Charter was drafted in such a way that it excluded no-one. In the year of the FCI's re-establishment, the governing bodies of The Netherlands, Spain and Italy were to join our ranks, with Switzerland following in 1922 and Ireland in 1927. A little while later, the FCI had the pleasure of contributing to the foundation and organisation of new bodies, admitted as the latter as associate members: the Principality of Monaco in 1928, Yugoslavia in 1929, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 1930. It was glad to see its work moving away from purely administrative issues and becoming increasingly constructive.

In 1930, the FCI concluded a temporary agreement with one of the two governing bodies in Germany, an agreement not completely ignoring the existence of the other one. This modus vivendi was made necessary by this duality. The FCI has entrusted three delegates with the task of trying to achieve a wish to which it attaches the greatest importance, namely the establishment of a single international representation of German cynology.

You will do justice to the two clubs which founded the FCI in 1921, agreeing with me that they provided the building with a solid foundation. Nothing can prove this better than the following finding: the first statutes have remained in force without any major change for the last ten years, despite the increase in members from all corners of Europe.

On looking more closely at these statutes, we see that they contain six guiding principles: respect for the independence of each member body; mutual recognition of each member's work; equality of rights and responsibilities; a desire to unify regulations, shows and competitions open to international participation; voluntary discipline accepted for this purpose by decisions that need to be taken unanimously; mutual help in all matters.

Time has put these principles to the test, under the successive annual presidencies of Count Clary, V. Du Pré, van der Vliet, the Count of Lérida, Bosisio, Nuscheler, Count Jaubert, V. Du Pré, van Lier, the Count of Lérida, all dog lovers experienced in the difficult job of managing sports organisations; Mr L. Tabourier and myself have been happy to have been at their sides over the last ten years, managing the office as secretary and secretary-treasurer.

It is not without a certain amount of pride that the FCI can list here the practical results obtained in the context of its statutes. Judge them for yourselves.

The best-known proof among dog breeders and amateurs of our vitality is the dual international championship: on the one hand, the working dog championship reserved for working dogs, for which the working trials are usually held in the federated member countries, i.e. for hunting dogs in large quest and practical hunt, flushing dogs and retrievers, hounds, basset hounds, terriers and dachshunds working both above and below ground, livestock (cattle and sheep) herding dogs, tracking dogs, guard dogs, war dogs (for communications, liaison or ambulance duties); and on the other hand, an international beauty championship open to all other breeds.

Dogs become international champions (and in doing so receive an elegant certificate) by obtaining several "certificats d'aptitude" at shows or trials held a limited number of times annually in each country, under the patronage of the FCI, and designated by the national governing body.

These awards must be obtained within a certain period of time (one year at a minimum) in several different countries and under several different judges. Only pure-bred dogs, registered in a recognised stud-book and declared as having exceptional merit can receive such awards. This basically means that you won't find international champions running about in the streets. Attached to the minutes of today's meeting (Annex VI) you will find statistics showing that, over the past ten years, just eighteen dogs have been awarded the title of international beauty champion...