INTRODUCTION

As with many other business and leisure activities, organisations concerned with philately operate at a number of different levels – local society, national or specialist society or study group, regional federation, national federation, continental federation and international federation.

These bodies exist to organise and promote philatelic activity within their respective levels or areas of interest. A number of them have also created regulatory frameworks so that exhibitions, competitions, the training and accreditation of judges etc. can be organised to ensure reasonable comparability of standards on a local, regional, national or global basis.

These pages aim to present a short summary of the philatelic organisations involved at the international level in philately and the current position as regards United Kingdom representation within them.

For further details contact BPT Enquiry Link or write to ABPS:BPT International Committee, The British Philatelic Trust, Suite 101, Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, London, N1 0QH

	The UK Scene; the ABPS:BPT International Committee
	International Exhibiting and Judging
	Forthcoming International Exhibitions
	International Federations
	Federation Internationale de Philatelie (FIP)
	Other International Philatelic Organisations

THE UK SCENE (click to go to top)

In the UK we have a well developed infrastructure of organised philately which not only focuses on philately in this country but also participates fully in philately overseas. So far as the UK is concerned much of this activity is conducted through the Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS), with the support of the British Philatelic Trust (BPT).

:BPT International Committee. This Committee is a joint committee of the Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS) and the British Philatelic Trust (BPT). Its function is to manage all UK matters connected with the Federation Internationale de Philatelie (FIP) and the Federation of European Philatelic Associations (FEPA). It is fully funded by UK international exhibitors and BPT.

The Committee’s coverage extends to the promotion of international exhibitions, the accreditation and appointment of UK International Judges, the appointment of UK Commissioners to international exhibitions and the nomination of UK philatelists for positions on the FIP Commissions, on the FIP Board of Directors, and Delegates to FIP Congresses or FEPA Meetings.

All those serving on the Committee have extensive experience of international philatelic affairs either as exhibitors, commissioners, judges and/or delegates and a number hold positions within ABPS, FIP or FEPA. The current membership is:

Alan Huggins (Chairman), Brian Asquith, Christine Earle, Francis Kiddle (President FIP Literature Commission), Patrick Pearson, Brian Sole, John Sussex and Richard West.


INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITING AND JUDGING (click to go to top)

EXHIBITIONS

A regularly updated page lists forward FIP and FEPA international exhibitions with as much detail as is to hand at date of update, showing information as to dates, location, entry closing dates, etc..

UK JUDGES

The UK is fortunate in being able to field a number of experienced FIP accredited International Judges. These are:

Brian Asquith, Trevor Davis, Alan Griffiths, Chris Harman,
Stephen Holder, Alan Huggins, Francis Kiddle, John Levett,
Jane Moubray, Patrick Pearson, John Sussex and Richard West.

EXHIBITING ABROAD

Many UK collectors participate in exhibiting abroad, usually in international competitions organised under the overall supervision of FIP. UK International Judges are always happy to advise intending exhibitors on their exhibits, the FIP Regulations applying and the appropriate Guidelines. The co-ordinator for arranging individual exhibitor sessions is Alan Huggins, who can be contacted by letter to the British Philatelic Trust, Unit 101B, Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, London, N1 0QH

A Reciprocal Agreement with the United States covering judging arrangements at each country’s national exhibitions and for participation by exhibitors at national exhibitions in each country was signed at Madrid 2000 and agreement exists with Australia. Agreements with other countries are in course of negotiation. For further details contact the British Philatelic Trust.


INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS (click to go to top)

CONTINENTAL FEDERATIONS:

There are currently three Continental Federations which are Associate Members of FIP covering the Americas, Asia and Europe. Brief information is given on the Americas and Asia while more details are included for Europe:

FEDERATION INTERAMERICANA DE PHILATELIA (FIAF):
Membership covers the National Federations in Central, North and South America.

FEDERATION OF INTER-ASIAN PHILATELY (FIAP):

FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN PHILATELIC ASSOCIATIONS (FEPA):

Founded in 1989, following initial discussions in October 1987 in Copenhagen, FEPA has the following objectives:

The essence of FEPA is the promotion of co-operation between Federations and the facilitation of the flow of information about philately without creating undue expenditure; for this reason the subscription is kept low with the Federation of the President undertaking to provide the necessary administrative support. FEPA issues a Newsletter to members – FEPA News. It also holds annual meetings and seminars and Juror training events.

FEPA MEMBER FEDERATIONS:

FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE PHILATELIE (FIP) (click to go to top)

The Federation Internationale de Philatelie was founded in Paris in June 1928 with the following aims:

• To promote philately, in all its aspects, on the international level;

• To create friendly relations and to maintain close co-operation between philatelists throughout the world, with the aim of promoting peace and friendship among all people;

• To promulgate regulations governing its various activities;

• To establish and maintain close contacts with postal administrations and with national and international organisations interested in philatelic matters;

• To support philatelic events of all kinds organised by FIP Members.

FIP has its administrative headquarters in Zurich managed by Marie-Louise Heiri.

Address – FIP Secretariat, Jupiterstrasse 49, CH-8032 Zurich, Switzerland.

E-mail through www.f-i-p.ch .

The President, Vice-Presidents and Directors of the FIP Board are as follows: - 

 

FIP RECOGNISED EXHIBITIONS:

Besides the objective of promoting interest in philately on a global basis, a major activity which FIP regulates is the judging of competitive exhibits at FIP recognised International Exhibitions.

The qualification, acceptance and judging of exhibits is subject to procedures set out in:

• The General Regulations for the Evaluation of Exhibits at FIP Exhibitions (GREX)

• The Special Regulations for the Evaluation of Exhibits at FIP Exhibitions (SREV)

• Guidelines for Judging.

The GREX apply to all classes whereas the SREV and Guidelines are specific to each class.

An English translation of the Regulations and Guidelines as amended at the FIP Congress held in Madrid in October 2000 can be found on the FIP web site at www.f-i-p.ch .

FIP COMMISSIONS:

In order to promote and develop the different branches of philately FIP has set up a number of Commissions or Technical Committees. Current contact addresses and web site/e-mail addresses (UK Delegates to the Commissions are shown separately below):

The current UK representatives on the FIP Commissions are as follows:

    

FIP MEMBER FEDERATIONS:

A number of new initiatives are being planned by FIP. The first of these is The Nations Cup – a different type of competition where teams of individuals from each country contribute exhibits to form a national representative entry. This makes high quality exhibits more accessible to the public outside the constraints of major international exhibitions. The concept is that Nations Cup competitions should be held in a number of countries in each continental Federation, with the winner of each progressing to a Federation competition. Ultimately, the winner of each continental Federation competition would then compete in a planned World Stamp Championship.

The first Nations Cup competition was held in London in March 2001 at the Spring Stampex exhibition. Participating were Belgium, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom, and the UK emerged as narrow victor. The second competition (in different format) was held in Helsinki in November 2001, from which Italy emerged as winner.


OTHER INTERNATIONAL PHILATELIC ORGANISATIONS (click to go to top)

The listing which follows gives contact details for a number of other organisations involved with philately internationally:

Association of International Experts on Philately (AIEP)

The AIEP, founded in 1954, is an association of philatelic experts who may issue philatelic opinions, statements, certificates and guarantees under their personal responsibility. The AIEP is independent of other national or international associations and organisations; it believes in co-operation with international philatelic bodies.

International Association of Philatelic Journalists (AIJP)

International Publishers of Postage Stamp Catalogues, Stamp Albums and Philatelic Publications Association (ASCAT)

International Federation of Stamp Dealers Associations (IFSDA)

  

The World Association for the Development of Philately (WADP)

Formed in 1997 by the Postal Operations Council of the Universal Postal Union, WADP has as constituent members UPU, FIP, IFSDA, ASCAT & AIJP and its major vision is “to ensure philately develops, grows and prospers into the next century and beyond.”

wns@upu.int