6

6Business Meetings and DiscussionsAdd to favorites

6.1 General Principles

6.1.1 Members recognize their responsibility in ensuring that the selection of venues is appropriate and conducive to the purpose of the business meeting or events they organize. Members may provide reasonable meals/refreshments to Stakeholders. The provision of meals/refreshments must be ancillary to the activity associated with it. For business meetings and events held outside of Canada, Members must respect the applicable laws, regulations and self-regulatory Codes of the country where the business meeting or event is being held. {{1}}
6.1.2 No stand-alone hospitality or entertainment is to be provided and the provision of tickets or vouchers, is not permitted, with the exception of hospitality related to a charity event as referred to in Section 12.3.2.2 of this Code.
6.1.3 Member employees should not participate in activities such as but not limited to golf, hockey, theatre and spa in interactions with Stakeholders outside of the exceptions as described in Section 12.3.2.2 or as part of congresses/symposia that are incidental to these events and which are not organized by Member companies.
6.1.4 Members should ensure that the time and efforts of attendees participating in business meetings and events are solely dedicated to scientific, educational and business objectives and activities.

6.2 Locations and Venues

6.2.1 Members must conduct business meetings and/or events in an appropriate setting conducive to learning or conducting a business discussion.
6.2.2 Locations – Members must select geographic locations for the meeting and/or event where the location is not the main attraction of the event and could not reasonably be perceived as such{{2}}
6.2.3 Venues – Members must avoid venues that are considered lavish or extravagant in nature or that are perceived as luxury venues. Venues must have adequate facilities and be conducive to the scientific, educational and business purpose of the meeting. The venue shall not be primarily known for its entertainment, sports, leisure or vacation facilities (e.g. golf club, ski resort, health spas, beach/river/lake side locations or casino) {{3}}
6.2.4 As the interpretation of reasonable can clearly vary across the country depending on city or province, the onus is on Members to ensure that the venue is not extravagant nor reasonably perceived as such.
6.2.5 Business meetings and/or events must not be held in personal residences.
6.2.6 Under no circumstances shall a Member pay a “clinic room rental fee”, “clean-up fee” or any other similar type “fee” that can reasonably be construed as a direct or indirect payment to gain access to a Health Care Professional. Paying for a meeting room in a medical building is acceptable if required for a business discussion and provided the “fee” is within fair market value for a dedicated meeting room and is not paid directly to an individual Health Care Professional. {{4}}

Annotations (x returns to text)

Capital cities and other large metropolitan cities considered to be commercial hubs are likely to be reasonable and appropriate locations for meetings. The appropriateness and reasonableness of a location should be assessed differently for local events attended by local healthcare professionals as opposed to regional or national events. The program for an event may justify a particular location if there are valid reasons for that location such as the availability of relevant expertise or appropriate research / educational facilities. Holding a meeting in a location where none of the attendees work or reside is strongly discouraged.x
The venue must not be lavish or extravagant even if the cost is low or competitive compared with other venues. Venue rankings by the tourism department of the province and/or the average ranking by travel agencies (or other recognized rating agencies/organizations) can help with this assessment. Depending on the venue, it is necessary to assess the appropriateness of such a venue differently where events are happening during the on season or off-season. For example, it is not suitable to organize meetings in water sports locations and resorts in summer months or near winter sports facilities in the winter months.x
Where a fee is charged, it must be at fair market value (FMV) based on other meeting room rates in the area (i.e. hotel or restaurant) and is available for same FMV rate for non‐pharmaceutical business/industry use.
- The rate must be transparent.
- The rental fee must be payable directly to the medical building owner or property management company through invoice and cheque.
- Rental must not be a condition of access. Members must be able to access Health Care Professionals and/or Stakeholders irrespective of the meeting being booked in an independent room within a medical building.
- The meeting room must be independent from any Health Care Professional’s office, clinic or pharmacy and is a professional meeting room. (i.e. Not a cafeteria or Health Care Professional’s lounge).
- The meeting room cannot be the only venue available for conducting a meeting but was selected for the convenience of convening Health Care Professionals and/or Stakeholders to the meeting.x

6.3Provision of Meals and refreshments

6.3.1 General Principle
1. 6.3.1.1 The provision of reasonable meals and refreshments to Stakeholders is considered acceptable as long as the primary objective of the interaction is to facilitate business discussions{{5}}
6.3.2 Standards
1. 6.3.2.1 The number of Stakeholders attending a business discussion, excluding promotional or learning programs that are covered in Sections 5, 9 and 10 of this Code, must be reasonable and justifiable if subjected to scrutiny by Stakeholders. Honorarium must not be provided to Stakeholders attending a business discussion.
  1. 6.3.2.1.1 Member employees may invite a maximum of five (5) Stakeholders, per informal interaction, per Member company. Although there may be more than one employee from a Member in attendance, the number of Stakeholders cannot be increased to result in larger groupings.{{6}}
  2. 6.3.2.1.2 Member employees other than sales representatives and their direct supervisors may invite more than five (5) Stakeholders, per interaction, per Member Company when the legitimate purpose of such business discussion is documented through an agenda or through any other acceptable form of documentation.
2. 6.3.2.2 Attendance to a business discussion is limited to invited Stakeholders. Under no circumstances can meals and refreshments be extended to their spouses/companions or their administrative staff.{{7}}