Hospitality arrangements
Countries differ widely with respect to this, but in principle hospitality must not be ‘out of proportion’ and should not be (or appear to be) the main attraction to an event.
In addition hospitality should not be offered to anyone accompanying delegates (e.g spouse or partner) unless they qualify as a delegate in their own right.
You should also consider travel arrangements – for example:
- Are overnight stays justifiable?
- Is the accommodation being offered acceptable?
Always apply the strictest of the applicable country requirements.
See Key Topic 2 for more detail and examples.
Consider this example
The Medicines Australia Monitoring Committee referred hospitality provided by Takeda to healthcare professionals who attended the American Diabetes Association 74th Scientific Meeting for consideration by the Code Committee. This was a 5 day event held in San Franciso in June 2014. The Monitoring Committee was concerned that the expenditure on alcoholic beverages at three dinners was high, out of proportion to the expenditure on food and was excessive.
Takeda had sponsored 5 delegates to attend the meeting. The company had provided international travel, accommodation, travel expenses and meals at a total cost of $53,723.
Provision of alcohol at the three meals was as follows (US dollars):
- Meal 1: wine $222 for 10 guests
- Meal 2: 4 bottles of wine at $320 for 12 guests –wine cost was 30% of total meal cost
- Meal 3: spirits and wine costing $166 for 8 guests (>30% of total meal cost
Do you think these costs are acceptable?
Ruling
The Code Committee noted that alcohol, especially wine, is considerably more expensive in restaurants in the United States than it is in Australia. A minority of members of the Code Committee, however, felt that regardless of higher costs at international restaurants, there had been less expensive alcoholic beverage options available at each of these restaurants, and there would have been more appropriately priced restaurant options available in San Francisco. However, a majority of the Committee members considered that the overall per head cost at each of the three dinners was acceptable and took into account the higher cost of alcoholic beverages, including wine, in US restaurants.
Hint and tip:
AstraZeneca considers spirits and sparkling wines to be inappropriate hospitality.
