Director-General of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

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The Director-General of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was responsible for supervising the administrative functions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The first Director-General, Eric Wyndham White, was appointed on March 23, 1965. [1] GATT had a total of 5 Director-Generals until the WTO was formed in 1995. Peter Sutherland was the last Director-General of GATT, and the first of the WTO.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its preamble, its purpose was the "substantial reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers and the elimination of preferences, on a reciprocal and mutually advantageous basis."

Sir Eric Wyndham White KCMG (1913–1980) was a British administrator and economist. He was founder and first executive secretary of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade between 1948 and 1965. He was the first director-general of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade from 1965 to 1968.

Peter Sutherland Irish international businessman

Peter Denis Sutherland was an Irish businessman, barrister and politician who served as UN Special Representative for International Migration from 2006 to 2017, Chairman of Goldman Sachs from 1995 to 2015, Director-General of the World Trade Organization from 1993 to 1995, European Commissioner for Competition from 1985 to 1989 and Attorney General of Ireland from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1994.

NameTook officeLeft officeCountry
1 Eric Wyndham White 1948 [2] 6 May 1968 United Kingdom
2 Olivier Long 6 May 19681 October 1980 Switzerland
3 Arthur Dunkel 1 October 19801 July 1993 Switzerland
5 Peter Sutherland 1 July 19931 May 1995 (WTO) Ireland

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References

  1. "Eric Wyndham-White, Executive Secretary and subsequently Director-General of GATT, 1948 to 1968". World Trade Organization. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
  2. Hoekman, Bernard; Kostecki, Michel (2001). The Political Economy of the World Trading System. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 55.