Director-General of the World Trade Organization
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The Director-General of the World Trade Organization is responsible for supervising the administrative functions of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Because World Trade Organizations' decisions are made by member states (through either a Ministerial Conference or through the General Council), the Director-General has little power over matters of policy - the role is primarily advisory and managerial. Director-General supervises the WTO secretariat of about 700 staff. WTO Director-General is appointed by WTO members for a term of four years.
The current Director-General (since September 2005) is Pascal Lamy of France.
Before the creation of the WTO, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade had a series of Director Generals. Peter Sutherland was the last DG of GATT and the first of the WTO.
[edit] Past Directors-General
This is a list of former holders of the office of director-general. The post was created in 1995, although the earlier office of Executive Secretary is often seen as a direct equivalent.
| Name | Took office | Left office | Country | |
| 1 | Peter Sutherland | 1 July 1993 | 1 May 1995 | Ireland |
| 2 | Renato Ruggiero | 1 May 1995 | 1 September 1999 | Italy |
| 3 | Mike Moore | 1 September 1999 | 1 September 2002 | New Zealand |
| 4 | Supachai Panitchpakdi | 1 September 2002 | 1 September 2005 | Thailand |
| 5 | Pascal Lamy | 1 September 2005 | --- | France |
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