Gérard Viatte

Gérard Viatte was born on 2 December 1937 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. He studied both law and economics at the University of Neuchatel, and continued post-graduate studies in Heidelberg (Max-Planck-Institut), London (University College) and The Hague (Academy of International Law), specialising in international economic law.

 He started his professional activity at the Ministry of Economics in Berne, Switzerland, in 1962, dealing mainly with international trade negotiations (GATT, EFTA, OECD, EEC).

 He joined OECD (Directorate of Agriculture) in 1965, occupying various positions and became the Director for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries in 1987. He occupied this position until his retirement at the end of 2001. In this capacity, he supervised all the activities of the Directorate, in particular on agricultural policies, trade and markets, environment, fisheries, relations with non OECD countries, etc. He was actively involved in a number of cross-sectoral issues, such as sustainable development, and in the general management of OECD. He maintained active relations with other international organisations, NGOs, the agro-food industries and the academic world.

 From 1972 to 1987, he was also a part-time lecturer at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

 He wrote many articles and speeches, as well as a book on “Les Rouages de l’Economie Internationale”. He is a member of a number of economic associations and holds distinctions from various countries. Since December 2002, member of the Académie d’Agriculture de France, section economics and policy.

 Since his retirement in 2002, he worked  at many occasions as a Special Advisor to FAO (Economics and Social Department) – a task which he will continue..   He became also the Executive Manager for Europe and Asia-Pacific of the World Agricultural Forum based in St-Louis, USA. He was also a advisor for the Swiss Federal Office of Agriculture. He chaired or addressed a number of international agricultural meetings.