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The new Director General of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) is Dr John Barker from New Zealand. He was elected with a large majority at the OIV General Assembly in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) a few days ago. The representatives of 46 of the 47 member states voted for him.
Barker, born in 1968, has been working for the OIV since 2005. He started that year as an expert on New Zealand, headed the Commission on Law and Economics from 2009 to 2012, and then took over as Vice-President of the Commission from 2012 to 2014. After running for the post of Director General in 2018, he continued his work as an OIV expert and advocate on wine law.
Between 2004 and 2014, he combined his OIV activities with work as head of the legal department of the New Zealand Winegrowers. During these years, he was responsible for government and industry stakeholder relations, international affairs, all regulatory and membership matters affecting the wine sector, and the Wine Export Certification Service. In his subsequent role as a consultant on international wine law, he advised clients from many countries, including New Zealand, Australia, the UK, the USA, France, Georgia, Moldova, Canada, Singapore and Japan.
"The strength of the OIV is that it can take the lead on each of these elements at an international level. For me, it is very motivating to be able to bring my experience and commitment to such an organisation," said Dr Barker in his application speech.
(uka / Source: Press release)