John Barker, elected new OIV DG

The 21st OIV General Assembly, meeting in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, has elected Doctor John Barker, from New Zealand, on Friday 9 June 2023. 

John Barker, PhD, has been elected with 139,4 of the total 142,8 weighed votes. 46 out of 47  eligible Member States have voted for him. The new DG will start his mandate in January 2024, the “International Year of Vine and Wine” and when the organisation celebrates its centenary.

Biography 

John Barker is a legal expert with more than 25 years’ experience in the vine and wine sector. He has a long history with the OIV, having attended his first OIV meeting as a researcher in 2000 and starting as a New Zealand expert in 2005. He was President (2009-12) and Vice-President (2012-2014) of the Law and Economy Commission. He was a candidate for the position of Director General in 2018.

Dr Barker has an extensive background in the vine and wine sector both in New Zealand and internationally, specialising in all aspects of wine regulation and international trade.  He has worked as Wine Programme Manager for the New Zealand government, and from 2004-2014 as General Manager Advocacy and General Counsel for New Zealand Winegrowers – the national wine sector association. From 2014 to 2023, he headed a specialist legal practice advising wine and vine sector entities in many countries including New Zealand, Australia, UK, USA, France, Georgia, Moldova, Canada and Singapore.

John Barker was born 7 October 1968 in Auckland, New Zealand. He is married with two children. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law and arts from the University of Auckland (1992) and a PhD in Law and Geography (2004). His doctoral thesis - “Different Worlds: Law and the Changing Geographies of Wine in France and New Zealand” – was supported by a partnership between the University of Auckland and INRA-ENESAD at the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon. 

Consult here John Barker’s CV