Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an international body composed of 30 countries participating in a permanent cooperation designed to coordinate their economic and social policies. The OECD makes available all information relevant to the formulation of national policy in every major field of economic activity. Its principal goals are: firstly, to promote employment, economic growth, and rising living standards in member countries, while maintaining stability; secondly, to contribute to sound economic expansion of both member and non-member nations in the process of development; and, thirdly, to further the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. Policies are formulated and ideas shared at meetings held throughout the year.

This form of cooperation, rooted in the growing interdependence of national economies, began in April 1948, when a group of 16 European countries founded the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) to administer the European Recovery Programme (Marshall Plan) and to work together for post-war recovery. The OECD, succeeding the OEEC, was formally established on September 30, 1961, in order to broaden the scope of cooperation. The nations that signed the Convention of the OECD on December 14, 1960, were Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United States, and West Germany (now part of the united Federal Republic of Germany). Japan joined in 1964, Finland in 1969, Australia in 1971, and New Zealand in 1973. Mexico, South Korea, and the former Eastern Bloc countries of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland joined in the 1990s, and Slovakia in 2000. A new Centre for Cooperation with Non-Members was created in 1998 to control all activities concerning non-members.

The governing body of the OECD is its council, made up of representatives from all member nations. The council elects the 14-member executive committee and establishes subsidiary committees to deal with all aspects of governmental activity except war, religion, and sports. OECD’s organizational structure includes the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which sponsors developmental projects in less economically advanced areas of the world; the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), established in 1958 to promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy; and the International Energy Agency (IEA). OECD headquarters is in Paris.

Reviewed by: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development