The chairperson of the Governing Body of the International Treaty is usually elected at the end of each session for the following period. This is the list of all the chairs since the first meeting in 2006.
- ©IISD/ENB|Matthew TenBruggencate
Mr Alwin KOPŠE was elected chairperson of the Eleventh Session of the Governing Body on 24 November 2023. Mr Kopse is the Head of International Affairs and Food Systems at the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) of the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG), Switzerland.
- ©FAO/Pier Paolo Cito
Ms Yasmina EL BAHLOUL was elected chairperson of the Ninth Session of the Governing Body on 16 November 2019 and of the Tenth Session on 24 September 2022. Ms El Bahloul is the Head of Breeding and Genetic Resources Conservation Department at the National Institute of Agronomy Research (Department of Agriculture), Morocco.
Ms Christine Dawson was elected chairperson of the Eighth Session of the Governing Body on 3 November 2017. Ms Dawson is the director of Office of Conservation and Water in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES/ECW), Department of State of the United States of America.
Mr Muhamad Sabran (Indonesia) was elected chair of the Seventh Session of the Governing Body on 8 October 2015. Mr Sabran was a senior researcher at the Indonesian Center for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Research and Development (ICABIOGRD) since 2013. Previously he was deputy director for Collaboration and Public relations at the Indonesian Agency for Agriculture Research and Development (IAARD) and national coordinator of the organization of the Fourth session of the Governing Body in Bali in 2014.
Mr Matthew Worrell (Australia) was elected Chair of the Sixth Session of the Governing Body in 2013. Mr Worrell was at the time the Minister-Counsellor (Agriculture) at the Australian Embassy in Rome and Deputy-Permanent Representative to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and had served on the Bureau of the International Treaty since July 2012, as representative of the South West Pacific Region.
Mr Javad Mozafari Hashjin (Iran) was elected Chair of the Fifth Session of the Governing Body in 2011.
Ms Cosima Hufler (Austria) was elected Chair of the Fourth Session of the Governing Body in 2009.
Mr Modesto Fernández Díaz-Silveira was the Chair of the Third Session of the Governing Body as of 23 July 2008. In the inter-sessional period, Mr Mwila resigned from this office and, in accordance with Rule II of the Rules of Procedure of the Governing Body, and with the unanimous agreement of the Bureau, Mr Mwila designated Mr Modesto Fernández Díaz-Silveira (Cuba) to act as Chair, as of 23 July 2008.
Mr Godfrey Mwila (Zambia) was elected Chair for the Second Session in 2006.
At its Second Session in 2007, the Governing Body re-elected him for the Third Session.
Mr. Francisco Mombiela Muruzábal (Spain) was elected Chair of the First Governing Body in 2006.