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Ms Angela Ellard

Ms Angela Paolini ELLARD has served as WTO Deputy Director-General since June 2021. She is responsible for dispute settlement/reform, trade remedies, market access/trade facilitation, and ongoing negotiations on fisheries subsidies. She supervised the Secretariat's facilitation of the successful conclusion of the 2012 Fisheries Subsidies Agreement.  She also oversees the WTO budget.

Previously, DDG Ellard had a distinguished 26-year career as Majority and Minority Chief Trade Counsel in the U.S. Congress. She achieved significant bipartisan trade policy outcomes with Congressional leaders and five Presidential administrations. She practiced law, focusing on trade litigation, policy, and legislation.

She is renowned for her expertise in trade and international economic policy, resolving trade barriers, and negotiating outcomes. She earned her J.D. cum laude/Tulane Law School, M.A. in Public Policy/Tulane, and B.A. summa cum laude/Tulane's Newcomb College.

She speaks and lectures worldwide and has received numerous awards for her contributions to trade law and policy.

Areas of responsibility

• Finance and Corporate Services Division
• Legal Affairs
• Market Access
• Rules

• News items

Ms Johanna Hill

Ms Johanna Hill began her role as Deputy Director-General in November 2023. With over 30 years of experience in international trade, Ms Hill, a native of El Salvador, has collaborated with governments and businesses to foster economic development through international policy and trade negotiations.

Before joining the WTO, Ms Hill advised firms and SMEs on trade regulations, foreign direct investment strategies, and market access. She has also held senior roles in financial institutions and has leadership experience in telecommunications regulation. Additionally, she served as Vice Minister of Economy for El Salvador, where she oversaw trade policy formulation and negotiated both bilateral and multilateral trade agreements.

She holds a bachelor's degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree from Columbia University and serves on the board of TradeExperettes.

Areas of responsibility

• Economic Research and Statistics
• Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition
• Languages, Documentation and Information Management
• Trade in Services and Investment

• News items

Ambassador Jean-Marie Paugam

Ambassador Jean-Marie Paugam has held senior management positions in the French Government on trade, most recently as Permanent Representative of France to the WTO. He has also held a number of senior positions in the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, including as a member of the Executive Committee of the French Treasury. He has also served as Deputy Executive Director of the International Trade Centre in Geneva. He has accumulated a deep and practical knowledge of government practices on trade as well as being familiar with high-level dialogues on trade and international economic operations. He has published a number of articles on trade-related issues, in particular when serving as Senior Research Fellow on International Trade at the French Institute for International Relations (IFPRI). Ambassador Paugam graduated from ENA in Paris and obtained degrees in Political Science from the Institute of Political Science in Aix-en-Provence and in Law from the Faculty of Law Aix-Marseille III.

Areas of responsibility

• Agriculture and Commodities
• Human Resources
• Trade and Environment
• Trade Policies Review

• News items
• Blog

Ambassador Xiangchen Zhang

Ambassador Xiangchen Zhang formerly served as Vice Minister in the Ministry of Commerce of China. He has long and extensive experience on WTO issues, international negotiations, and policy research. Ambassador Zhang served until recently as China's Permanent Representative to the WTO and previously as Deputy Permanent Representative. He has had an extensive career of more than 30 years in international trade, serving as Director of the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation; as Director-General of the Department of WTO Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce; and as Director General of the Department of Policy Research of the Ministry of Commerce. Ambassador Zhang holds a bachelor's degree in Law, a Master's degree in International Relations and a PhD in International Politics from Peking University.

Areas of responsibility

• Accessions
• Development
• Information Technology Solutions Division
• Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation

• News items
• Blog