Our History
The WEO has come a long way in the past six decades, since it was founded as the International Egg Commission (IEC) in Bologna, Italy. Step back in time to revisit the moments and milestones that have made the WEO what it is today.
Step back in time...
| 1962 | First international egg conference in Sydney, Australia, ahead of the organisation’s founding meeting. |
| 1964 | IEC officially founded in Bologna, Italy. |
| IEC Constitution established. | |
| 1971 | First Golden Egg Award winner – Israel. |
| 1974 | First North American IEC Conference – New Orleans, USA. |
| 1978 | First South American IEC Conference – Rio, Brazil. |
| 1985 | First African IEC Conference – Durban, South Africa. |
| 1988 | First North American Chairperson – Mr Al Pope, USA. |
| 1996 | World Egg Day founded and first celebrated. |
| First conference with over 300 attendees – IEC Vienna, Austria. | |
| 1999 | First Denis Wellstead International Egg Person of the Year Award winner – Filiep Van Bosstraeten, Belgium. |
| 2002 | First Clive Frampton Egg Products Company of the Year Award winner – Derivados de Ovos s.a. (DEROVO), Portugal. |
| 2005 | IEC Support Group established. |
| 2006 | MOU signed between IEC and World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE). |
| First conference with over 400 attendees – IEC Guadalajara, Mexico. | |
| 2007 | MOU signed between IEC and International Poultry Council (IPC). |
| First Oceanian Chairperson – Mr Frank Pace, Australia. | |
| 2009 | IEC becomes a member of Consumer Goods Forum (CGF). |
| 2010 | First female Chairperson – Ms Joanne Ivy, USA. |
| 2011 | MOU signed between IEC and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). |
| 2014 | International Egg Foundation (IEF) founded. |
| 2015 | Avian Influenza Global Expert Group established. |
| 2016 | First intake of IEC Young Egg Leaders (YELs). |
| 2017 | First top-level meeting with World Health Organization (WHO). |
| 2018 | First conference with over 500 attendees – IEC Kyoto, Japan. |
| IEC adopts the Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) resolution on forced labour, making the egg industry the first global commodity group to do so. | |
| 2019 | First Asian Chairperson – Mr Suresh Chitturi, India. |
| 2021 | United Nations name eggs a ‘Star Ingredient’. |
| 2022 | Vision 365 launched. |
| 2024 | Delegates unite in Venice, Italy to celebrate 60 years of IEC in the country where the IEC was born. |
| 2025 | The IEC rebrands as the World Egg Organisation (WEO). Click here to find out more about the rebrand. |