Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

International organization of 29 industrialized countries that provides a forum for discussion and coordination of member states' economic and social policies. Founded in 1961, with its headquarters in Paris, the OECD replaced the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), which had been established in 1948 to implement the Marshall Plan. The Commission of the European Union also takes part in the OECD's work.

The OECD consists of a Council representing all members, an Executive Committee consisting of 14 members who are selected annually, and a Secretariat. Among its members number the most powerful economic nations in the world, including the USA, the UK, and Japan. It has been described separately as a think tank, monitoring agency, and rich nations' club (its members produce two-thirds of the world's goods and services between them), and has elements of all three.

The OECD's subsidiary bodies include the International Energy Agency, set up in the face of a world oil crisis (1974). When the USA and Canada became members, its scope was extended to include development aid. The OECD members are: Australia (from 1971), Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland (from 1969), France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan (from 1964), Luxembourg, Mexico (from 1994), Netherlands, New Zealand (from 1973), Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, and the USA; Hungary and Poland joined in 1996, and South Korea in 1997.