Bureau International des Expositions

Organization to supervise international exhibitions

Bureau international des expositions
International Bureau of Expositions

Head office at 34 avenue d'Iéna (16th arrondissement, Paris).

Member states as of May 2022

Formation| 22 November 1928; 95 years ago (1928-11-22)
Type| International exhibitions
Headquarters| Paris, France

Membership

| 184 members

President

| Alain Berger

Secretary General

| Dimitri S. Kerkentzes
Website| www.bie-paris.org

The Bureau international des expositions (BIE; English: International Bureau of Expositions) is an intergovernmental organization created to supervise international exhibitions (also known as expos, global expos or world expos) falling under the jurisdiction of the Convention Relating to International Exhibitions.

## Founding and purpose

[edit]

The BIE was established by the Convention Relating to International Exhibitions, signed in Paris on 22 November 1928, with the following goals:

* to oversee the calendar, the bidding, the selection and the organization of World Expositions; and
* to establish a regulatory framework under which Expo organizers and participants may work together under the best conditions.

Today, 184 member countries have adhered to the BIE Convention.

The BIE regulates two types of expositions: Registered Exhibitions (commonly called World Expos) and Recognized Exhibitions (commonly called Specialized Expositions). Horticultural Exhibitions with an A1 grade, regulated by the International Association of Horticultural Producers, are recognized since 1960.

The Bureau International des Expositions also recognises the Milan Triennial Exhibition of Decorative Arts and Modern Architecture, on grounds of historical precedence, provided that it retains its original features.

## Expo categories

[edit]

### History

[edit]

Since the creation of the BIE in 1928, different protocols have governed Expo categories, which are generally split between World Expos and Specialised Expos. The rules for each category define the duration, the frequency, the size, and the construction attributes of each Expo.[1]

Under the original protocol of the 1928 Paris Convention, the BIE recognised two types of Expos:

* General Exhibitions (also known as World Expos), which were divided into:
* 1st category
* 2nd category
* Special Exhibitions (also known as Specialised Expos)

The Protocol of 30 November 1972 revised the original Convention, entering into force in 1980. Under these new rules, two types of Expos were recognised:

* World Exhibitions (also known as World Expos)
* Specialised Exhibitions (also known as Specialised Expos)

A new amendment was adopted in 1988 and ratified in 1996, further distinguishing the two types of Expos:

* International Registered Exhibitions (commonly referred to as World Expos)
* International Recognised Exhibitions (commonly referred to as Specialised Expos)

Expo 2008 in Zaragoza was the first Specialised Expo to be organised under these new rules, which continue to be in force to this day.

The BIE may also grant recognition to A1 Horticultural Exhibitions approved by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) since 1960, and to the Triennale di Milano since 1933.

### World Expos

[edit]

According to the 1988 Amendment of the Convention on International Exhibitions, World Expos (formally known as International Registered Exhibitions) may occur every five years, and may last up to six months.[2] Countries, international organizations, civil societies, and corporations are allowed to participate in World Expos. The themes of World Expos address a universal challenge facing humanity, and international participants may design and build their own pavilions. Participants may also opt to customise a pavilion provided by the Organiser or to participate within a joint pavilion, which has lower participation costs. Examples of themes of recent World Expos include "Man and His World" for Expo '67 in Montreal, and "Age of Discoveries" for Seville Expo '92, and examples of joint pavilion buildings for a Registered Exposition is the Plaza of America at Seville's Expo '92, which was constructed by the Seville Expo Authority to maximize participation at the World Expo by South American nations. The Plaza of Africa at Seville was constructed for the same purpose.

World Expos are also massive in scale, sometimes 300 or 400 hectares in size (Montreal's Expo 67 was 410 hectares, Osaka's Expo 70 was 330 hectares, Seville's Expo '92 was 215 hectares and Shanghai's Expo 2010, 528 hectares). Pavilions participating at a World Expo can also be large, sometimes 5,000 to 10,000 square metres in size, mini city blocks in themselves and sometimes more than several stories in height. (The Australia Pavilion for Shanghai 2010 was 5,000 square metres, the British Pavilion sat on a 6,000 square metres lot, as did the Canadian Pavilion. The flagship Chinese National Pavilion had 20,000 square metres of exhibition space.)

World Expos have been known to average 200,000 persons per day of visitors and some 50 to 70 million visitors during their six-month duration. Montreal's Expo 67 attracted 54 million visitors, Osaka's Expo '70, 64 million visitors, the Seville Expo '92, 41 million visitors and Shanghai's Expo 2010 attracted 70 million visitors.

As a result, transport and other infrastructure at a Registered Exposition is an important concern (Seville's World Expo of 1992 boasted cable car, monorail, boat, and bus) and the overall cost for hosting and being represented at a World Expos is quite high, compared to the smaller-scale Specialised Expos.

### Specialised Expos

[edit]

Specialised Expos (formally known as International Recognised Exhibitions) may occur between World Expos and may have a duration of between three weeks and three months. Countries, international organizations, civil societies, and corporations are allowed to participate but the theme of the Expo must address a precise challenge, e.g. Future Energy (Expo 2017 Astana), or Living Oceans and the Coast (Expo 2012 Yeosu). The pavilions are built by the Organiser and made available to participants who may customise them. The largest pavilion may be no larger than 1,000 square meters, and the Expo site must not exceed an area of twenty-five hectares. For this reason Specialised Expos are cheaper to run than World Expos.

There are blurred lines between Specialized and World Expositions prior to the 1996 amendment of the BIE's constitution. Some Specialized Expos, such as Expo 86 in Vancouver, Expo '85 in Tsukuba, or Hemisfair '68, ran for six months and pulled in greater attendance numbers than their 'World Expo' relatives. Many of these specialized expos also had individual pavilions for their participants or covered a greater exhibition site than other World Expos of the era. According to the new amendment, there were only two World Expos between 1970 and 1992 with over 12 Specialized Expos in that same period. Most of these indeed are smaller exhibitions on a focused theme, but some, such as Expo 86 and Expo 88, were intended as full-fledged World Expos. Others, such as Expo 74, the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, or Expo '85, were specialized exhibitions that were promoted as full World Expos.

## Member states

[edit]

184 countries are member states of the BIE:[3]

* Albania
* Algeria
* Andorra
* Angola
* Antigua and Barbuda
* Argentina
* Armenia
* Austria
* Azerbaijan
* Bahamas
* Bahrain
* Bangladesh
* Barbados
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Belize
* Benin
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Brazil
* Bulgaria
* Burkina Faso
* Burundi
* Cambodia
* Cameroon[4]
* Central African Republic
* Chad[5]
* Chile
* China
* Colombia
* Comoros
* Republic of the Congo
* Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Costa Rica
* Croatia
* Cuba
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Djibouti
* Dominica
* Dominican Republic
* Ecuador
* Egypt
* El Salvador
* Equatorial Guinea
* Eritrea
* Estonia
* Fiji
* Finland
* France
* Gabon
* Gambia
* Georgia
* Germany
* Ghana
* Greece
* Grenada
* Guatemala
* Guinea
* Guinea-Bissau
* Guyana
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Israel
* Italy
* Ivory Coast
* Japan
* Jordan
* Kazakhstan
* Kenya
* Kosovo[6]
* Kiribati
* North Korea
* South Korea
* Kuwait
* Kyrgyzstan
* Laos
* Lebanon
* Lesotho
* Liberia
* Libya
* Lithuania
* Madagascar
* Malawi
* Malaysia
* Maldives
* Mali
* Malta
* Marshall Islands
* Mauritania
* Mauritius
* Mexico
* Monaco
* Mongolia
* Montenegro[7]
* Morocco
* Mozambique[5]
* Namibia
* Nauru
* Nepal
* Netherlands
* New Zealand[5]
* Nicaragua
* Niger
* Nigeria
* Norway
* Oman
* Pakistan
* Palau
* Panama
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Philippines
* Poland
* Portugal
* Qatar
* Romania
* Russia
* Rwanda
* San Marino
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Saint Lucia
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* Samoa
* Saudi Arabia
* Senegal
* Serbia
* Seychelles
* Sierra Leone
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Solomon Islands
* South Africa
* Spain
* Somalia[5]
* Sri Lanka
* Sudan
* South Sudan[8]
* Suriname
* Eswatini
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Syria
* Tajikistan
* Tanzania
* Thailand
* Timor-Leste
* Togo
* Tonga
* Tunisia
* Turkey
* Turkmenistan[5]
* Tuvalu
* Uganda
* Ukraine
* United Arab Emirates
* United Kingdom
* United States[9]
* Uruguay
* Uzbekistan
* Vanuatu
* Venezuela
* Vietnam
* Yemen
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe[10]

### Former members

[edit]

#### Australia

[edit]

Australia was a signatory to the treaty[11] and won the right to hold the 1988 World Exposition. In 2015 the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry requested that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) reconsider membership, as the cost was too high and "difficult to demonstrate an appropriate return on investment", and that membership be withdrawn temporarily in 2015.[12] Australia is no longer listed as a member of BIE.[3]

#### Canada

[edit]

On 16 October 2012, the Conservative government ended Canada's membership of the BIE when the federal government cancelled its $25,000 per year membership fee as part of "reviewing all spending across government with the aim of reducing the deficit and returning to balanced budgets."[13]

### Rejoined members

[edit]

#### United States (non-member 2001–2017)

[edit]

Five International Exhibitions have been sanctioned by the BIE in the United States since World War II: one in the World Expo category—the Century 21 Exposition in Seattle (1962)—and four in the Specialized Expo category—HemisFair '68 in San Antonio; Expo '74 in Spokane, Washington; the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee; and the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans.[14] The 1964-65 New York World's Fair was held without receiving approval from the BIE.[15]

The United States' membership in the BIE was revoked in June 2001[16] due to non-allocation of funds by the U.S. Congress for two years. The withdrawal of the United States from the BIE had a limited impact on the BIE and on the participation of the United States in International Exhibitions: the country hosted pavilions at World Expo 2005 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan; World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China; Specialised Expo 2012 in Yeosu, South Korea; and World Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy. However, the withdrawal "had strong, adverse consequences for states and localities that wish to host an exposition on U.S. soil. Organizers in at least four states have prepared bids, or are exploring the possibility of preparing bids to host a BIE-affiliated expo." In each case, the bid project was unsuccessful, with non-membership of the BIE hurting the chances of a U.S. bid moving forward.[16]

The U.S. rejoined the organization on 10 May 2017[17] after President Trump signed the "U.S. Wants to Compete for a World Expo Act" (HR534) into law (Pub.L. 115-32)[18] as Minnesota was looking to host a Specialized Expo in 2023.

## Expo mascots

[edit]

Main article: Expo mascots

Fictional characters serving as mascots have been used since 1984, starting with Seymore D. Fair as the official mascot of the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition (the name being a pun on "see more of the fair", stemming from the local New Orleans dialect). Seymore D. Fair was followed by many more character mascots over the years, including Curro in Seville Expo '92; Twipsy at Expo 2000 in Hanover; and Haibao at Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The names and designs of Expo mascots are often intended to reflect the exposition's host city in some way.

## Symbols

[edit]

Dvořák Symphony No. 9, "From the New World", Movement IV: "Allegro con fuoco"

* * *

Problems playing this file? See media help.

The anthem of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) is the starting part of the 4th Movement of Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World".[citation needed]

## See also

[edit]

* List of world expositions – an annotated list of all Expos sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE)
* List of world's fairs – comprehensive chronological list of world's fairs including fairs not sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Our history". www.bie-paris.org.
2. ^ "How is an Expo organised?". www.bie-paris.org. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
3. ^ a b "The Member States". BIE. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
4. ^ "Cameroon is now a Member State of the BIE". www.bie-paris.org. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
5. ^ a b c d e "BIE Member States - june 2013.pdf". Retrieved 3 July 2013.
6. ^ Kosovo joins the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo, 18 March 2016
7. ^ "Two more countries become BIE member states". Retrieved 25 September 2012.
8. ^ "The BIE welcomes South Sudan as its 168th Member State". Retrieved 14 November 2013.
9. ^ "The BIE recognizes the Second Accession of the United States of America into the BIE". Retrieved 16 June 2017.
10. ^ "Zimbabwe becomes a Member State of the BIE". BIE.
11. ^ "Agreement concerning the Voluntary Contributions to be Given for the Execution of the Project to Preserve Borobudur [1973] ATS 34". AustLII. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
12. ^ Carnell, Kate (8 April 2015). "The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) welcome the opportunity to provide a submission on Australia's membership of the 'Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and future participation in World Expositions" (PDF). Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
13. ^ Rider, David (29 April 2012). "Toronto's World Expo 2025 bid dead after Prime Minister Stephen Harper government says no". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
14. ^ "Expo Details". Retrieved 15 May 2014.
15. ^ "Welcome to the Fair! The 1939 and 1964 New York World's Fairs". New York State Library. July–August 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
16. ^ a b Toumil Reza Samonte Allen (April 2015). "Opening the X-Files: A Case for Rejoining the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE)". DukeSpace. Archived from the original on 19 December 2022.
17. ^ "The United States becomes the 170th Member State of the BIE". Bureau International des Expositions. 26 May 2017. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023.
18. ^ "H.R.534 – 115th Congress (2017–2018): U.S. Wants to Compete for a World Expo Act". Congress.gov. 8 May 2017. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Site advocating restoration of USA membership in the BIE
* Session of the BIE for Expo 2012 and 2015 presentations on December 19, 2006
* ExpoMuseum
* ExpoMuseum Mascots

* v
* t
* e

World exhibitions

* Bureau International des Expositions (BIE)

Retroactively
recognized
expositions|

* London 1851
* Paris 1855
* London 1862
* Paris 1867
* Vienna 1873
* Philadelphia 1876
* Paris 1878
* Melbourne 1880
* Barcelona 1888
* Paris 1889
* Chicago 1893
* Brussels 1897
* Paris 1900
* St. Louis 1904
* Liège 1905
* Milan 1906
* Brussels 1910
* Turin 1911
* Ghent 1913
* San Francisco 1915
* Barcelona 1929
* Seville 1929
* Chicago 1933

BIE-recognized
Universal
expositions|

* Brussels 1935
* Paris 1937
* New York 1939–1940
* Port-au-Prince 1949
* Brussels 1958
* Seattle 1962
* Montreal 1967
* Osaka 1970
* ~~Chicago 1992~~
* Seville 1992
* Hannover 2000
* Aichi 2005
* Shanghai 2010
* Milan 2015
* Dubai 2020†
* Osaka 2025
* Riyadh 2030

BIE-recognized
specialized
expositions|

* Stockholm 1936
* Helsinki 1938
* Liège 1939
* Paris 1947
* Stockholm 1949
* Lyon 1949
* Lille 1951
* Jerusalem 1953
* Rome 1953
* Naples 1954
* Turin 1955
* Helsingborg 1955
* Beit Dagan 1956
* Berlin 1957
* Turin 1961
* Munich 1965
* San Antonio 1968
* Budapest 1971
* Spokane 1974
* Okinawa 1975
* Plovdiv 1981
* Knoxville 1982
* New Orleans 1984
* Plovdiv 1985
* Tsukuba 1985
* Vancouver 1986
* Brisbane 1988
* Plovdiv 1991
* Genoa 1992
* Taejŏn 1993
* Lisbon 1998
* Zaragoza 2008
* Yeosu 2012
* Astana 2017
* ~~Buenos Aires 2023~~ ‡
* Belgrade 2027

BIE-recognized
horticultural
exhibitions (AIPH)|

* Rotterdam 1960
* Paris 1969
* Amsterdam 1972
* Hamburg 1973
* Vienna 1974
* Montreal 1980
* Amsterdam 1982
* Munich 1983
* Liverpool 1984
* Osaka 1990
* Zoetermeer 1992
* Stuttgart 1993
* Kunming 1999
* Haarlemmermeer 2002
* Rostock 2003
* Chiang Mai 2006–2007
* Venlo 2012
* Antalya 2016
* Beijing 2019
* Almere 2022
* Doha 2023
* Yokohama 2027

Not BIE-
recognized|

| Africa|

* Freetown 1865
* Cape Town 1877
* Kimberley 1892–1893
* Johannesburg 1936–1937

|

Asia|

* Calcutta 1883–1884
* Hanoi 1902
* Nanking 1910
* Semarang 1914
* Hangzhou 1929
* Taihoku (Taipei) 1935
* Nagoya 1937
* Clark 1998
* Shenyang 2006
* Chiang Mai 2011–2012
* Udon Thani 2026

Europe|

* London 1760
* Dublin 1853
* Manchester 1857
* Porto 1865
* Stockholm 1866
* London 1871–1874
* Lyon 1872
* Vienna 1873
* Amsterdam 1883
* Liverpool 1886
* London 1886
* Copenhagen 1888
* Glasgow 1888
* Frankfurt 1891
* Prague 1891
* Lyon 1894
* Oporto 1894
* Berlin 1896
* Stockholm 1897
* Glasgow 1901
* Cork 1902
* London 1905
* London 1906
* Marseille 1906
* Dublin 1907
* London 1908
* Zaragoza 1908
* London 1910
* Dresden 1911
* London 1911
* London 1912
* Lyon 1914
* Cologne 1914
* London 1914
* Kristiania 1914
* Malmö 1914
* London 1921
* Marseille 1922
* Gothenburg 1923
* British Empire Exhibition 1924–1925
* Antwerp 1930
* Stockholm 1930
* Paris 1931
* Porto 1934
* Glasgow 1938
* Stockholm 1943

North America|

* New York City 1826–1897
* Bryant Park, New York City 1853
* Atlanta 1881
* Louisville 1883–1887
* New Orleans 1884
* Atlanta 1887
* San Francisco 1894
* Atlanta 1895
* Nashville 1897
* Omaha 1898
* Buffalo 1901
* Charleston 1901–1902
* Portland, Oregon 1905
* Jamestown 1907
* Seattle 1909
* Knoxville 1913
* San Diego 1915–1917
* Bronx 1918
* Philadelphia 1926
* San Diego 1935–1936
* Dallas 1936
* Cleveland 1936–1937
* Dallas 1937
* San Francisco 1939–1940
* Chicago 1940
* New York City 1964–1965

Oceania|

* Melbourne 1866
* Sydney 1870
* Melbourne 1875
* Brisbane 1876
* Sydney 1879
* Adelaide 1887
* Melbourne 1888
* Dunedin 1889
* Christchurch 1906
* Auckland 1913–1914
* Dunedin 1925
* Wellington 1939–1940

South America|

* Lima 1872
* Santiago 1875
* Quito 1909
* Buenos Aires 1910
* Rio de Janeiro 1922

* † Postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
* ‡ Cancelled
* World portal

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Italy
* Australia
* Czech Republic
* Portugal
* Israel

Other|

* IdRef

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