Peter Sutherland, the first Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), passed away in his home city of Dublin, on 07 January. He was 71. Sutherland took the helm of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1993 at a time when the outcome of the broad and complex Uruguay Round of global trade talks was very much in question. Under Sutherland’s energetic and determined leadership, the 123 signatories to the GATT reached agreement later that year and signed the Marrakesh Agreement concluding the Uruguay Round and creating the WTO.