The BIE is the Intergovernmental Organisation in charge of overseeing and regulating all international exhibitions that last more than three weeks and are of non commercial nature ("Expos"). Today, 4 types of Expos are organised under its auspices: World Expos, Specialised Expos, Horticultural Expos and the Triennale di Milano.

Learn more about Expos

Our mission is to guarantee the quality and the success of these world events, protect the rights of their organisers and participants and preserve their core values of Education, Innovation and Cooperation.

We do this by:

  • Choosing the host countries of future Expos
  • Providing candidate and host countries with our expertise in event management, national branding and public diplomacy
  • Regulating the organization of the event and making sure the host country and all participants respect the Convention of the BIE and the rules of the Expo

Learn more about the process of organising an Expo

From the 31 countries that created the BIE in 1928, the Organisation has grown to 184 Member States, as a result of the success and the appeal of Expos. The BIE Member States take part in all the decisions of the BIE and they strive to continually improve the quality of Expos. The headquarters of the BIE are located in Paris.

Learn more about how we work

The 1928 Paris Convention

The 1928 International Convention put order in the domain of International Exhibitions by regulating their frequency and defining rights and responsibilities of organisers and participants. In order to ensure the application of this treaty, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) was created.

Then, two protocols – the first signed in 1948 and the second in 1966 – amended the Convention with regard to the frequency of Expos.

In order to consider the jurisprudence issued from BIE's forty years of existence and following the economic new asset (acceleration of progress pace, reduction of traveling time, entry of new countries on the international arena), a deep revision of the 1928 Convention became urgent.

This revision was initiated in 1965 and concluded on 30 November 1972 with the signature of the protocol, which came into force on 9 June 1980.

Finally, two new amendments became necessary in order to update the Convention and mostly to redefine the exhibition categories: they were signed on 24 June 1982 and 31 May 1988.

The 1928 Paris Convention, amended and modified by the different protocols, currently governs the organisation of international exhibitions.

Download the text of the 1928 Convention