Tapani Erling (born 22 May 1945), is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. He was the Director-General of

Finnish Customs The Finnish Customs ( fi, Tulli, sv, Tull) is the customs, customs service of the Republic of Finland. It is a government agency steered by the Ministry of Finance (Finland), Ministry of Finance. The Finnish Customs is a part of the European Uni ...

. In July 2006 he was elected chairman of the Council of the

World Customs Organization The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The WCO works on customs-related matters including the development of international conventions, instruments, and tools on topics suc ...

. Before being nominated to the head to the Finnish customs in 1998 he served as a manager in charge of foreign subsidiaries at

Outokumpu Outokumpu Oyj is a group of international companies headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, employing 10,600 employees in more than 30 countries. Outokumpu is the largest producer of stainless steel in Europe and the second largest producer in the A ...

Oy and before that at economist positions at different Finnish ministries. He has worked in the Finnish

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

representative office, and also pursued an academic career. Erling has been a member of the

Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP, fi, Suomen sosialidemokraattinen puolue ; sv, Finlands socialdemokratiska parti), shortened to the Social Democrats ( fi, link=no, Sosiaalidemokraatit; sv, link=no, Socialdemokrater) and commonly kno ...

. He served as the political secretary of minister for foreign trade, Jermu Laine from 1973 to 1978. Erling is married and has at least one son,

Orri Traditionally, an ''orri'' referred to an "enclosed area for gathering sheep" in the Eastern Pyrenees. In the late twentieth century, the word has taken on the meaning of "drystone hut" in Ariège. Ariège ''orris'' In scholarly studies In ...

, who was known as a

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

who started his career in the Finnish

software industry The software industry includes businesses for development, maintenance Maintenance may refer to: Biological science * Maintenance of an organism * Maintenance respiration Non-technical maintenance * Alimony, also called ''maintenance ...

at the age of fifteen. Erling is known as a promoter of

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

-Finnish co-operation and has been made a Chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

References

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

3 July 2006
Tapani Erling elected chairman of the Council of the World Customs Organization
at the Finnish Customs site Knights of the Legion of Honour 1945 births Living people 20th-century Finnish economists 21st-century Finnish economists {{Finland-bio-stub