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WT/BFA/W/ 662 
 
11 March 2024  
(24-2177) Page: 1/6 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration    
 
  
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SECRETARIAT'S RESPONSES TO THE EXTERNAL AUDITOR'S RECOMMENDATION 
REGARDING THE 2023 PERFORMANCE AUDIT ON THE BUDGET:  
PLANNING, MANAGEMENT , AND REPORTING AND FOLLOW -UP OF  
OTHER PENDING PERFORMANCE AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS  
1  BACKGROUND  
1.1.  This document presents the Secretariat's responses to the External Auditor' s recommendations 
related to the  2023 performance audit on the budget process conducted between  July 2023  and 
November 2023, and presented in document  WT/BFA/W/ 660.  
1.2.  Table 1 below contains the specific recommendations and the related responses  for such audits . 
The Secretariat accepts all the recommendations and will put measures in place to implement them.  
1.3.  Moreover, t his document presents in Table 2 also an update on the s tatus of implementation 
of outstanding recommendations from previous external performance audits, as at 
29 February  2024. 
1.4.  A report on the status of Financial Audit Recommendations will be presented together with the 
Audited Financial Statements for the year end 2023.  
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- 2 - 2  RESPONSES TO THE PERFORMANCE AUDIT ON THE BUDGET PROCESS  
2.1.  The Table below depicts the Secretariat's Comments to the recommendations issued by the External Auditors in their Performance Audit Report 
on the budget process . 
Table 1 Summary of Performance Audit R ecommendations on the Budget Process and Secretariat's Answers  
No Cour des Comptes  France  Recomm andations  WTO Secretariat's Response   
Priority  
1 Increase the number of staff responsible for preparing the budget 
and ensure the involvement of the main stakeholders, such as the 
transformation and strategy units, and the Human Resources 
Division, in budget planning.  
 The Secretariat welcomes the recommendation and has already 
initiated the recruitment of one regular staff member for budget 
preparation. The Secretariat will also ensure the involvement of 
various stakeholders across the Secretariat in the budget 
process.  
 1 
2 Supplement the budget memorandums circulated to the divisions, 
following the General Council's approval of the budget, by 
assigning them specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and 
time-bound objectives for the biennium  The Secretariat takes note of the recommendation and 
implement it in the next bienni al budget cycle.  2 
3 Establish a detailed and formalized budget procedure, with a view 
to defining precise timetable for the budget cycle, by providing an 
indicative date for the submission of budget proposals to the 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration (CBFA), 
compatible with the preparati on of detailed proposals.  The Secretariat accepts the recommendation and will work to 
formalize a precise timetable  for the next bienni al budget cycle . 2 
4 Take steps to rebuild trust between Members and the Secretariat, 
by: (a) setting up induction sessions for new delegates and deputy 
delegates on the Organization and the functioning of the 
Secretariat, including its budget (presentation of the main 
aggregates, budgetary construction, implementation and 
reporting); and (b) preparing, at th e level of the Office of the 
Director -General, a background note for each new biennium, to be 
submitted to the CBFA and then disseminated to services and 
Members, for the preparation of the budget, setting out the 
Director -General's priorities and the fund amental parameters of 
the budget proposal.  The Secretariat will  carefully review the recommendation and 
will comply with both parts of the recommendation . 1   
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- 3 - No Cour des Comptes  France  Recomm andations  WTO Secretariat's Response   
Priority  
5 Undertake a general programme review to determine which 
activities could be shared with (or dele gated to) other 
international organizations.  The Secretariat takes note of the recommendation and  will 
consult with other international organizations  as to which 
activities could be shared beyond what is already in place . 3 
6 Formalize by name the delegation of authority in the chain of 
responsibility for expenditure commitments within the 
Organization, for all expenditure items, including salaries  The Secretariat accepts the recommendation and will 
implement it.  3 
7 In order to strengthen budget s incerity: stop transferring credits 
between Part A (Staffing Resources) and Part B (Other Resource), 
unless prior special authorization has been received from the CBFA  The Secretariat accepts the recommendation and will 
implement it.  2 
8 Develop a strategy for controlling staffing levels: (a) based on a 
comprehensive diagnostic study of needs and competencies, and 
a current skills map, to ensure that they correspond to the WTO's 
priorities; and (b) by ensuring coherence between the reports on 
human resources and budget documents.  The Secretariat will continue its ongoing work to conduct a 
comprehensive diagnostic on needs and competencies and will 
develop a strategy for managing staffing levels.  The Secretariat 
will work to ensure coherence between r eports on human 
resources and budget documents . 2 
9 Include appropriate quantitative and qualitative performance 
indicators when presenting the output chapters of budget 
proposals  The Secretariat will work to develop these indicators for the next 
bienni al budget cycle.  2 
10 Refer, in the annual financial performance report and the regular 
budget proposal, to the budget implementation data for year n -2 
and year n -1, indicating the period for which data are p rojections.  The Secretariat accepts the recommendation and will 
implement it  in the next budget cycle . 2 
11 Redesign the budget model by including in the budget proposal a 
summary presentation of the allocations requested and the 
underlying strategy, and detailed explanatory notes for each of 
the parts, sections and subsections of the WTO budget.  The Secretariat takes note of the recommendation and will 
study how best to implement it in the next  bienni al budget cycle.  2 
 
    
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- 4 - 3  FOLLOW UP PAST PERFORMANCE AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS  
3.1.  The French Supreme Audit Body has previously conducted two performance audits since it entered into duty in 2021 . The first performance aud it 
report , presented to CBFA in March 2022, addressed crisis management and issued 3 r ecommendations, and the second one, presented in March 2023 , 
issued 9 recommendations.  
3.2.  Because the External Auditors will not be assess ing whether  the recommendations can be closed until May during the year -end audit, all  
recommendations must still listed as ongoing  even if the work has been completed by the Secretariat . 
Table 2 Summary of the implementation of recommendations (performance audits)  
Issue  Implemented  Ongoing  Open  Lapsed  Total  Year/  
Observation  
No. Secretariat's Response as at 
29 February 2024  
Submit a proposal to the Ministerial 
Conference whereby, in the event of a 
major, unexpected and prolonged 
crisis, the Director -General be given 
the requisite special powers to 
manage the Secretariat in a flexible 
and proactive manner.   X    4.1/2020  
(11) The Secretariat continues its work on a 
coherent approach to risk management . In 
January 2024 , a new Chief Ethics, Risk and 
Compliance Officer took office and will be in 
direct contact wit h Auditors to assess the 
closure of the recommendation.  The 
recruitment of a more senior Officer 
demonstrates the Secretariat's commitment to 
risk management.  
 
Finalize a set of regulations to provide 
a framework for teleworking when 
major crisis situations make it 
necessary.   X    4.4/2020  
(12) Teleworking Policy has been fully in force since 
June 1st 2023 and includes both working from 
home and working from home outside the duty 
station . If agreed by the Auditors, the 
recommendation can be closed  and considered 
implemented . 
 
Formalize follow -up of the 
Organization's performance through 
quantified means an d performance 
indicators.   X    5.2/2020  
(13) A follow -up system to track the performance of 
WTO divisions has been established:  
KPIs Templates  designed on the Divisional 
Work Plan were distributed in January 2024 to 
collect data on the 2023 Divisional activities 
and objectives.  
The first data reports will be collected in the 
first half of 2024 for the Audit assessment 
during the year end audit.  
   
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- 5 - Issue  Implemented  Ongoing  Open  Lapsed  Total  Year/  
Observation  
No. Secretariat's Response as at 
29 February 2024  
Close the support fund of the 
Independent Entity - Pre-Shipment 
Inspection, inactive since 2006, and 
terminate the agreement that created 
it because it is no longer needed.   X    2.37/2022  
(1) The Committee  on Customs Valuations  decided 
to incorporate consideration of the 
recommendation into its Sixth Review of the 
WTO Agreement on Pre -Shipment Inspection. A 
report by the Secretariat (G/VAL/W/389) was 
circulated to the Committee on 6 February 
2024, and Members were invited to sha re their 
views.  The next meeting of the Committee is 
scheduled for 23 May 2024 . 
 
Establish a suitable steering body with 
access to management, financial and 
operational information in order to 
ensure the overall coordination of and 
coherence in the trust funds' 
strategies and activities, as well as the 
information provided on this activity 
to Members, whether contributors or 
not.  X    3.47/2022  
(2) In December 2023, t he Secretariat circulated 
draft guidelines for WTO Trust Fund 
Management and Administration 
(WT/BFA/INF/20) to Members through the 
CBFA , for Member comment . The guidelines 
include the establishment of a Steering 
Committee , as recommended by the 
Auditors . The topic is on the agenda of the 
25 March 2024 meeting of the CBFA , and the 
Secretariat  looks forward to further feedback 
from Members at that time. In the meantime, 
the Secretariat continues to work internally to 
develop the specific modalities for th e Steering 
Committee.  
 
Include in the quarterly and annual 
trust fund activ ity monitoring reports 
submitted to the CBFA, a statement of 
the income collected and expenditure 
recorded shown against future budget 
estimates.   X    4.80/2022  
(3) The Secretariat is developing the template to 
ensure that the requested elements are 
reflected for all trust funds.  For those trust 
funds for which this information  is not already 
reported, the Secretariat is coordinating with 
the responsible trust fund managers to collect 
the missing information.  
   
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- 6 - Issue  Implemented  Ongoing  Open  Lapsed  Total  Year/  
Observation  
No. Secretariat's Response as at 
29 February 2024  
Supplement biennial technical 
assistance  plans so as to present all 
WTO technical assistance activities in 
the broad sense, including capacity -
building activities, thereby providing 
Member s and stakeholders with 
comprehensive information, beyond 
technical and legal specificities, that 
can be correlated with the activities of 
the various funds contributing to the 
technical assistance strategy.  
  X    5.86/2022  
(4) Further progress on this recommendation will 
occur once Members act on the draft guidelines 
that have been provided to them and the 
Steering Committee is then established to 
oversee the coordination of plans across the 
various trust funds.  
Accept the consequences of the 
particular relationship between the 
regular budget and the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement Facility (TFAF) 
by reincorporating the Facility's assets 
and the financing for implementation 
of the Trade Agreement Facility (TFA) 
into the regular  budget, with any 
subsequent financial needs covered 
by calls for contributions.  
  X    5.96/2022  
(5) Several Members have already indicated in the 
CBFA and in technical session s of the 
Committee that this recommendation is not 
consistent with the ir views and should not be 
pursued . During the discussion on the Audit 
recommendations to be held at the March 2024 
CBFA meeting, further discussion is expected.  
Given the consensus -based nature of decision 
making at the WTO, this recommendation may 
not be implementable.  
Introduce cost accounting for trust 
funds so as to ensure a clear and 
comprehensive understanding of the 
full costs of each fund, identifying, 
among other things, the costs, in 
particular staff costs, borne by the 
regular budget.   X    5.101/2022  
(6) The Secretariat has recently discussed with the 
Auditors the practical aspects of th is 
recommendation to minimize implementation 
costs. The Secretariat  will now begin  to solicit  
from the trust funds a first level estimate of 
regular budget staffing resources devoted to 
operations of trust funds, so that this 
information can be shown in the statements . 
 
Performance subt otal 0 9   9   
 
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