. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/BFA/W/50
25 July 2000
(00-3072)
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration
DRAFT RECOMMENDATION ON THE METHOD OF CALCULATION OF
CONTRIBUTIONS ASSESSED ON MEMBERS OF THE WTO
I. BACKGROUND
1. The Joint WTO/GATT Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration recommended to
the General Council on 29 June 1995 a new methodology for the calculation of the assessment ofMembers’ contributions to the WTO budget (document WT/BFA/6-L/7633).  The General Council
had approved the recommendations on 15 November 1995 (document WT/GC/M/8).  Among the
recommendations of the Committee, were the following:
(a) The share to be contributed by each Contracting Party/Member to the annual
operating budget of the GATT/WTO shall be established on the basis of thatcountry’s (or separate customs territory’s) international trade (imports plus exports)
in relation to the total international trade of all GATT Contracting Parties/WTO
Members.
(b) The figures used shall be those for the last three years for which data are available.
(c) The statistics used shall relate to trade in goods
1 services and intellectual property
rights as reported in Balance of Payments statistics from the International Monetary
Fund (IMF); with regard to services, the statistics shall relate to the definition of
commercial services as applied in the WTO.
(d) Where IMF data deviate from IMF guidelines2 and include transactions not related to
goods, services or intellectual property rights, adjustments provided to the WTO by
the Central Bank or the National Statistical Office of a Contracting Party/Member
shall be taken into account by the Secretariat when adequately documented andjustified.
(e) If IMF data are not available, the WTO Secretariat will use estimates based on the
best other available sources.
(f) A minimum contribution of 0.03 per cent will be applied to those contracting
parties/members whose share in the total international trade of all GATT ContractingParties/WTO Members is less than 0.03 per cent.
2. Further, the Committee recommended on 14 Decem ber 1999 that the minimum contribution
be fixed at 0.015 per cent (document WT/BFA/44).  The General Council approved the
recommendation on 17 December 1999 (WT/GC/M/52).
                                                     
1 Excluding gold held as a store of value (deposit money banks).
2 Balance of Payments Manual, Fifth Edition, International Monetary Fund.WT/BFA/W/50
Page 2
II. DRAFT RECOMMENDATION
3. The Committee recommends to the Gene ral Council that paragraph (b) of the
recommendation of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration (paragraph 33,
WT/BFA/6) approved by the General Council on 15 November 1995 (WT/GC/M/8) be amended
as follows:
(b.1) for the years 2001 to 2003, the figures used for the calculation of contributions
assessed on Members of the WTO shall be  those for the latest three years for
which data are available but disregarding the last year;
(b.2) for another period of ten years, i. e. 2004 to 2013, the figures used for the
calculation of contributions assessed on Members of the WTO shall be those for
the latest 5 years for which data are available but disregarding the last year.
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