WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/402
15 May 2001
(01-2488)
WTO PENSION PLAN
Rules of Procedure of the Management Board
Approved by the General Council on 8 May 2001
Pursuant to Article 5 of the Regulations of the WTO Pension Plan, the duties and authority of
the Management Board as well as rules for the auditing of accounts shall be laid down in rules of
procedure which shall be approved by the General Council.
The rules of procedure reproduced hereunder submitted by the Chairman of the Management
Board were approved by the General Council on 8 May 2001.
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WTO PENSION PLAN
Rules of Procedure of the Management Board
SECTION A – M ANAGEMENT BOARD
Membership
A.1 The Management Board shall be composed in accordance with Article 4 of the Regulations.
A.2 The Chairman, members and alternates appointed or elected to the Management Board shall
have as their responsibility the fulfilment of the roles and responsibilities of the Board as
defined in the Regulations, the Administrative Rules and Rules of Procedure.  They shall act
solely with the interests of the Plan in view and shall observe discretion and confidentiality in
the exercise of their duties.
A.3 Members and alternates shall disclose to the Management Board any personal or financial
interest that they may have that may be construed to be in conflict with the duties and
responsibilities flowing from their membership of the Management Board.
A.4 The Management Board shall examine any such disclosure and decide on the action to be
taken.
Duties and authority
A.5 The Management Board shall represent the Plan and shall be responsible for the management
and administration of the Plan in accordance with the Regulations and Administrative Rules
approved by the General Council.
A.6 The Management Board shall not delegate any of its responsibilities except where authorized
to do so in the Regulations, Administrative Rules, Rules of Procedure or otherwise expressly
in writing by the General Council.
A.7 The Management Board shall be responsible for the payment of relevant entitlements in
accordance with the Plan Regulations.
A.8 The Management Board shall be responsible for the financial security and probity of the Plan
and in particular the maintenance of its actuarial balance and of financial controls and
accounts.
A.9 The Management Board shall be responsible for the secure investment of all Plan assets, the
formulation of investment policies after taking appropriate professional advice, and theappointment  of investment  managers to implement that policy.
A.10 The Management Board shall, pursuant to Article 3 of the Regulations and subject to the
appeals procedure set out therein, be competent to interpret the Regulations.WT/L/402
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A.11 The Management Board shall make a recommendation to the Director-General for the
appointment of a Secretary and for the terms of the appointment.  The role, responsibilities
and authority of the Secretary shall be determined by the Management Board and shall be set
out in a document approved by the Management Board.
A.12 The Management Board shall make a recommendation to the Director-General for the
appointment of a consulting actuary to undertake actuarial valuations of the Plan and shall
make recommendations to the General Council on the outcome of those valuations, in
accordance with the Regulations.
A.13 The Management Board shall seek the advice of such experts and appoint such service
providers as it considers appropriate to ensure the sound operation of the Plan in accordancewith the Regulations.
Meetings
A.14 The Management Board shall meet as required, at least three times a year.
A.15 The Management Board shall be convened by the Secretary upon the decision of the
Chairman or at the written request of at least two members of the Management Board.  Other
than in exceptional circumstances, the draft agenda, together with the documents referred toin that agenda, shall be circulated at least ten working days prior to the meeting.  Scheduled
meetings shall be changed only in exceptional circumstances where the Chairman so decides.
Furthermore, meetings may be convened and documents circulated at shorter notice only
where the Chairman so decides.
A.16 If the Chairman is unable to attend all or part of a meeting, he/she shall designate a member
elected by the General Council to act as Chairman in his/her stead.
A.17 If a member is unable to attend all or part of a meeting, he/she may designate an alternate
drawn from the corresponding group elected by the General Council, appointed by the
Director-General, or appointed by the Director-General from a list drawn up by the
participants.  If the absent member has not designated a replacement, the Chairman shalldesignate the alternate drawn from the corresponding group to replace a member on a
rotational basis.  An alternate member may not replace more than one member.
A.18 Alternate members shall have the right to attend all meetings of the Management Board and
to speak, but not the right to participate in decision-making except when replacing a member.
A.19 The Chairman and a majority of the members of the Management Board, including alternate
members replacing members, shall constitute a quorum, provided that at least the Chairman,
three such  members elected by the General Council and three  such members appointed by the
Director-General, including at least one such member selected by the Director-General from alist drawn up by the participants, are present.
A.20 The observer designated by the beneficiaries in accordance with Article 4(a) of the
Regulations shall have the right to attend all meetings of the Management Board and to speak
with the permission of the Chairman, but not the right to participate in decision-making.
A.21 The Secretary appointed under Article 6 of the Regulations shall attend the meetings of the
Management Board in an ex officio  capacity , without the right to participate in decision-
making.WT/L/402
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A.22 The Consulting Actuary or other advisers appointed under Article 7 of the Regulations, or any
external service provider, shall attend the meetings of the Management Board upon the
invitation of the Chairman and Secretary.
A.23 A decision shall be taken by the Management  Board only when the conditions for quorum set
out in Rule A.19 are satisfied.  Such decisions  shall normally be taken by consensus1.
A.24 If the Management Board is unable to take a decision on a particular matter on two
consecutive occasions owing to the lack of a quorum, a further meeting shall be convened
within a period of 15 working days, at which meeting the matter shall be decided.
A.25 In normal circumstances, the Management Board shall take its decisions at duly convened
meetings.  In exceptional circumstances, where it is not possible to convene a meeting of the
Management Board in a reasonable time, the Chairman may agree that a proposal be
distributed by the Secretary in writing by recorded delivery to all members and alternate
members of the Management Board for their views in writing.  Any decision relating to such
a proposal may be taken only by consensus and shall be reported in detail  at the next meeting
of the Management Board.
A.26 The meetings of the Management Board shall be held in private.  The records and all
correspondence of the Management Board shall be private and kept in the care of the
Secretary.
A.27 A report of each meeting of the Management Board shall be prepared under the responsibility
of the Secretary for approval by the Management Board at its next meeting.
SECTION B – C OMMITTEES OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD
B.1 The Management Board may decide to set up subsidiary bodies to deal with specific issues.
The Chairman shall, in consultation with th e Management Board, determine the composition
of the subsidiary body which shall have no power to take decisions on behalf of the
Management Board except where delegated by specific mandate and without prejudice to the
provisions of Rule A.6.  The rules of procedure to be observed by the subsidiary body shall beapproved by the Management Board.
S
ECTION C – A UDITING OF ACCOUNTS
C.1 Pursuant to Article 5(e) of the Regulations, an  audit of the accounts of the Plan shall be made
annually by the External Auditor, namely the External Auditor of the WTO.  The provisions
of Chapter XI (“External Audit”) and the Appendix (“Additional terms of reference
governing external audit”) of the WTO Financial Regulations shall apply mutatis mutandis  to
the audit.
                                                     
1 The Management Board shall be deemed to have decided by consensus on a matter submitted for its
consideration if no member present at the meeting, or  alternate member replacing a member at the meeting,
when the decision is taken formally objects to the proposed decision.WT/L/402
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SECTION D – M EDICAL ADVISER
D.1 The Management Board shall appoint a Medical Adviser who shall assist the Management
Board in all medical questions.
D.2 The Medical Adviser shall prepare an annual report on the application of the medical
standards prescribed by the Management Board under Article 37 of the Regulations and on
medical information affecting the granting of benefits from the Plan.
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