RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/BFA/26
5July1996
ORGANIZATION(96-2688)
Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration
REPORT OFTHE MEETING HELD ON27JUNE 1996
Introduction
1. TheWTO Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration meton27June1996under the
chairmanship ofMr.J.Yokota ofJapan. Theterms ofreference andcomposition oftheCommittee
aresetoutindocument WT/L/44/Rev.1. TheAgenda contained indocument WTO/AIR/366 was
adopted.
A.ADMINISTRATIVE UP-DATES AND PROGRESS REPORTS
CASH SITUATION AND STATEMENT OFOUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS
ASAT31MAY 1996
(CRP(96)14 AND WT/BFA/CONT/17)
INSTALMENT PAYMENTS FOR COUNTRIES INARREARS
(CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 1987 AND EARLIER YEARS)-
PROGRESS REPORT ASAT31MAY 1996
(CRP(96)15)
CONTRIBUTIONS OFOBSERVER COUNTRIES TOWARDS THE COSTS OF
SERVICES PROVIDED BYTHE SECRETARIAT-
PROGRESS REPORT ASAT31MAY 1996
(CRP(96)16)
2. TheCommittee heard thereports presented bytheSecretariat onthecashsituation andstatement
ofoutstanding contributions asat31May1996, theinstalments payments forcountries inarrears, and
thecontributions ofObserver countries towards thecostofservices provided bytheSecretariat. As
of31May1996,thetotalcontributionsreceivedamountedtoSwF79,756,735andtheWorkingCapital
Fund stood atSwF6,703,580. Asindicated indocument WT/BFA/CONT/17, asof31May1996,
there wasnoMember listed inCategory I.However, there wereeightMembers/Former Contracting
Parties toGATT 1947 which arenotWTO Members listed inCategory II,seven inCategory IIIand
twenty-one inCategory IVoftheadministrative measures applicable tothem duetooutstanding
contributions. Belize andUganda hadliquidated theirarrears andwere, therefore, nolonger listed
inanyoftheadministrative measures. Nocontributions hadbeenreceived since thelastmeeting with
regard toinstalment payments forcountries withcontributions inarrears.WT/BFA/26
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3. Withregard totheObservers, thefollowing hadmade contributions towards thecostsofservices
provided bytheSecretariat sincethelastmeeting oftheCommittee: (i)Ecuador, (ii)Former Yugoslav
Republic ofMacedonia, (iii)Lithuania, (iv)Oman, (v)Panama, (vi)Russian Federation, (vii)Saudi
Arabia, (viii) Tonga, and(ix)Ukraine .Some Members stressed theimportance foranObserver to
liquidate itsoutstanding obligations prior tobecoming aMember ofWTO.
4. TheCommittee tooknoteofthereports.
B.RECOMMENDATION OFTHE WORKING GROUP ONTHE SELECTION OF
EXTERNAL AUDITOR FOR THE WTO ACCOUNTS (CRP(96)13)
5. TheChairman presented thefinalreport oftheWorking Group, document CRP(96)13, onthe
selection oftheexternal auditor forWTO accounts. Hepointed outthat,asstated inparagraph 4,
theWorking Group feltthatallthecandidates werehighly qualified andthatanyoneofthetenderers
could fulfiltheauditing needs oftheOrganization. Hethendrew theattention oftheMembers ofthe
Committee toparagraph 9ofthereport which setoutthereasons forwhich theWorking Group came
totheconclusion assetoutinparagraph 10.TheWorking Group afterathorough discussion, felt
thatforthereasons setoutinsub-paragraphs (a)to(c)inparagraph 9,itshould bring totheCommittee
theproposals asindicated inthesaiddocument. TheChairman alsodrewtheattention oftheMembers
oftheCommittee, sub-paragraph (d)ofparagraph 9regarding thesystem ofminimum period of
appointmentcoupledwithacallfortendereveryfiveyearswhichtheWorkingGroupfeltwasappropriate
tointroduce. TheMembers congratulated theWorking Group onthethoroughness oftheirstudy and
accepted therecommendation indicated inthereport. TheChairman expressed thanks totheAustrian
Court ofAudit forthecapable service ithadrendered toWTO initsannual auditforthepasttenyears.
6. TheCommittee recommends totheGeneral Council to:
(a) Extend thepresent contract with theAustrian Court ofAudit foroneyearto
include theaudit ofthe1996 accounts tobenefit from their pastexperience with
theGATT andtheWTO, andtoensure asmooth handover toanewauditor.
(b) Nominate theNetherlands Court ofAudit forauditing theWTO accounts effective
asfrom theaudit ofthe1997 accounts foraperiod ofthree years soastokeep
inlinewiththeminimum period ofappointment.
(c) Express thethanks oftheWTO totheAustrian Court ofAudit fortheverycapable
service ithasrendered totheOrganisation initsannual audit forthepasttenyears.
C.TRUST FUNDS: PROPOSED DRAFT RECOMMENDATION TOTHE
GENERAL COUNCIL (WT/BFA/W/3)
7. TheChairmanrecalledthatduringthelastmeetingoftheCommitteeon2May1996,thevarious
elements included intheSwiss delegate 's"Non-Paper" onTrust Funds hadbeendiscussed. TheSwiss
delegate hadrequested thatthose elements beformally recommended bytheCommittee totheGeneral
Council foradoption. Some Members expressed concern thatextra-budgetary funds should notbe
usedforthepurpose ofmaking savings intheregular budget. Alineshould bedrawn between extra-
budgetary contributions andregular budgets towards technical assistance activities. TheSwiss delegate
indicated thatdocument WT/BFA/W/13 onlydealtwiththeaspect oftransparency ofextra-budgetary
contributions. TheChairman saidthat,inintroducing thesubject totheGeneral Council, hewould
mention theconcern brought forward byMembers.WT/BFA/26
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8. TheCommittee recommends totheCouncil thefollowing:
(a) Extra-budgetary contributions should belimited tofinancing activities which
inscribe themselves intothescope ofWTO activities. Theactivities financed
through suchmeans should inparticular follow theguidelines, yettobeestablished,
forWTO 'stechnical assistance andtraining.
(b) Extra-budgetary contributions allocated totheWTO fortechnical co-operation
activities should betransferred intoaTrust Fund tobeestablished forthatpurpose.
(c) Anynewextra-budgetary contributions should beregularly brought totheattention
oftheMembers.
(d) Progress reports ontheCash situation should contain anindication ofthesituation
specific toTrust Fund(s).
(e) TheWTOGeneralCouncilapprovedarecommendation(WT/BFA/21,paragraph8,
WT/GC/M/11, item3)thatastandard overhead rateof13percentontrust fund
expenditures becharged. This13percentshould beused, asageneral rule, as
"overhead" fortheexclusive purpose ofcovering support costs ofthetechnical
co-operation activities.
(f) Inorder toevaluate theimpact ofactivities financed through Trust Fund(s) on
thehuman resources oftheSecretariat (which arefinanced through theregular
budget), thebudgetary proposal presented bytheDirector-General, aswellashis
financial report, should contain anestimate ofwork hours byyearallocated by
eachDivision totechnical assistance activities.
(g) ManagementandreportingmodalitiesconcerningTrustFund(s)shouldbereviewed
inthelight oftheresults ofthediscussions on"theprovision ofguidelines for
WTO 'stechnical assistance".
D.OTHER BUSINESS
9. AMember fromtheSecretariat informed theCommittee ontheprogress made inrecruitment.
Selection decisions weretaken andoffers weresenttoalmost allofthepersons chosen forthevacant
posts for1996. Oneperson hadalready joined theSecretariat andtheremainder would bejoining
inamonth ortwo. Thechosen candidates came from awide variety ofcountries. Administrative
memoranda onthemovement oftheWTO staffmembers would beprovided todelegations.
10. Inreply toaquery from aMember oftheCommittee, theChairman indicated thatsalaries
andpension andstaffrulesandregulations formed apackage, andtheCommittee would study again
thestaffrulesandregulations oncedecisions hadbeenreached onthesalaries andpensions. Another
Member requested thatthebriefing session onelectronic access bythedelegations totheDocument
DataBaseshould beheldbythesecond trimester oftheyear. TheSecretariat would inform theMembers
onthematter induecourse.WT/BFA/26
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11. AMemberoftheSecretariatintroduceddocumentCRP(96)17regardingthecostsofinterpretation
formeetings, andtranslation andreproduction ofdocuments. Ifmore thanonemeeting wasscheduled
foramorning and/or afternoon, ateamofsixfree-lance interpreters hadtoberequired, thecosts of
which would amount toapproximately SwF3,600. Based onthenumber ofpages translated and
reproduced in1995, thecostoftranslating onepageperlanguage amounted toapproximately SwF140
andthecostofreproducing onepageamounted toSwF0.14. Inreply toaquery from aMember
oftheCommittee, theSecretariat informed thatanamount ofsome SwF618,000 wasincurred in
1995 forthehiring offree-lance interpreters.
12. TheCommittee wasalsoinformed thattheunderground parking ofWTO foreseen inthe
Headquarters 'Agreement would beterminated towards theendinstead ofthebeginning of1998 due
toaslight re-allocation oftheactual spot.
13. TheCommittee tooknoteoftheinformation.