RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/BFA/W/31
18 March 1999
(99-1105)
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration
MINIMUM CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WTO BUDGET
Proposal by the Chairperson
1. The minimum contribution to the WTO budget  amounts to 0.03 per cent, or CHF 36,330 on
the basis of the current budget.
2. At present, 50 Members are assessed at this rate, including 28 of the 30 least-developed-
country Members of the WTO.
3. The issue of the minimum contribution was addressed repeatedly at the meetings of the
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration in 1998.  Following these meetings and in
response to the requests from the LDC Members of the WTO, it is proposed that the minimum
contribution be reduced from 0.03 per cent to 0.015 per cent as from the budget for the
year 2000 (in other words, from CHF 36,330 to CHF 18,165 on the basis of the 1999 budget).
4. This reduction in the minimum contribution will in particular have the effect of  halving the
contribution of 34 Members, comprising 25 LDCs and nine other economies with small foreign
trade shares, namely, Saint Vincent, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan,
Grenada, Dominica,  Belize, and Antigua and Barbuda.  The contributions of a further eight Members,
including two LDCs, will be significantly reduced (by at least 0.006  per cent of the total budget, or at
least CHF 7,266 for 1999).
5. The reduction in the minimum contribution from 0.03 per cent to 0.015 per cent also entails
relatively minor upwards and downwards variations in contributions owing to a change in therounding-off rules.
6. The total cost of this halving of the minimum contribution amounts to CHF 773,829, or
0.6 per cent of the total budget of the WTO, on the basis of the 1999 budget .  Still on the basis of
the 1999 budget, 87 per cent of this cost would be shared among the 28 biggest contributors to the
WTO, according to the current scale of contributions.
1
7. The contribution of observers to the WTO amounts to half the minimum contribution of
Members, i.e. currently 0.015 per cent.  It is proposed that this contribution be fixed at the level of
0.015 per cent.
                                                     
1 On the basis of the 1999 budget, the changes in the contribution of each Member as a result of this
proposal appear in the Annex.WT/BFA/W/31
Page 2
ANNEX
Comparison of 1999 Scales of Contribution
(0.03% minimum and 0.015% minimum)
WTO Members Difference
from 0.03% to 0.015%1999 WTO
Contribution
%C H F
United States of America 0.093 112,623 18,831,050
Japan 0.049 59,339 9,167,270
Germany 0.048 58,128 12,315,870
France 0.041 49,651 7,266,000
United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland 0.031 37,541 7,193,340
Italy 0.030 36,330 5,982,340
Hong Kong, China 0.024 29,064 4,626,020
Netherlands, Kingdom of the 0.023 27,853 4,371,710
Belgium 0.022 26,642 3,536,120
Canada 0.022 26,642 4,735,010
Singapore 0.018 21,798 2,845,850
Spain 0.017 20,587 2,966,950
Korea, Republic of 0.014 16,954 3,003,280
Mexico 0.013 15,743 1,889,160
Austria 0.012 14,532 1,901,270
Sweden 0.011 13,321 1,755,950
Switzerland 0.011 13,321 2,034,480
Denmark 0.010 12,110 1,211,000
Malaysia 0.010 12,110 1,428,980
Norway 0.009 10,899 1,150,450
Turkey 0.009 10,899 956,690
Finland 0.008 9,688 896,140
Israel 0.007 8,477 641,830
Philippines 0.007 8,477 496,510
Chile 0.006 7,266 411,740
South Africa 0.006 7,266 653,940
Thailand 0.006 7,266 1,586,410
Indonesia 0.005 6,055 1,223,110
Ireland 0.005 6,055 920,360
Australia 0.004 4,844 1,634,850
Brunei Darussalam 0.004 4,844 48,440
Ecuador 0.004 4,844 108,990
Greece 0.004 4,844 399,630
Macau 0.004 4,844 72,660
Pakistan 0.004 4,844 217,980
Peru 0.004 4,844 157,430
Slovenia 0.004 4,844 217,980
Trinidad and Tobago 0.004 4,844 36,330
Guatemala 0.003 3,633 60,550
Malta 0.003 3,633 60,550WT/BFA/W/31
Page 3
WTO Members Difference
from 0.03% to 0.015%1999 WTO
Contribution
%C H F
Papua New Guinea 0.003 3,633 48,440
Bahrain 0.002 2,422 96,880
LDC Bangladesh 0.002 2,422 108,990
Brazil 0.002 2,422 1,005,130
Colombia 0.002 2,422 302,750
Cyprus 0.002 2,422 72,660
Dominican Republic 0.002 2,422 121,100
Ghana 0.002 2,422 36,330
Hungary 0.002 2,422 351,190
Mauritius 0.002 2,422 48,440
Uruguay 0.002 2,422 72,660
Cameroon 0.001 1,211 36,330
Costa Rica 0.001 1,211 72,660
Czech Republic 0.001 1,211 581,280
Jamaica 0.001 1,211 60,550
Luxembourg 0.001 1,211 266,420
Morocco 0.001 1,211 193,760
Slovak Republic 0.001 1,211 242,200
Argentina 0.000 0 581,280
Democratic Republic of the
Congo0.000 0 48,440
European Communities 0.000 0 -
India 0.000 0 884,030
Kenya 0.000 0 60,550
Namibia 0.000 0 36,330
Paraguay 0.000 0 60,550
Poland 0.000 0 690,270
Venezuela 0.000 0 423,850
TOTAL 0.639 773,829WT/BFA/W/31
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ANNEX
Comparison of 1999 Scales of Contribution
(0.03% minimum and 0.015% minimum)
WTO Members Difference
from 0.03% to 0.015%1999 WTO
Contribution
%C H F
Bulgaria (0.001) (1,211) 133,210
El Salvador (0.001) (1,211) 48,440
Gabon (0.001) (1,211) 48,440
Liechtenstein (0.001) (1,211) 36,330
New Zealand (0.001) (1,211) 363,300
Panama (0.001) (1,211) 157,430
Portugal (0.001) (1,211) 775,040
Sri Lanka (0.001) (1,211) 108,990
United Arab Emirates (0.001) (1,211) 629,720
Egypt (0.002) (2,422) 314,860
Nigeria (0.002) (2,422) 230,090
Qatar (0.002) (2,422) 72,660
Romania (0.002) (2,422) 205,870
LDC Tanzania (0.002) (2,422) 36,330
Tunisia (0.002) (2,422) 169,540
Zimbabwe (0.002) (2,422) 48,440
LDC Angola (0.003) (3,633) 72,660
Côte d' Ivoire (0.003) (3,633) 84,770
Honduras (0.003) (3,633) 36,330
Kuwait (0.003) (3,633) 290,640
Botswana (0.004) (4,844) 48,440
Congo (0.004) (4,844) 36,330
Cuba (0.004) (4,844) 60,550
Iceland (0.004) (4,844) 48,440
Bolivia (0.006) (7,266) 36,330
LDC Zambia (0.006) (7,266) 36,330
Senegal (0.007) (8,477) 36,330
Fiji (0.011) (13,321) 36,330
Barbados (0.012) (14,532) 36,330
Nicaragua (0.012) (14,532) 36,330
Swaziland (0.012) (14,532) 36,330
LDC Uganda (0.012) (14,532) 36,330
Antigua and Barbuda (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
Belize (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Benin (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Burkina Faso (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Burundi (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Central African Republic (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Chad (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Djibouti (0.015) (18,165) 36,330WT/BFA/W/31
Page 5
WTO Members Difference
from 0.03% to 0.015%1999 WTO
Contribution
%C H F
Dominica (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Gambia (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
Grenada (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Guinea (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Guinea-Bissau (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Guyana (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Haiti (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
Kyrgyz Republic (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Lesotho (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Madagascar (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Malawi (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Maldives (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Mali (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Mauritania (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
Mongolia (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Mozambique (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Myanmar, Union of (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Niger (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Rwanda (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
St. Kitts and Nevis (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
Saint Lucia (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
St.Vincent and the Grenadines (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Sierra Leone (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Solomon Islands (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Suriname (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
LDC Togo (0.015) (18,165) 36,330
TOTAL (0.639) (773,829) 121,100,000
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