WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/W536 
13 October 2004 
 (04-4298) 
General Council  
  20 October 2004 
 
 
AGREEMENT ON THE TRANSFER OF PENSION RIGHTS 
OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE WTO PENSION PLAN (WTOPP) 
AND THE UNITED NATIONS JOINT STAFF PENSION FUND (UNJSPF) 
  
1. On 7 December 2000 the WTO General Council e xpressed its concurrence with the text of a 
WTOPP – UNJSPF transfer agreement which ha d been approved by the Management Board 
under Article 10 of the WTOPP Regulations, which reads as follows: 
 
 " The Management Board may, subject to the concurrence of the General Council, approve 
agreements with Member Governments and with intergovernmental organizations, with a 
view to securing continuity of pension rights for participants in the Plan ". 
 2. Subsequent to the entry into force of the tr ansfer agreement on 1 January 2001, it became 
apparent that the agreement was not adequate ly serving the purpose for which it was intended, 
namely to secure the continuity of pension rights of transferring staff.  In certain cases, staff 
who had been offered the possibility of transf er had declined to accept the offer on the 
grounds that their pension rights would be diminished as a result. 
 3. The Secretariats of the WTOPP and UNJSPF decide d, therefore, to review the operation of 
the existing transfer agreement with a view to  determining the extent to which the above 
shortcomings could be remedied whilst at the same time protecting the actuarial interests of 
both pension schemes.  The operation of the existing transfer agreement was suspended 
pending the outcome of that review. 
 4. The attached, revised transfer agreement, repr esents the result of the consultations between 
the two Secretariats and has been certified by  the WTOPP consulting actuary as safeguarding 
the interests of the WTOPP.  At its 38
th meeting on 20 – 21 September 2004, the Management 
Board approved the revised transfer agreement,  which would take effect on 1 January 2005 
and cancel and replace the existing agreement, subject to the concurrence of the General 
Council. 
 
5. The General Council is invited to express its conc urrence with the attached transfer agreement 
with the UNJSPF. WT/GC/W/536 
Page 2  
 
Agreement on the transfer of pension rights of participants
 
in the United Nations Joint Staff Pens ion Fund and of participants in the  
World Trade Organization Pension Plan  
  
Whereas 
the provisions of article 13 of the Regulations  of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension 
Fund (UNJSPF) authorize the United Nations Joint Sta ff Pension Board, subject to the concurrence of 
the United Nations General Assembly, to approve  agreements with member Governments of a 
member organization and with intergovernmental orga nizations with a view to securing continuity of 
pension rights;  
 
Whereas the provisions of article 10 of the Regulations of the World Trade Organization Pension Plan 
(WTOPP) similarly authorize the conclusion of agreem ents with other international organizations and 
with member Governments for the transf er and continuity of such rights;  
 
Whereas , with the concurrence of the General Coun cil of the World Trade Organization and the 
United Nations General Assembly, a Transfer Ag reement had been concl uded between the WTOPP 
and the UNJSPF which became effective on 1 January 2001;   Whereas 
the UNJSPF and the WTOPP have agreed to re place the aforementioned Agreement with a 
new Transfer Agreement;  
 
It is therefore agreed between the UNJSPF and the WTOPP as follows:  
 
Article 1  
1.1  For the purposes of this Ag reement, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings 
specified below, unless different meanings are plainly required by the context:  
 
 (a) "Fund" means the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund;  
 (b) “Fund participant” means a participant in the Fund;  
 (c) "WTO" means the World Trade Organization;  
 (d) "Plan" means the World Trade Organization Pension Plan;  
 (e) “Plan participant” means a participant in the Plan;  
 (f) "Contributory service in the Fund" means the contributory service which, under the 
Regulations of the Fund, may be taken into  account for the computation of benefits, 
and includes service credited to a Fund partic ipant under agreements similar in nature 
to the present Agreement;  
 (g)  "Contributory service under the Plan" mean s contributory service as defined in article 
16 of the Regulations of the Plan, and includ es all periods of service used to compute 
benefits under the Plan;  
 (h)  “FAR Fund” means the Final Average Remuneration under the Regulations of the 
Fund, computed as of the Fund participant’s last day of contributory service in the Fund;  
 (i)  “FAR Plan” means the Final Average Remuneration under the Regulations of the 
Plan, computed as of the Plan participant’ s last day of contributory service in the 
Plan;  
 (j)  "Payment rate” means the lower of the to tal rate of contribution under the applicable 
Regulations (including the shares payable both by the participant and the employing 
organization) of the Fund or of the Plan, as the case may be, applicable on the last day 
of contributory service in the Fund or in the Plan;  WT/GC/W/536 
 Page 3 
 
 (k)  “applicable exchange rate” means the average, computed ov er the 36 consecutive 
calendar months of contributory service (or th e applicable such period if less than 36 
months) up to and including the last month of participation in the Fund or the Plan, respectively, of the monthly United Nations  operational rates of exchange between 
the United States dollar and the Swiss Franc.  
  
1.2  Unless otherwise defined herein, words and phr ases used in the Regulations of the Fund or of 
the Plan shall have the same me anings in this Agreement.  
 
Article 2  
2.1  A former Fund participant who has not r eceived a benefit under its Regulations may, upon 
becoming a Plan participant within six months afte r participation in the Fund has ceased, elect to be 
covered by the provisions of this Ag reement, by notice in writing to that  effect sent to the Secretary of 
the Plan within a further period of six months.   2.2  Upon such election, the former Fund partic ipant shall cease to be entitled to receive any 
benefit from the Fund and shall be credited in stead in the Plan with the following:  
 
(a) Accumulated contributions equal to the fo rmer Fund participant’s own contributions 
credited as of the last day of participation in the Fund, converted into Swiss Francs at 
the applicable exchange rate;  
(b)  Pensionable remuneration calculated in accordance with article 19 of the Regulations 
of the Plan;  
(c)  Contributory service under the Plan, calculated as follows:  
  
FAR Fund x applicable exchange rate  x contributory service in the Fund  
Pensionable remuneration in the Plan  
 
2.3  The Fund shall, in respect of such a former Fund participant, pay to the Plan an amount equal 
to the payment rate under this Agreement times th e FAR Fund, multiplied by the number of years and 
fractions of the contributory service in the Fund,  converted into Swiss Francs at the applicable 
exchange rate.  
 
2.4  For the purposes of the present article, a Fund participant's last day of participation in the 
Fund must, except as provided in article 4 below, be  no later than the day preceding the first day of 
participation in the Plan.  
 
Article 3  
3.1  A former Plan participant who has not r eceived a benefit under its Regulations may, upon 
becoming a Fund participant within six months after participation in the Plan has ceased, elect to be 
covered by the provisions of this Agreement, by notice in writing to that effect sent to the CEO of the 
Fund within a further period of six months.  
 
3.2  Upon such election, the former Plan par ticipant shall cease to be entitled to receive any 
benefit from the Plan and shall be credited instead in the Fund with the following:  
 
(a) Accumulated contributions equal to the fo rmer Plan participant’s own contributions 
credited as of the last day of participation in  the Plan, converted into US dollars at the 
applicable exchange rate;  
  
(b) Pensionable remuneration calculated in acco rdance with article 54 of the Regulations 
of the Fund;  WT/GC/W/536 
Page 4  
 
  
(c) Contributory service under the Fund, calculated as follows:  
 
FAR Plan x applicable exchange rate  x contributory service in the Plan  
Pensionable remuneration in the Fund  
 
3.3  The Plan shall, in respect of such a former Plan participant, pay to the Fund an amount equal 
to the payment rate under this Agreement times the FAR Plan, multiplied by the number of years and 
fractions of years of contributory service in the Pl an, converted into US dollars at the applicable 
exchange rate.   
3.4  For the purposes of the present article, a Plan pa rticipant's last day of pa rticipation in the Plan 
must, except as provided in article 4 below, be no  later than the day preceding the first day of 
participation in the Fund.  
 
Article 4  
4.1  (a) If a Fund participant becomes a Plan participant during a period of leave without pay 
from a member organization of the Fund and, upon the termination of such period, 
ceases to be a Plan participant and resum es contributory service in the Fund, the Fund 
participant shall not be entitled to any be nefit under the Regulations of the Plan in 
respect of such period but shall instead receive credits in the Fund as provided in article 3.2 above, with the Plan paying to the Fund an amount determined in accordance with article 3.3 above. Such pe riod shall not also accrue to the Fund 
participant as contributory service in the F und under article 22(b) of its Regulations;  
  (b)  If, upon the termination of such period, the Fund participant ceases to be a Fund 
participant and continues to be a Plan par ticipant, the former Fund participant shall, 
upon election made in writing to that effect sen t to the Secretary of the Plan within six 
months of the termination of such period, have applied the provisions of articles 2.2 
and 2.3 above. These provisions shall also a pply in the event of the death or disability 
retirement under the Plan of the Fund par ticipant during such period, without having 
made a benefit election unde r the Fund’s Regulations.  
 
4.2  (a)  If a Plan participant becomes a Fund participant during a period of leave without pay 
from the WTO and, upon the termination of such period, ceases to be a Fund 
participant and resumes contri butory service in the Plan, the Plan participant shall not 
be entitled to any benefit under the Regulations of the Fund in respect of such period 
but shall instead receive credits in the Plan  as provided in article 2.2 above, with the 
Fund paying to the Plan an amount determined in accordance with article 2.3 above. Such period shall not also be counted for the Plan participant as contributory service 
in the Plan under article 16(b) of its Regulations;  
  (b)  If, upon the termination of such period,  the Plan participant ceases to be a Plan 
participant and continues to be a Fund partic ipant, the former Plan participant shall, 
upon election made in writing to that effect sent to the Chief Exec utive Officer of the 
Fund within six months of the termination of  such period, have applied the provisions 
of articles 3.2 and 3.3 above. These provisions  shall also apply in the event of the 
death or disability retirement under the Fund of the Plan participant during such period, without having made a benefit election under the Plan’s Regulations.  
 WT/GC/W/536 
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 Article 5  
5.1  Interest, to the date on which payment is made by the Fund or the Plan of the amount due 
under articles 2.3 and 3.3 above, from the date of ce ssation of participation in the Fund or the Plan, 
respectively, shall be paid at the rate of 5 per cen t per annum, or at such other rates as may be agreed 
from time to time between the Chief Executive Offi cer of the Fund and the Secretary of the Plan.  
 
Article 6   
6.1  If otherwise eligible to elect to be covered by the provisions of this Agreement, a former Fund 
or Plan participant, who, without having received any benefit, moved from the Fund to the Plan, or 
vice versa, within the two-year period immediately preceding the entry into force of this Agreement, 
may elect to be covered under this Agreement by wr itten notice to that effect, sent no later than 30 
June 2005 to the Secretary of the Plan or the Ch ief Executive Officer of the Fund, as the case may be. 
  
Article 7  
7.1  The Chief Executive Officer of the Fund and the Secretary of the Plan shall agree on such 
measures as may be appropriate to give effect to th is Agreement and to resolve any problems that may 
arise in the application of its provisions to individual cases.  
 
Article 8  
8.1  This Agreement shall enter into effect on 1 January 2005 and shall replace and supersede as 
of that date the Transfer Agreement previously concluded between the Plan and the Fund, which had 
become effective on 1 January 2001.  
 
8.2  This Agreement shall continue in effect until modified or terminated by written mutual 
consent of the Parties hereto. However, either Pa rty may terminate this Agreement unilaterally, by 
notice in writing given to the other Party, at least one year before the termination date specified in 
such notice.  
 
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