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WT/BFA/181  
 
31 October 2019  
(19-7289 ) Page: 1/13 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration    
 
 
REPORT OF THE MEETIN G HELD ON 24 SEPTEMBER  2019   
AND 3 OCTOBER 2019  
 
The Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration (CBFA) met on 24 September , with a 
continuation on 3 October 2019. Agenda Items A, B and C were discussed on 24 September whilst 
Agenda Items D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L and M were discussed during the meeting on 3 October 2019.   
 
His Excellency Ambassador Dagfinn Sørli, Permanent Re presentative of Norway to the WTO and 
EFTA, welcomed Members to the meeting. He introduced the agenda bearing the reference  
WTO/AIR/BFA/3 3 and the annotated agenda bearing the reference JOB/BFA/3 6. The Chairman asked 
if any Members had items to propose under "Other Business".   
Upon the request of a Member, t he following item w as included under Other Business: "The Need 
for Coherence in the Establishment and Management of WTO Trust Funds. " 
 
 
1  REVIEW OF SELECTED F INANCIAL REGULATIONS  OF THE WORLD TR ADE 
ORGANIZATION – WT/BFA/W /494 
1.1.  The Chairman recalled that, during its earlier meeting s, the Committee had discussed and 
endorsed a number  of revised Financial Regulations. He said that changes  to Financial 
Regulations  23, 28 and 29 had not  yet been agreed to  by the Committee . The Chairman stated that 
subsequent to the meeting on 17 June, consultations had been undertaken in a bid to find consensus 
on these three Financial Regulations.  He said that t hough progress had been made, agreement on 
the text had not yet been achieved.  
1.2.  In intro ducing the topic, an Official of the Secretariat stated the weaknesses that changes to 
Financial Regulation 23 are intended to address. These include the difficulties posed by the 
requirement that the deficit in the Surpl us Account be covered by transfers from the Working Capital 
Fund and , if this is insufficient, then the remainder has to be included in the next budget. She further 
stated that the revisions proposed for Financial Regulations 28 and 29 are intended to miti gate risks 
to the Organization  to ensure that the net equity of the Organization is not overlooked when any 
given decisions related to the Working Capital Fund are taken.  
1.3.  Another Official of the Secretariat related the proposed changes to the Budgetary Per formance 
for the year ended 2018 as well the Statement of Financial Performance and the Statement of 
Financial Position for the same year.  
1.4.  A Member stated that her delegation had concerns because the manner in which Financial 
Regulations 23, 28 and 29 wer e phrased suggested that Members would not be included in the 
discussions related to the budgetary surplus.  
1.5.  A Member asked what the starting financial result would be , were the changes to Financial 
Regulation 23 approved. Mentioning  that the budge tary sav ings for 2018 approximated 
CHF 1.3 million he said that the amount of the fi nancial result was a large negative sum, thus 
implying that it would take many years before a positive financial result can be achieved. He said 
that in private companies, when ass ets are considered , future income  is also taken into account. He 
said the future committed income of the WTO are the annual contributions made by the 
Member  States. H e said that, h owever, the  calculations for the financial result of the WTO d oes not 
really  mention income but just contingencies.  WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  1.6.  Several Members expressed the view that Members should have a say regarding the utilization 
of the budgetary savings, and the Working Capital Fund, based on recommendations from the 
Director General.  
1.7.  A Member asked what could be done to make the financial result positive. The response given 
was that , considering that the main drivers of the negative financial result are the actuarial costs for 
ASHI and pension, the financial result could be positive if Members were to specifically make 
contributions to the budget to cover these items.  
1.8.  A Member said that it is unlikely there would be positive equity  and thus said that including 
this in the Financial Regulations created lack of clarity. He asked  what the phrase "funds will be 
returned in proportion to the respective  share that each member has" , in Financial Regulation 28 
mean s since Members make  a general contribution to the WTO  budget based on the ir global share 
in World Trade. He sought clarification as to whether  the presum ption is that the Working Capital 
cannot flow back into the WTO's budget.  
1.9.  A Member said the improbab ility that the Organization's equity would be positive in the near 
future  is worrisome . She said that m any International Organizations are now adopting IPSAS and 
asked  how these  have introduced th e inferred elements in Financial Regulations 23, 28 and 29.  
1.10.   A Member called on the Secretariat to explain  how the current and proposed text for the 
Financial Regulations could affect Members in the future if any Member leaves. She said that she 
does not share the concerns expressed by some Members about the changes to Financial Regulations 
23, 28 and 29. She said that the  change s did not take away Members' ability to decide even if funds  
are transferred  from the budgetary savings to the Working Capital Fund.  
1.11.   A Member said his delegation  is comfortable with the revised text for Financial Regulations  23, 
28 and 29 . Nonetheless, he made the observation that Financi al Regulation  28 appears to deviate 
from what other international organizations have in place . He said that a comparison with other 
organizations is logical , as this would encompass  decisions that were previously made by Members. 
He said that the Financial  Regulations ought to stick to accounting principles and not deviate into 
attempting to address existential questions that don't really relate to core financial accounting 
principles.  
1.12.   DDG Brauner reinforced  the fact that Financial Regulation 29 is aimed a t protecting the 
Members who will remain, were some Members to exit the Organization , as it would make sure that 
those that depart  do not take away only the assets but  will also accept the liabilities  attributable to 
them .  
1.13.   The Chairman's concluding remark s for this agenda item were that there would be an open -
ended  informal  session, on 3rd October, to specifically discuss and conclude on these outstanding 
Financial Regulations. He requested the Secretariat to circulate amended text, ahead of this date. 
2  ITC 2020 -2021 BUDGET  PROPOSAL – JOB/BFA/ 37 
2.1.  The Chairman welcomed the ITC Deputy Executive Director, Ms Dorothy Tembo and her 
colleagues, Mr. Gerry  Lynch and Mr. Christophe Ahounsou , to the meeting .  
2.2.  The Deputy Executive Director presented the 2020 -2021 Budget Proposal for the ITC.  She 
indicated that the budget is prepared in the UN format and also presented in line with the WTO 
format.  
2.3.  Ms. Tembo highlighted the overarching objectives of the ITC and the administrative 
arrangement s that are in place  for its regular budget funding . She highlighted some key objectives 
of the ITC,  including the fact that the ITC translates the potential of agreements negotiated in WTO 
and regionally  into action ; and complement s policy support provided by the UN Conference on Trade 
and development (UNCTAD) into trade impact on the ground. She said that the UN 2030 Agenda is 
a compass for the ITC and that the decisions agreed by the WTO , including at its Ministerial 
Conferences , are instructive.   WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  2.4.  Ms. Tembo  informed Members that while the WTO operates a biennial budget, the UN has 
introduced an annual budget cycle starting with the programme budget for 2020. This will be on a 
three -year trial basis . She said that the circumstances were the reverse in 2004.  
2.5.  She told Members that the ITC's proposed budget for 2020 and 202 1 is CHF 73,372,500 
including miscellaneous income of CHF 400,000. The total contribution from the WTO for the 2020 -
2021 biennium is estimated at CHF 36,486,250 , representing zero nominal growt h compared to 
2018 -2019.  Therefore, t he net contribution of each parent organization is estimated at CHF 
18,243,125 for 2020  and 2021, respectively.  
2.6.  Ms Tembo highlighted that the ITC posts funded out of the regular budget  remain unchanged , 
at 160,  since 20 14/15. She informed Members that t he regular budget will continue to support ITC 's 
work in its six focus areas: global public good s in the form of trade and market information and 
intelligence ; improvements in the environment and policies of businesses; st ronger trade and 
investment institutions; connections to international value chains; inclusive and green trade ; and 
South -South and regional trade.  
2.7.  She said that, i n 2020, the ITC  will leverag e its regular budget  by implementing USD 80 million 
worth of su pport funded by extra -budgetary contributions, an increase over the USD 75 million 
planned for 2019 and the USD 64 million delivered in 2018.  
2.8.  She informed Members that the projected expenditure from the 2018 -2019 regular budget is 
projected to reach 99.7% , approximating CHF 73.2 million.  
2.9.  Ms. Tembo thanked Members for their continued support and guidance to the ITC and invited 
them to give a positive consideration of the ITC budget  proposal .  
2.10.   A Member asked how changes in the UN 2021 budget would be ta ken into consideration in 
the ITC budget. In response, Ms. Tembo said that the ITC would, at the appropriate time, make 
suggestions for the modification of the administrative arrangements.  
2.11.   A Member asked how the ITC was planning to manage the structural c hange arising from the 
significant growth in extra -budgetary funds.  
2.12.   A member commended the close alliance between the ITC, WTO and Members. He suggested 
that the ITC should  pay special attention to staffing, given the change in the ratio of funding from 
the regular budget and from extra -budgetary resources.  
2.13.   Ms. Tembo said that the ITC officials were constantly assessing the structure and that it would 
be adjusted to fit the 6 core areas.  
2.14.   A Member expressed the view that the WTO ha s not made full use of what  the ITC is working 
on and said that th e budget discussions allow for the examin ation of possible synergies . He said that 
his delegation values the working relationship between the donor agencies and the ITC. He said that 
there is opportunity to eliminate redundant activities between the WTO and the ITC. In this regard, 
he expressed the view that some Secretariat driven initiatives seem to be moving into technical 
assistance areas.  
2.15.   Ms. Tembo  stated that the two organizations are constantly in touch and, where there are 
similar activities, they aim for complementarity.  
2.16.   Another Official of the ITC said that some areas, like monitoring and evaluation of extra -
budgetary activities, are financed f rom programme support costs.  
2.17.   The Chairman concluded on this agenda item by saying that since Members had not had 
sufficient time to assess the ITC Budget, the recommendation relating to it would be considered 
during the  Committee  meeting on 21 October.   WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  3  WTO 2020 -2021 BUDGET PROPOSAL – WTO/BFA/W /492  
3.1.  An Official of the Secretariat introduced the 2020 -2021 Budget Proposal of the WTO  by stating 
that the organization will be entering a decade of zero nominal growth as from 2020 . She said that  
the Secretariat continues to manage the resources with a lot of diligence and prudence. She added 
that the Secretariat has had to take stringent measures to stay within the stagnant budget over the 
years.  Some of the measures are the progressive replacement of high -graded staff with staff 
recruited at lower grade s. The resultant  savings on salaries were used to finance annual salary 
increments .  
3.2.  Another Official from the Secretariat presented slides showing that the budget amount for 2020 
and 2021 was the same as that for 2019. The total budget of CHF  197.2 million per annum is to be 
funded through Member Contributions  of CHF 195.5 million and Misce llaneous Income of  
CHF 1.7 million.  
3.3.  The reallocations between budget headers, relative to 2019, were also shown. These included 
the reallocation of funds from staff family and international benefits to the budget for staff pension 
& post -employment benefi ts, staff health and invalidity insurance and other staff expenditure;  and 
reallocation of funds from capital expenditure and general services to financial expenditure.  
3.4.  Noting that the proposed budget for 2020 is the same as that for previous years, a Mem ber 
asked why the Press Review is not provided electronically instead of being delivered in hard copy. 
Extending this question, another Member stated that there were likely copyright issues that had to 
be taken into consideration thus making it difficult to upload the Press Review electronically. He, 
nonetheless, said that the Secretariat should consider distributing the Press Review electronically to 
reduce printing expenses.  
3.5.  A Member said that the introduction of the budget  appear ed to focus on utilising vacant post s 
as a key to managing the operations of the Secretariat, with the unchanging budget.  He asked if 
there had been a  broader assessment of the types of activities the WTO Secretariat has been 
proposing and promoting for the future as th ese also drive staffing and resource needs . He noted 
that the budget would be a factor in the discussions relating to the WTO Reforms. He said this will 
be a joint effort between Members and the Secretariat to ensure that initiatives proposed by 
Members an d the Secretariat can be resourced.   
3.6.  The Member  said that it is important that the budget allocation is correctly supporting core 
priorities. He gave the example that the Secretariat appears to be investing considerable sums in 
areas such as promotion of t he WTO via social media platforms, yet the Members ' website is o utdated 
and needs modernization. He asked what the exact purpose and outcomes from the expansion of 
video -conferencing are. He said that if this is solely for technical assistance purposes add itional 
information should be provided to Members on the outcomes that have been achieved through the 
years and why this upgrade should not be considered as part of the overall allocation for technical 
assistance .  
3.7.  The Member asked for more information and  clarification of the nomenclature  "panellist fees 
and appellate body fees" , and derivatives of this , and associated amounts i n Tables 2, 12, 15, 22 , 
29 and 30.  
3.8.  The Member asked which part of the WTO budget funded previous arbitration proceedings 
under DS Article 25. He also asked what was being done with Appellate Body Members ' fees for 
2018 that ha d not been expend ed due to the departure of Appellate Body Members. He further asked 
the Secretariat to provide an accounting for the expenditure of the Appellate Body Operating Fund  
in 2019  and the previous year.  
3.9.  The Member asked for additional explanation of the budget by Output Chapters. He questioned  
why one active negotiation accounts fo r such a large sum . He said it is worth noting that the 
CHF 45 million budget for the Output "A dministering Agreed WTO Rules" is about the same as that 
for capacity building , CHF 42 million . He said that this le ads to question s regarding the core mission 
of the organization  and points to a  need to assess how to allocate resource s.  WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  3.10.   An Official from the Secretariat explained the process for Output Reporting, indicating that 
this form of reporting dates back to 2011 , after a comprehensive review of the goals of the 
Organization had been undertaken by senior management and Members. She said that the reporting 
reflects both the divisional expenditure and the work that people in some  Divisions have undertaken 
in the areas of work of other Divisions.  
3.11.   In response to the question regarding the tables relating to the Appellate Body Panellists'  fees 
and Appellate Body Member s' fees, an Official from the Secretariat said that the tables contain 
different views of the budget. Table 2 shows a consolidated budget amount. Some of the tables that 
show the detailed budget include the combined amount of Panellists'  Fees and fees for arbitrat ion. 
3.12.   An Official of the Secretariat indicated that the annual  expenditure of the Appellate Body 
Operating Fund  is reported through the Financial Performance Report. She said that any unspent 
balance is carried over to the subsequent financial year. She wen t on to say that it was the first time 
that any Member had detailed questions relating to the budget by Output Chapter. She stated that 
the input to Output Chapters was from every staff member in the Secretariat and thus it is crucial 
that the questions be  referred to and discussed with colleagues from other Divisions before reverting 
to the CBFA.  
3.13.   Regarding the question on video -conferencing, the Official of the Secretariat said that this 
was based on request s from Members and that , at times , the Secretaria t feels unable to resist  some 
requests from Members as such requests are often covered with a connotation of importance and 
desirability from Committees.  
3.14.   A Member expressed appreciation for the ongoing and planned activities of the Secretariat to 
realize an ambitious workplan within a zero nominal growth budget  and recognize d that this requires 
a strategic approach of continuous adaptation and restructuring , as well as an inherent focus on 
efficiency. He stated that his delegation  trusts that  the D irector General  and his team will make sure 
that the resources are well attributed . The Member concluded by saying that the zero-nominal 
growth budget is very much about financial figures in the WTO, and that  the Organization  is made 
up of Members  as well as  the w omen and men working in the Secretariat . He expressed his 
delegation's  recogni tion of  the staff's  dedication.  
3.15.   A member stated that d ispute settlement is a very important function of the WTO  and said it 
is important for the budget to ensure that this  impor tant function run s smoothly. Referring to 
Table 33 in the budget document, the Member asked why the allocation of the budget to this area 
was reduced from CHF 44  million  in 2019 to the CHF 39 million  proposed for 2020 . 
3.16.   In response, an Official from the Secretariat said the projected budget for 2018 had be en 
CHF 44 million whilst the expenditure for the year wound up being CHF  39 million , relative to 
CHF 25 million in 2017.  In effect, the increase in 2018 was lower than anticipated, hence the lower 
budget for this Output Chapter in 2020 and 2021.  
3.17.   The Member  asked why the allocation to translation had remained high. She said that given 
advanced technology, the Secretariat ought to consider the possibility of gradually introduc ing 
machine translation , through Artificial Intelligence, in order to r educe the cos t associated with  
translation. The Member requested the Secretariat to conduct a feasibility study on the use of 
Artificial Intelligence in the WTO.  
3.18.   An Official of the Secretariat said that the Secretariat was already in touch with WIPO 
regarding its use o f Artificial Intelligence. She said that the Secretariat would revert to Members on 
their comments relating to the Press Review, after consulting the concerned Division . 
3.19.   The Member noted that the expenditure on short -term staff  is high and asked whether th ere 
are written rules or regulations  for hir ing short-term staff.  
3.20.   An Official of the Secretariat said that demands by Members on the Secretariat continue to 
increase , whilst the headcount remains unchanged.  Therefore, one reason for hiring  short -term staff 
is to deal with this extra work. He said that another dimension is that there are some complexities 
in the recruitment process as it takes a long time to recruit persons in an International Organization  
and that the average number of applicants per post is in the hundreds . He stated that it takes time WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  for these to be screened, for tests to be given and for the rest of the steps up to assumption of duty 
by the selected candidates. Pending the filling of post s, short-term staff  is appointed . On the 
oversight process for appointment of short -term staff, the Official of the Secretariat informed the 
Committee that an internal Committee  comprising of all  DDGs, the Chef de Cabinet, the AGSD 
Director and HRD Director  examine s every request for short -term staff for all Divisions and either 
approves or declines it.  He said that requests are submitted in writing and with a common approach 
across all Divisions.  
3.21.   A Member said that savings from various headers, and realloca tion of funds to some areas, 
were not clear to his delegation. He asked whether all 646 posts in the Secretariat are filled. He 
further asked if extrabudgetary funds are included in the budget.  
3.22.   An Official of the Secretariat said that, based on the expecte d expenditure profile for 2019, 
funds had been reallocated from some parts to other parts of the budget. She gave the example, 
that there had been several reallocations under Capital Expenditure, including the reallocation from 
computer hardware to compute r software. She said that the Secretariat has 646 approved posts and 
that a vacancy rate has to be maintained in order to contain expenditure.  
3.23.   A Member said that the Secretariat could consider introducing machine translation using 
Artificial Intelligence  and noted the experience of WIPO and its projected cost savings from doing 
so. Noting that keeping a zero nominal growth budget when there is indexation in the market is not 
easy, a Member expressed concern around negative interest  and the high amount that the 
organization was paying to negative interest annually. She asked the Secretariat to consider 
proposals to address this issue.   
3.24.   A Member expressed caution about replacing human translators with Artificial Intelligence 
given the complexity of subjects di scussed at the WTO.  
3.25.   A Member observed that the number of posts in the Languages Division of the Secretaria t 
seems higher than that in other organizations. He state d that WIPO has 7 official languages and 
deals with complex agreements  and uses Artificial In telligence for translations.  
3.26.   A Member briefly mentioned some of the aspects of the budget discussion concerning dispute 
settlement and their impact on the budget. He said that paragraph 4.16, on page 28  of the budget 
proposal , states that a significant number of panel reports is anticipated, and  that the appeal 
workload will remain high for 2020 -2021. He said that while optimism is a positive quality, the reality 
of the situation is that, ceteris paribus, the current impasse affecting the A ppellate Body will likely 
paralyze this body in December. Notwithstanding, he said it is correct for the CBFA to allocate the 
same level of resources for its effective and appropriate functioning , taking into account the normal 
practices used for its operati onal delivery and that at any time during the next budgetary cycle the 
Members may come up with any solution for such an impasse . 
3.27.   An Official of the Secretariat said that the language in paragraph 4.16 was taking the number 
of ongoing panels for dispute settlement indicated in paragraphs 4.10 to 4.15  of the budget proposal 
into account. That said, the Secretariat acknowledged the Member's comments regarding the way 
the wording in 4.16 can be construed as being too optimistic.  
3.28.   In his concluding rem arks for this agenda item, the Chairman said that the Committee will 
have follow up discussion s on the 2020 -2021 Budget during its meeting on 21 October. He said that 
the aim should be to achieve consensus on the budget at that point. He said that arrangem ents 
would be made to meet any Member that wishes to consult with him prior to the next meeting, in 
relation to the budget.  
3.29.   The Chairman further said that , in view of the fact that the time allocated for the Committee 
meeting had been surpassed,  the remain ing agenda items  would be discussed on 3 October 2019.  
He made the precision that the formal meeting would start at 10h30 on 3 October and would be 
immediately followed by the informal session focusing on Financial Regulations 23, 28 and 29.  
3.30.   The meeting w as adjourned.  
 WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  4  RECOMMENDATION TO THE GENERAL COUNC IL TO APPROVE THE 20 17 FINANCIAL 
PERFORMANCE REPORT  - WT/BFA/W/ 495 
4.1.  In reconvening the formal session of the Committee on 3 October, the Chairman made 
reference to the fact that the meeting was a continuation of that which had taken place on 
24 September. He said that the Committee would continue with the adopted agenda as  set out in 
WTO/AIR/BFA/3 3 with t wo items under "Other Business", from the U.S. and China, respectively.   
4.2.  The Chairman invited the Secretariat to introduce agenda item D, the recommendation to the 
General Council to approve the 2017 Financial Performance Report.  
4.3.  An Official of the Secretariat said that Financial Regulations 26 and 31 stipulate that a ny 
transfer  between budget chapters , and the financial statement s of the organization , have to be 
approved by the G eneral Council. She recalled that in June of 2018 the Committee had endorsed 
the recommendation s, for submission for the approval of the General Council. She said that when 
the time came to present the recommendation s to the G eneral Council , in November 2018, the 
related item was removed from the age nda due to certain important discussion s that were ongoing 
with some Members.   
4.4.  The Committee was requested to re -endorse the recommendations for their subsequent 
submission to the General Council.  
4.5.  The Chairman read out the following recommendation s:  
4.6.  The C ommittee on Budget Finance and Administration recommends that the 
General  Council approve the transfers between budgetary sections as outlined in 
paragraphs 2.29 and 2.34 of document WT/BFA/W/450. The Committee further 
recommends that the General Council approve the WTO Audited Financial Statements for 
the year ended 31  December 2017 . 
4.7.  The Committee adopt ed the recommendation s.  
5  Q2 2019 BUDGET AND F INANCE REPORT – WT/B FA/W/493  
5.1.  An Official of Secretariat introduced the Budget and Finance Report for t he 2nd quarter of 2019 . 
The contribution received as  at the end of June 2019 was slight ly higher than the contribution 
received in June 2018 due to the fact that one of the top 10 Members ha d paid its contribution earlier 
in 2019 . 78 % of the assess ed cont ributions had been received from Members and  44 % from 
Observers.  
5.2.  The Official of the Secretariat read out the list of the Members and Observers under 
administrative measures . 8 Members were in C ategor y I, 1 Member in Categor y II and 7 Members 
in Category III. 2 Observer s were in Category I, 1 in Category II and 2 in Category III.   
5.3.  The budgetary expenditure as of 30 of June 2019  was on track.  
5.4.  A Member acknowledge d the importance of the monitoring work that the CBFA does with 
respect to Members and Observers under administrative measures . He noted that the application of 
these measures was not consistent. He suggested that the Chairman could reiterate the importance 
of the application of these administrative measures and that it could be useful to request C ommittee 
Chairpersons  to reinforce the  importance of these in the various Committees  
5.5.  The Committee took note of the report.  
6  Q2 EXTRABUDGETARY FU NDS REPORT – WT/BFA/ W/490  
6.1.  An Official of the Secretariat informed Members that , in recent years , expenditure from the 
Global Trust Fund had exceeded annual contributions into the Trust Fund. He said that this did not 
pose a serious problem before but that the balance expected to be available at the end of the year 
is less than the  anticipated expenditure for the coming year . He invited Members to consider 
contributing to the  Global Trust  Fund.  WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  6.2.  The Official of the Secretariat said that the Technical Assistance Plan f or 20 20-2021 would be 
presented to the CBFA on 21 October . He recalled  that the rightful Committee for approving the 
substantive aspects of the TA Plan is the Committee on Trade and Development  and that the CBFA 
would consider the budgetary aspects.  
6.3.  The Official from the Secretariat said that most of the Trust F unds are in a stable position . He 
invited Members planning to support the STDF  to send their contributions in the near term , as it has 
a good project pipeline.   
6.4.  A Member said that at some point a discussion needs to be had with respect to why 
contributions to the Global Trust Fund are declining . He asked why some Members are seeking to 
create new voluntary funds rather than using already existing vehicles. He said th at this was 
recreating a fragmented system that had existed  before. He recalled that the Global Trust Fund was 
created to put together the various Trust Funds , that previously existed , into one Trust Fund . 
6.5.  The Member e xpressed his delegation's appreciation  for the recently introduced notification 
process for new Trust Funds . He said that whilst this address es some concerns , there is scope for 
improvement  in terms of having a fully functioning policy that provides necessary and timely 
information to Members. He said that even if Members may not have a say on whether the 
Director  General can accept voluntary funds in some instances, his delegation is of the  view that 
Members have a right to understand and comment on how those funds are used when they have an 
impact on other Members, more significantly when new institutional structures are created inside 
the Organization to support activities of these contrib utions . He stated that new Trust Funds have 
an impact on the functioning and operations of existing Secretariat D ivisions and the consensus -
based Committee structure s.  
6.6.  Referring to Table 3 in the Q2 Report, the Member asked why the "China LDC s and Accessi ons 
Programme" was listed under Outcome 1 whilst the  notation referr ed to Outcome 2. He said that 
there was no reference to this Programme under Outcome 2. He further said that his delegation did 
not understand how Accessions Workshops can contribute to implementing WTO Agreements.  
6.7.  Turning to Table  4, the Member asked if  "WTO Accessions Round Table meetings", represent 
the China LDC Programme and if so, why this is  not presented in a consistent  manner and what 
relevance this has to O utcome 1.  
6.8.  Referring to  Table 5, the Member asked what the linkage between " Missions to Academic 
Institutions " and  Outcome 1 is as there was no clearly corresponding item in Outcome 1 . He also 
said that the definitions in Outcome 3 were unclear.  
6.9.  Referring to T able 9,  the Member  said that his delegation calls upon China to make its required 
notification under Article 22 of the Trade Facilitation Agreement . He said th e table shows  that China 
is a significant donor to the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility and thus its  lack of Article 22 
notifications is concerning.  
6.10.   The Member asked how the budget of the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility  is prepared 
and what policies are in place  to audit its expenditure  reports . He said that this Trust Fund is not 
distinctly separate from the Division  in the WTO Secretariat that deals with this subject matter . He 
asked how accounting for this area works when expenditures including staff time is b lurred between 
regular Division work and work related to this Trust Fund . He further said that, according to the 
Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility's  operational guidelines, the facility is operated, managed and 
monitored by the staff of the Market Acce ss Division. He asked how conflict of interest is avoided or 
prevented . He stated that the questions posed by his delegation are not making any allegations that 
anything untoward is happening but rather that his delegation is  seeking to point out that staff 
appeared to be unprotected and exposed in these situations when they have no consistent 
governance guidelines to f all back on.  
6.11.   The Member asked w hat certain ty Members would have that the operation of voluntary trust 
funds that are not distinctly separat e entit ies from regular division s would not result in any financial 
liability for non -donor Members.  WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  6.12.   An Official from the Secretariat responded to questions that pertained to the 
Q2 Extrabudgetary Funds Report.  He said that T ables 3, 4 and 5 refer to a pa rt of the report that 
was recently introduced to provide information  on Key Result Areas  to complement accounting 
aspects . He said that the quarterly  reports are provisional and that the responses to the questions 
that the Member made would be provided at a later stage.  
6.13.   A Member thanked  the Secretariat for the guidelines for the receipt and notification of 
voluntary fund contributions , which are contained in document WT/INF/219  and highlighted that 
transparency is addressed in paragraph 5 of the guidelines . He stated  that his delegation is unable 
to figure out how, in an organization which is mainly based on  human resources , a conclusion can 
be arrived at that there is no addition al financial liability . He said that  any person working for the 
WTO is an intangible asset whose duties  cannot be clearly bifurcated between  activities driven by 
voluntary contributions and those covered through the regular budget . He said that this aspect  needs 
to be clarified.  
6.14.   A Member said that the Organization should be  open to countries willing to provide additional 
financial resources  to support its work and that this should be based on  clear rules and guidance  
and should take the Technical Assistance Plan into consideration . He said the  Organization has to 
systematically identify areas of work where more support is required . He said that while proper 
reporting and transparency  are important , Members should avoi d micromanag ing every detail of the 
voluntary contributions' budget , as this c an dissuade additional contributions to Trust Funds . He said 
that the following aspects would aid further discussions on this subject: systematic guidelines ; 
procedural guideline s; and proper transparency in the implementation aspects.  
6.15.   A Member stated that voluntary contributions should be seen in a positive light as n o Member 
has any obligation to make such contributions.  She said that her delegation  agree s that while there 
should be clear guidance on how to contribute  and how to manage those voluntary contributions, 
any policy should also encourage Members to continue to contribute  voluntarily to the Organization . 
She said that the Organization has a  very tight budget and more t asks. 
6.16.   An Official of the Secretariat gave some differences between extra -budgetary  funds  and the 
regular budget . He said that most of the regular budget is used for remuneration of staff. He said 
that some staff members  have traditionally spent part of the ir time supporting activities that are 
funded under extra -budgetary funds. He said that the Secretariat finances activities related to Trust 
Funds activities out of extra budgetary resources.  He stated  that in Output Reporting, the concerned 
staff members indicate the allocation of time that they made to Technical Assistance. He further said 
13% overhead is charged to Trust Funds, based on the expenditure incurred by those Trust Funds 
and part of this i s revenue for the regular budget. The Official from the Secretariat further said that 
a certain number of posts in the Secretariat are directly funded by Trust Funds.  
6.17.   A Member called  for a review of the manner in which Trust Funds are categorized. He said  
that the Global Trust Fund is the main Trust Fund.  He pointed out that the STDF and EIF are not 
exclusively WTO Trust Funds and that they have clear governance structures. He made the 
observation that the Secretariat has categorized other Trust Funds as small in size, with expenditures 
of less than CHF  1 million per year.  He said the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility, standing at 
CHF 6 million, neither has  its own Secretariat  nor an institutional structure that is separate. He said 
that, by implication , when people holding posts funded out of the regular budget undertake activities 
for Trust Funds, financial liability exists as contributions are made for their  pensions and health 
insurance. He said that he has been making calls for clarity of institutio nal structures for Trust Funds, 
since 2015.  
6.18.   An Official of the Secretariat said that though  the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility had a 
balance approximating CHF  5 million , annual expenditure from th is Trust Fund is small.  He said that 
it is for this reason that it is not thought of as being in the same league as the  STDF and EIF , which 
have several  million dollars of expenditure per year.  
6.19.   DDG Brauner said that a ll Trust Funds are Member -driven. He said every Trust Fund was 
based on requests from Members who had , at the same time , provided money . He commended the 
Committee Members for their comments and questions and said that the Secretariat would reflect 
on these. He said that one outcome of suc h reflection could  be that whenever a Member approaches WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  the Secretariat with the aim of setting up a new Trust Fund, such a Member should be  encourage d 
to direct such contributions to  the Global Trust Fund.  
6.20.   An Official of the Secretariat said that the Sec retariat will  internally consult on the issues 
raised and come back to the CBFA with a distinct agenda item on Trust Funds, in a future meeting.   
6.21.   The Committee took note of the report and the statements made.  
7  PROPOSAL RELATED TO THE 2018 BUDGETARY S URPLUS  – WT/BFA/W/496  
7.1.  An Official of the Secretariat introduced the topic by recalling that , in 2018 , the Committee had 
deliberated at length on the accumulated budgetary surplus of CHF 52.02 million for the period 
ending 3 1 December 2017 and had made a recommen dation to the General Council for the amount 
to be transferred to the Working Capital Fund. She said that since that time the Secretariat had not 
received any new information that would suggest that a different proposal would be warranted. 
Therefore, the p roposal relating to the utilization of the budgetary savings for 2018 was aligned to 
the proposal that was in 2018.  
7.2.  The Chairman read out the following recommendation:  
7.3.  The Committee  on Budget Finance and Administration recommends to the 
General  Council th at the WTO Budgetary Surplus as at 31  December  2018, amounting to 
CHF 1.32 million, be transferred to the Working Capital Fund . 
7.4.  The Committee adopted the recommendation.  
8  2017 -2018 REPORT ON STAFF LEARNING DEVEL OPMENT – WT/BFA/W/49 1 
8.1.  An Official of the Secretariat gave an update on Learning and Development activities 
undertaken  in 2017 and 2018. She said these included not only courses  and conferences  but also 
tailored, sustained forms of learning such as learning  networks, coaching and mentoring.  
8.2.  She e laborated that learning networks are initiatives which are for staff doing similar roles , and 
have existed for Committee Secretaries, Administrative Assistants, Research Economists, Junior 
Professionals, Man agers and Supervisors  and Female Directors from t he WTO and the UN. She said 
the network for Female Directors came about as a result of the Director General being an 
International Gender Champion and currently has 26 Female Directors and 11 organizations 
represented in it.  
8.3.  The Official of the Secretaria t highlighted a number of cross -Secretariat  initiatives that occurred 
during 2017 and 2018. These include the production of a video featuring the history and role of the 
WTO which is used for recruitment and induction purposes; a modular Performance Manage ment 
programme for approximately 100 managers; a Wellness Challenge ; and a Town Hall meeting on 
Ethics. The Official of the Secretariat  also stated that an in -house working group will soon be 
convened to develop a comprehensive training programme on Ethics . 
8.4.  An Official of the Secretariat highlighted that an e -learning course entitled 
"Respect& Harmony@WTO" had been recently launched. This i s based on the Secretariat's policy 
entitled "Right to work in an environment free from discrimination, harassment and abuse of 
authority ". The e -learning programme contains an introductory video message from the Director -
General which highlights his expectation of zero tolerance to any form of prohibited conduct in the  
WTO. 
8.5.  A member said that a lot of elements of the learning and development activities that had been 
presented are familiar to delegations , as civil servant s follow similar models.  He asked how the 
success of such courses is measured.  
8.6.  A Member said that his dele gation is committed to encourag ing international partners , including 
the WTO , to prevent harassment within and around the Organizations and to take effective measures 
in case of discrimination, harassment and abuse of authority. He commended the Secretaria t's 
efforts and results in terms of gender equality of the WTO staff. He urged that efforts should be WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  made to continue to increase the number of women in senior management functions. He asked how 
the Secretariat related with  external partners  and Consultan ts in raising these issues.  
8.7.  A Member expressed his delegation's appreciation for the Learning and Development activities 
and encourage d the Secretariat to continue in this regard.   
8.8.  The response from an Official of the Secretariat w as that  the impact of tra ining initiatives was  
evaluat ed through q uestionnaires to staff members  and discussions with Managers.  
8.9.  With respect to cascading the expected standards  of conduct  to external partners and 
Consultants, the Official of the Secretariat said that C onsultants are aware  of, and some are involved 
in, conducting the training.  
8.10.   The Committee t ook note of the report and the statements made.  
9  UPDATE FROM THE CHAI RWOMAN OF THE WORKIN G GROUP FOR THE SELE CTION OF 
AN EXTERNAL AUDITOR – ORAL UPDATE  
9.1.  The Chairwoman of the Working Group on the Selection of an E xternal Auditor told the 
Committee that the Working Group had met three times since the previous update to the Committee. 
She informed the Committee that, after the submission of bids  on 15th July, the Working Group was 
re-organised consistent with the previously agreed principles to ensure an objective review of the 
bids. The Chairwoman informed the Committee that she was  then then nominated as the new 
Chairwoman. She said that there would be two or three additional meetings  to complete the 
evaluation process and submit a report to the Committee, with the appointment recommendation.  
9.2.  The Committee took note of the report.  
10  UPDATE FROM THE CHAI RWOMAN OF THE WORKIN G GROUP FOR THE MANA GEMENT 
OF THE WORK ING CAPITAL FUND – ORAL UPDATE  
10.1.   The Chairwoman of the Working Group informed the Committee that  progress  had been made 
on the development of a draft policy for the management of the Working Capital Fund. She said that  
a revised discussion draft was circulated in early September to the W orking Group as well as to all 
Members of the CBFA . This took the comments, questions  and suggestions raised by the Working 
Group into consideration and elaborated further on investment guidelines based on the inputs f rom 
the Investment Advisor of the WTO  Pension Plan. Subsequent to this, the Working Group had met 
on 10th September , during which meeting  members  of the Working Group  had made several 
constructive comments on the new draft.  The Chairwoman said that, given the nature of the 
comments she had  received, she is  optimistic that important progress is being made towards  
reaching a version that can be presented to Members at an upcoming CBFA.  
10.2.   The Committee t ook note of the report.  
11  STATUS UPDATE ON THE  LDCS TRUST FUND FOR PARTI CIPANTS IN MINISTERI AL 
CONFERENCES  
11.1.   An Official of the Secretariat informed the Committee of the preliminary budget for the 
participation of funded LDCs in the 12th Ministerial Conference and invited Members to consider 
support ing the Trust Fund dedicated to supporting this. He said that the Secretariat would be sending 
formal letter s soliciting for Members' support .  
11.2.   The Chairman invited Members to transmit this information to the ir Capitals , with the view to 
getting contributions to the  Trust Fund and enable  LDCs to participate in MC12.  
12  LETTER FROM THE STAF F COUNCIL OF THE WTO  – WT/BFA/W/487  
12.1.   The Chairman informed the Committee that he had received a suggestion to defer this agenda 
item to the next meeting of the CBFA, in order to allow f or more consultations with Members. He 
requested any Members that would like to engage with him on this issue to  make arrangements to 
meet with him .  WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  12.2.   The item was deferred to the next meeting of the Committee.  
13  OTHER BUSINESS  
13.1.   A Member said his delegation  would like the CBFA to explore questions related to the 
management and operation of v oluntary funds . He said that a c oordinat ion and governance 
framework , that can be relied upon by both the Secretariat staff , and Members  and which provides 
advance transparency to all Members and clear rules of the wor k set out , if necessary . Noting that 
this is a horizontal issue, the Member said that CBFA is well placed to positively contribute to this 
effort . He said that his delegation would be circulating a series of questions shortly, and he expressed 
the hope that the Secretariat will be able to provide some responses to assist his delegation and 
others to gain a better understanding  of the internal policies or management guidelines in place .  
13.2.   The Member said that the two primary criteria are: Are whether the purposes for which the 
contributions made are consistent with the policies and the activities of the WTO; and whether  the 
acceptance of such contributions directly or indirectly involve s additional fina ncial liability for the 
WTO. He said it is important for these two requirements to be  respected throughout the life cycle of 
any Trust Fund. He said that a  coherent governance system would ensure that extra budgetary funds 
emanating from  individual donors , which are not  accountable to the consensus principal, would be 
created in line with pre -established governance principles that protect and safeguard all Members' 
interests.  
13.3.   The Member expressed an opinion that different management units within the Secretariat are 
actively creating and soliciting funds for open -ended funding mechanisms. He said this does not  fit 
in his delegation's  understanding of what a voluntary contribution is, nor what it believe s should be 
the appropriate, neutral and impartial role of the Secretariat.  
13.4.   Mentioning the comments of other Members during the previous Committee meeting , 
regarding the possibility of uploading the Press Review electronically, a Member stated that since 
the beginnin g of October each mission only receive d one copy of the Press Review.  She asked that 
her delegation be provided with more copies of the Press Review.  
13.5.   A Member reiterated the call made by another delegation that the governance of Trust Funds 
need s to be dis cussed at a future Committee meeting. He said that the bifurcation of the regular 
budget and voluntary contributions is difficult . He expressed the view that it would be close to  
impossible to certify that any project under voluntary contributions has no f inancial implications. He 
expressed his delegation's support  for activities such as  capacity building, the EIF  and the Global 
Trust Fun d. He said that given the recent  proliferat ion of Trust Funds , tighter governance and more 
transparency  are needed .  
13.6.   An O fficial from the Secretariat informed the Committee that uploading the Press Review 
electronically would breach copyright laws.  She said that the Secretariat has been exploring how to 
go about this and had not been able to find a way of putting the Press R eview on the Members' site 
without transgressing the copyright of the news agencies that actually put out the news items. On 
the reduction of copies distributed to each Member, the Official of the Secretariat said that some 
Members ha d asked for up to 5 0 hard copies. She said that in a quest to be proactive, the Secretariat 
had deemed it appropriate to send one copy per Member as each Member could then internally make 
the number of copies it require s.  
13.7.   A Member expressed the  hope that a solution could be found to provid e an electronic version 
of the Press Review without violating copyright issue s. She also asked for slide presentation s made 
during Committee meetings to be sent to Members shortly after each meeting, as they serve as  a 
reference for reporting to Capital s.  
13.8.   An Official from the Secretariat said that they would circulate slides soon after the Committee 
meeting, as they had done on previous occasions.  
13.9.   The Chairman remind ed the Committee  that an informal session, focussi ng on Financial 
Regulations 23,  28 and 29 , would start immediately after.  WT/BFA/ 181 
 
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  13.10.   The Chairman thanked Members for their active participation and closed the formal meeting. 
He announced that the next formal meeting of the CBFA would  take place on 2 1 October.  
 
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