RESTRICTED  
  
WT/BFA/W/507  
 
21 February 2020  
(20-1355) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration    
 
PROPOSED FINANCIAL R EGULATION FOR CONTIN UATION OF OPERATIONS   
PENDING THE APPROVAL  OF THE BUDGET  
1  PROPOSED FINANCIAL REGULATION   
1.1.  The overall authorization for the WTO Secretariat to incur expenditure is granted through 
Financial Regulation 20, which reads as follows:  
"The adoption of a budget by the General Council shall constitute an authorization to 
the Director General to incur expenditure for the purposes for which the appropriations 
were adopted and up to the amounts so adopt ed." 
1.2.  Financial Regulation 20 presupposes that, at any time, the WTO will be operating with an 
approved budget. Unlike some other international organizations, the  WTO does not have a Financial 
Regulation that would foresee or address a situation whereby the  CBFA is unable to endorse the 
budget recommendation, or the General Council is not in the position to formally adopt a budget 
before the commencement of the relevant financial period.  
1.3.  Financial Regulation 10 currently in force reads as follows:  
"The Commi ttee shall examine the budget proposal and seek further explanations and 
amendments as it deems necessary. Once the Committee has completed its 
examination, it shall prepare a report and a recommendation which shall be submitted 
to the General Council for adoption. " 
1.4.  An extension to Financial Regulation 10 is proposed to put in place a regulation that would 
enable the continuance of operations and authorization of the Director General to incur expenditure, 
pending the approval of the budget, if such approval  does not take place before the beginning of a 
new financial period. Therefore, the Financial Regulation 10 that is currently in force would be 
renumbered to 10(a).  
1.5.  The additional new text proposed for Financial Regulation 10 would become 10(b) and reads 
as follows:  
"If, on the first day of a financial period, the budget has not been adopted pursuant to 
Regulation 10 (a), the Director -General shall have interim authority to approve  the 
expenditures he/she shall deem necessary to ensure the continued operatio n of the 
WTO Secretariat in the interval between the end of the previous financial year and the 
adoption of the budget for the new financial period.  
More particularly:  
(i) the Director -General shall have interim authority to commit expenditure and 
make pay ments consistent with the last adopted budget, on a monthly basis . In this 
regard, the Director -General shall request Members to pay corresponding contributions, 
in accordance with the last assessed contributions,  until the budget for the new financial 
period is adopted.   
(ii) the Director -General shall have interim authority to make commitments 
necessary for the preservation of the assets of the Organization and to make payments 
in discharge of legal obligations until the budget for the new financial perio d is adopted;  WT/BFA/W/507  
 
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  (iii) the Director -General shall not have the interim authority to enter into 
commitments for capital expenditure except where the General Council decides that 
such expenditure is necessary;  
The Director -General shall inform the General Council on his/her action in exercising 
this interim authority."  
 
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