RESTRICTED  
 
WT/BFA/154  
9 May 2016  
(16-2558)  Page: 1/7  
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration   
 
  REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 14 APRIL 2016 
 
The Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration (CBFA) met on 14 April 2016 under the 
Chairmanship of Ambassador Inga Ernstsone  (Latvia). The Terms of Reference and composition of 
the Committee are set out in document WT/L/44/REV.1. The agenda contained in document WTO/AIR/BFA/8 was adopted. 
 
1  2015 ANNUAL REPORT ON DIVERSITY IN THE WTO SECRETARIAT - WT/BFA/W/387 
1.1.  A member of the Secretariat presented an ov erview of the 2015 annual report on diversity. 
She detailed data on the current composition of WTO staff on the basis of WTO Membership and 
gender, and by region, as well as the evolution of staff diversity since 1995. The member of the 
Secretariat underlined that there was a continuous improvement in the representation of developing countries and least developed countries as well as significant improvement in the area 
of gender diversity amongst professional staff.  
1.2.  The member of the Secretariat also mentioned that the Secretariat had been conducting 
additional outreach in order to continue improvin g diversity within the WTO. The representation of 
professional staff had increased, and there ha s been a tremendous gender improvement since 
1995. The share of professional staff represented by developing and least developed countries had increased from 20.7% in 1995 to 38.7% in 2015, a slight increase from last year's diversity report as well. In addition, professional staff from Afri ca, Asia and Latin America had continued to display 
progressive growth over time, whereas Europe an d North America had continued to illustrate a 
decrease.  
1.3.  Furthermore, as of December 2015, she demonstrated that the African region had the 
highest representation of Senior Management, re presenting approximately 23%, followed by Latin 
America at 19.2%, which had more than doubled since 1995. Representation from Asia had also nearly doubled, from 8% to 15.4%. 
1.4.  Then the member of the Secretariat focuse d on the improvement in gender balance amongst 
professional staff from 1995 to 2015. The proportion of females amongst professional staff had significantly increased from 31.4%, in 1995 to 44. 5%, also a significant improvement compared to 
41.7% in 2014. That increase was attributed to the 29 appointments in the professional category 
in 2015. Among those, 20 were female professionals. In 2015, the Secretariat appointed two 
additional female directors, taking the total to four.  
1.5.  It was also drawn to the Committee's attention that gender diversity had specifically 
improved for grades 6, 7, and 9. For grade 9, women had higher representation (62 females 
versus 56 male staff). A significant overall increase in staff could also be seen in Grade 6 and Grade 7 professionals. 
1.6.  The Secretariat emphasized that there was a considerable number of interns originally from 
Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe who had taken part in the WTO internship programmes. Gender balance had been balanced on average since 2005. In 2015, more females (53%) took part in the WTO internship programmes. 
1.7.  It was then indicated that out of the number of the applications received, 16.8% were from 
Africa, 16.7% from Asia, 35.1% from Europe, 12.6%  from North America, 1.5% from Oceania and 
17.3% from Latin America. The short-listed candidates by region in 2015 were 10.5% for Africa, 
14.7% for Asia, 40% from Europe, 14.7% from North America and 19.5% from Latin America. The WT/BFA/154  
 
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  Secretariat underlined that for Latin America, the number of applications increased to 17.3% and 
the number of applicants shortlisted had also significantly increased to 19.5%. This showed that we received a high number of suitable candidates in comparison to the applications received. The member of the Secretariat concluded by mentioning that a contributing factor to the increase was 
the outreach conducted in the past year. She added that the WTO now systematically used social 
media outlets such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to advertise positions. 
1.8.  Several delegations congratulated the Chairwoman for her new position and welcomed the 
comprehensive report on diversity, which contained a positive signal of improvements in diversity 
in the Secretariat. Several Members stressed the importance of continuing to promote and maintain diversity within the Secretariat. A Member pointed out that although there was some improvement, the representation of developi ng Members in the WTO Secretariat was still 
disproportionate with their important role and share in the international trade. To further improve 
the annual report on diversity, a Member sugg ested that more detailed information on WTO 
professional staff composition by Member status in each professional grade and in each division 
should be included in future reports. To maintain high quality, a Member suggested that the 
Secretariat could reach out to International Law and Economy schools around the World to recruit qualified applicants. Some Members recognized some positive trends at all levels. Several 
Members referred to the importance of geographical  distribution and diversity within the regions 
when it reached to the employment in the Secretariat.  
1.9.  Some Members also welcomed the diversity progress made in the Internship Programmes. It 
was highlighted that 50% of interns were from Europe and a Member suggested that there could 
be further improvement for underrepresented countries. The Secretariat declared that it would 
shortly launch the Young Professional Programme vacancy notice. In addition, the Secretariat also encouraged Members to contribute in identifying qualified candidates by sharing vacancy notices. 
1.10.  Several Members expressed that they we re looking forward to the start of the Young 
Professionals Program. They further stated the importance of geographical distribution and 
diversity within the regions when it comes to em ployment in the Secretariat. Some emphasized 
that they had no representation in the WTO Secretariat, therefore remained interested in 
participating in that Programme. A Delegate inquired about how candidates were selected and additionally asked whether the Secretariat could provide more insight into the selection process to the Committee. The Secretariat indicated it would make a presentation in this regard at a future 
CBFA meeting. 
1.11.  Members recognized that the WTO Secretariat was progressing in the diversity area. Some 
delegations stressed the fact that merit and qualifications of the candidates should remain the 
primary criteria of recruitment in order to maintain the high level of expertise in the technical work 
of the WTO, and that these two important elemen ts should not be compromised, within this 
context.  
1.12.  The Chairwoman thanked the Secretar iat and the Members and indicated that the 
Committee would come back to this issue in the future. The Committee took note of the report.   WT/BFA/154  
 
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  2  2016 WTO SALARY SURVEY - WT/BFA/W/388 
2.1  A member of the Secretariat updated the Committee on the WTO salary scale for 2016. He 
mentioned that the annual survey had been carried out comparing the WTO salaries to the United Nations and Coordinated Organizations' salaries, weighted at 70% and 30% respectively as per the 
methodology set out in Annex B of the Staff Regulations. The salary survey showed that the 2016 
WTO salaries were, on average, 1.5% ahead of the salary levels in the comparators. Accordingly, an equal grade-weighted average decrease should  be applied to the salary scale for 2016. The 
main driver for this decrease was the significant drop in the value of the euro against the Swiss 
Franc that occurred in 2015, something which impact ed on the WTO salary survey given that the 
conversion to Swiss Francs of the Coordinated Organizations salary scale was made on the basis of a 50/50 formula of Purchasing Power Parity and Exchange rate.
 Had the exchange rate remained 
unchanged since the 2015 survey, the 2016 survey wo uld have indicated a slight increase to the 
WTO salary scale for 2016 by approximately 0.2%. Given the outcome of the survey, the intention 
was to follow the same practice as in 2012 and 2013 and introduce a new frozen salary scale for 
staff who joined the Organization between 2013 and 2016. A new salary scale, 1.5% lower than 
the current scale, would be introduced for ne w staff joining the organization as of 2016 .   
2.2.  A Member wished to know whether the Secretariat could quantify the salary percentage to 
identify the variance between the market compar ators and identify the current gap between the 
different salary scales. Another Member enquired about the proportion of staff concerned by the new salary scale. He underlined that the situation could become more complicated if the situation reoccur in the future. The Secretariat would come back to that issue with relevant figures at a 
future meeting. The Committee took note of the report and so agreed.  
3  REPORT FROM THE OFFICE OF INTERNAL OVERSIGHT AND  
ITS ACTIVITIES - WT/BFA/W/389 
3.1.  On this issue, the Chairwoman of the Committee recalled that the position of Chief of the 
Office of Internal Oversight (OIO) had remained vacant since early 2015. The position was now temporarily filled by a member of the Secretariat until the Secretariat completed the selection 
process. Then the Member of the Secretariat introduced the report to the Committee. She first 
presented the Terms of Reference of the OIO, follow ed by an overview of the activities of the OIO 
as well as the follow-up on the implementation of audit recommendations. 
3.2.  The member of the OIO recalled the OIO mandate was to assist the Director-General in 
fulfilling his internal oversight responsibilities, promoting good governance. In addition, ensuring 
risk mitigation, internal controls and compliance; improving economy; efficiency and effectiveness within the Secretariat. In addition, she mentione d that the independence of the OIO was assured 
by the reporting line; the authority vested for it s functions; the control over the scope of its 
activities; by a strong oversight charter and a strong governance environment. 
3.3.  The member of the Secretariat then presented the audit activities conducted by the former 
Office of Internal Audit. Among the nine au dit engagements conducted between 2009 and 2014, 
she declared that there were 215 recommendations, of which 87% were implemented resulting in improvements in organizational efficiency and effectiveness.  
3.4.  Several Members thanked the Office of Internal  Oversight member for the report. A Member 
enquired about how the audit resources were allocated to the new issues like increase of resources 
in Dispute Settlement and Appellate Body areas, su ggesting those elements be incorporated in the 
Audit work plan.  
3.5.  Then the Chair of the Working Group concerni ng an Audit Committee updated the Committee 
on the discussion that had taken place within the Working Group. Some Members supported the 
idea that the External Auditor would assist Members of the Working Group to better understand 
the need of an Audit Committee in the Organization. Additionally, the External Auditor would also 
investigate on whether adequate resources were allocated to the OIO to fulfil its mandate.  
3.6.  Making reference to sick leave status, a Member expressed concerned to the fact that the 
report underlined work conflicts that had led to sick  leave. On that issue, some Members wished to 
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  the high percentage on long sick leave. One of these Members inquired if staff members on long 
sick leave were replaced by temporarily hired st aff or by the existing staff. The Secretariat 
answered that the staff morale had significantly improved; according to the recent staff survey when compared to the last survey in 2013. The Secretariat pointed out that a Mediator was 
appointed for a two-year period to resolve conflicts. 
3.7.  A Member wanted to be informed if any audit of the procurement process had already taken 
place within the Organization, considering that area presented high risks. The Secretariat 
answered that an audit had taken place in 2008 cond ucted by the Internal Audit in place at that 
time. She also added that the external auditor had conducted an audit in 2015 that would probably be presented in June 2016 in the External Au ditor's report. On procurement matters, the 
Secretariat indicated that the external auditors had made four recommendations, all of which the 
Secretariat had implemented.  
3.8.  Another Member underlined the importance that the OIO carried out its activities and 
followed up in practice, independently from the Se cretariat. In respect to internal investigations, 
she underlined why Members would only receive annual summary of internal investigations 
conducted. The Secretariat replied that that prac tice was to ensure rights to due process and 
preserve confidentiality, and protect security, safety and privacy. 
3.9.  Another Member noted the importance that the OIO carried out its activities independently 
from the Secretariat. Based on a Member's question regarding internal audit reports, the Secretariat stated that pertinent information was published on the Intranet.  
3.10.  A representative of the Secretariat informed the Committee that the process for recruiting a 
substantive Chief of the Office of Internal Oversight was progressing and that a recommendation 
would be made to the decision makers within a matter of weeks.   
3.11.  The Secretariat spoke to the fact that all positions in OIO were for a maximum period of 
5 years and that the people could not thereafter  b e  e m p l o y e d  i n  a n y  o t h e r  D i v i s i o n  o f  t h e  
Secretariat, in order to ensure their independence. The person selected from an earlier recruitment exercise had declined, citing job security as a major concern. 
3.12.  Referring to the Technical Assistance work plan for 2016-18, Members wished to know when 
a review would be carried out on result based ma nagement for Trade-related Technical Assistance. 
The Secretariat responded that it would be conducted in early 2017.  
3.13.  In response to a Member's question regarding how the situation on sick leave compared to 
that in other Organizations, the Secretariat stated that the statistics were more or less similar. He 
elaborated by informing the Committee that the data presented in the audit report was from a while back and that the situation had significan tly improved since 2013 since most of the audit 
recommendations had been implemented. (Documen t - WTO Secretariat Risk Management System 
- WT/BFA/W/386). 
4  WTO SECRETARIAT RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM – WT/BFA/W/386 
4.1.  A Member of the Secretariat introduced the report containing the key elements of the risk 
management system implemented by the WTO Secr etariat, highlighting that a cross-divisional 
qualitative consultation had been carried out, in 2015 with key members of Senior Management.  
4.2.  The Member of the Secretariat cited the following risks: the financial risk related to the 
funding of the actuarial deficit of the After Servic e Health Insurance (ASHI); and the technical risk 
of a cyber-attack. Mitigation measures taken and being explored for these risks were stated. 
4.3.  The Chairwoman thanked the Members and agreed  to further discuss on this issue on an 
annual basis. The Committee took note of the report. 
5  INFORMATION SECURITY  
5.1.  The Director of the IT Solutions Division (ITS D) and his team presented the new IT policies 
that had been put in place within the Organization, to the Committee. The Director of ITSD pointed WT/BFA/154  
 
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  out that IT Security became a major subject to consider all over the World and the Secretariat had 
been giving significant attention to that domain. He stated that a steering Committee on IT, composed of Senior Management, had been es tablished and meets on a quarterly basis..  
5.2.  The member of ITSD noted that mobile devices, smartphones and tablet computers had 
penetrated the consumer market, opened new possibilities for the Secretariat staff, but also 
brought new security threats associated with the technology. Also, with the development of fast communication lines, a new breed of Information and Communication Technology outsourcing, 
"cloud computing", had emerged, with possibilities of significant cost savings, but also with new 
security challenges. Due to that evolution of technology, boundaries between protected internal 
systems and the outside world were gradually erased. This requires a change of approach to technical cyber-security. 
5.3.  It was very difficult to defend against budgets and skills available to certain cyber-attackers. 
The Secretariat holds very valuable information entrusted by the Members or produced internally. A critical information security breach could potentially undermine the trust of the Members and 
jeopardise the ability of the Secretariat to deliver on its mandate. The Secretariat takes such risks 
seriously. 
5.4.  The Office of the Director General had mandated the Internal Audit to conduct an audit of IT 
security governance and operations. The key recommendations of the audit were: that a 
comprehensive Information Security effort be put in place; the creation of a governance structure that would ensure that information security effort s were aligned with key Secretariat functions and 
priorities, and were driven by risk-based decisions; the extension of scope from security of 
technology to security of information was a necessary step to include any information on any 
support, taking into consideration people, proc esses and value of information, and build the 
Organisation-wide culture of security awareness and responsibilities. 
5.5.  The mandate of the internal Information Technology Steering Committee was extended to 
include governance of information security to become Information Technology and Security Steering Committee. The committee is composed of Director-level members, and is chaired by a 
Deputy Director General. Responsibilities of the committee include definition of strategic 
objectives, oversight of information security risk management, approval, oversight, and prioritisation of significant initiatives and projects, as well as review and validation of security policies. 
5.6.  One of the key initiatives in information security for 2016-2017 was the establishment of 
INFOSEC risk management, to focus efforts in this domain to information assets which were most important to the Organisation.  
5.7.  A Member suggested that Members and the Steering Committee members should interact to 
further discuss actions taken by the Steering Committee. The same Member wished to make the Secretariat aware of solutions that could be found among Members if those interactions could be 
put in place. He also stated that actions discussed in the Steering Committee could require 
additional financial resources and due to Zero Nominal Growth (ZNG) constraints, Members could undertake these additional needs in this area diffe rently and come up with solutions. Additionally 
he raised an issue regarding a security breach that happened a year ago. The Secretariat 
answered that more secured technical actions had been taken to pre-empt such breaches. 
5.8.  The Members were informed that ITSD had deve loped other solutions by closely working with 
other International Organizations and share IT secu rity information that had already been put in 
place in other Organizations.  
5.9.  The Committee took note of the report. 
6  WORKING GROUP ON AFTER SERVICE HEALTH INSURANCE (ASHI) STRATEGY 
DEVELOPMENT 
6.1.  The Committee was updated on the progress made within the Monitoring Group. At the first 
meeting of the Monitoring Group, Members of the Monitoring Group asked the Secretariat to 
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  of the ASHI Working Group report. Subsequently to  that request, the Secretariat submitted a first 
report to the Monitoring Group. At the last m eeting of the Monitoring Group, the Secretariat 
complemented that report with an in depth presentation. The Members of the Monitoring Group recognized that the report outlined considerable efforts undertaken by the Secretariat in pursuance 
of developing the strategy. The Secretariat pr ovided the Monitoring Group with a schedule 
specifying when recommendations would be finalised in view of the ASHI draft strategy, due in October 2016, as well as drafted an indicative implementation plan for the strategy. 
6.2.   The Secretariat informed the Monitoring Grou p that a strategy development team had been 
established within the Secretariat and had already met four times. The team included staff from relevant Division and representatives of retirees  and the Staff Association. The team categorised 
the Monitoring Group's recommendations under the four following headings: governance, 
management and administrative measures; consultative and reporting measures; cost control 
measures; and financing measures. The Secretariat mentioned that a number of initiatives such as a staff and retiree consultation and the finalisation of the procurement process which would result 
in a new contract for a service provider, were we l l  u n d e r  w a y .  O n  t h a t  i s s u e ,  M e m b e r s  o f  t h e  
Monitoring Group expressed an interest in the procurement process.  
6.3.  Members of the Monitoring Group welcomed the Secretariat's efforts, the high level of 
planning involved and the in-depth work in prog ress. Members were positive about the steps taken 
so far and encouraged the Secretariat to continue its efforts with a view to reporting on further progress at the Monitoring Group's meeting in June, especially with regard to cost controls.  
6.4.  A Member notified the Committee of a new resolution adopted, in March 2016 by the United 
Nations General Assembly (UN) regarding ASHI. He  further mentioned that the UN Working Group, 
composed of 16 UN Organizations, concluded that the establishment of an ASHI Fund was not justified and then preferably adopted the "pay as you go" system.  
6.5.  The Chairwoman thanked the Members of the Moni toring Group as well as the Secretariat. 
She concluded that the Committee would continue its discussions at the next meeting. The Committee took note of the report. 
7  WORKING GROUP CONCERNING AN AUDIT COMMITTEE 
7.1.  The Chair of the Working Group concerning an Audit Committee updated the CBFA on the 
progress made by the Working Group during meet ings held in March and April. The following 
International Organizations and shared their experiences: INTERPOL, World Intellectual Property 
Organization (WIPO), International Atomic Energy  Agency (IAEA). The views of the World Trade 
Organization External Auditor had also been solicited.  
7.2.  The Chair stated that in view of the progress made, he remained confident in reaching the 
target date for presenting the Working Group's conclusion. 
7.3.  The Chairwoman thanked the Members of the Working for their work. The Committee took 
note of the report. 
8  BUDGET AND FINANCE REPORT – 1
ST QUARTER 2016 - WT/BFA/W/391 
8.1.  A member of the Secretariat presented the situation regarding Members' and Observers' 
contributions received in the first quarter of 2016.  Receipts of contributions and the cash position 
were slightly above the level as at March 2015. Wi th respect to Members' contributions, 49% of 
the overall assessment had been received. Regarding Observers, 29% had been received. As of 
31 March 2016, 50 Members and 6 Observers had no outstanding balance. At mid-April 2016, 19 Members and five Observers were subject to Administrative Measures.  
8.2.  The budget for 2016 was on track with an overall expenditure rate of 28% or CHF 55 million.  
8.3.  The Committee took note of the report. WT/BFA/154  
 
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  9  EXTRA BUDGETARY FUNDS REPORT - FIRST QUARTER 2016 - WT/BFA/W/390 
9.1.  A member of the Secretariat presented the financial situation on trust funds, especially 
f o c u s s i n g  o n  t h e  D o h a  D e v e l o p m e n t  A g e n d a  G l o b a l  T r u s t  F u n d  ( D D A G T F ) .  H e  s t a t e d  t h a t  t h e  Global Trust Funds had funds brought forward from 2015 amounting to CHF 16.9 million.  
9.2.  As of first quarter 2016, CHF 4.9 million was recorded in terms of expenditures and 
commitments. With regard to activity level, in comparison with the same period in 2015, the overall implementation rates were slightly lower, nevertheless still in line with what had been 
anticipated in the Technical Assistance Plan.  
9.3.  The member of the Secretariat informed the Committee that the STDF fund had received 
significant contributions from Chinese Taipei, Ja pan, Sweden and the United States. It also 
comprised a pledge from the European Union. Ho wever, the Secretariat stressed that more funds 
would be required to continue approving and contracting new projects. 
9.4.  The Committee took note of the report. 
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