RESTRICTED  
  
WT/BFA/17 2 
 
14 May  2018 
(18-2847) Page: 1/7 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration    
 
 
REPORT OF THE MEETIN G HELD ON 26 APRIL  2018  
 
The Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration (CBFA) met on 26 April  2018 under the 
Chairmanship of Ambassador Juan Esteban Aguirre Martínez (Paraguay ). The Terms of Reference 
and composition of the Committee are set out in document WT/L/44/REV.1. The Agenda is 
contained in document WTO/AIR/BFA/ 25.  
 
The following item s were included under "Any Other Business": Follow up on methods of 
distribution of WTO documents; Assessment  of the  number and relevance of current WTO Regular 
Bodies , in the context of Article 29 of the Nairobi Declaration ; and Comments on the document 
related to the implementation of salary s cales. 
 
1  DEPENDENCY ALLOWANCE S – PROPOSED AMENDMENT T O ANNEX 2 OF THE STA FF 
RULES  – WT/BFA/W/4 48  
1.1.  In presenting the paper, DDG Brauner stated that dependency allowances  had been central 
to CBFA discussions in 2017 . He mentioned  that the Committee had opted to deco uple the aspect 
of base amounts from that of adjustment methodology. Hence, the recommendation it made to 
the General Council in November 2017 pertained solely to the amounts of dependency allowances 
to be applied  in 2018.  
1.2.  DDG Brauner recalled that the Com mittee had been support ive of the proposal to premise the 
adjustment methodology on the salary scales , in substitution of the tax rates of the Geneva 
Canton , and that adjustment s were to only be effected if the salary scales changed by more tha n 
+/-2% over a time -period of 3 years .  
1.3.  The Committee had deemed it appropriate to defer the making of a recommendation on the 
adjustment methodology to 2018 so that the Director General could consult the Joint Advisory 
Council (JAC) on this  before . DDG  Brauner stated that this had been done and the JAC had given 
its comments  to the Director General.   
1.4.  A Member expressed h ope that the Staff Council was  on-board and asked for clarification on 
the JAC's views .  
1.5.  The DDG's response was that some staff member s had submitted a written complaint that 
their 2018 monthly dependency allowances were less than thos e that had been paid for 2017. The 
DDG also informed the Committee that the JAC's mandate is confined to providing advice to the 
DG, to aid his decision -making. 
1.6.  A Member asked as a point of clarification whether discussions on dependency allowances 
were still ongoing within the secretariat since the committee according to the revised CBFA Draft 
Work Plan was to receive an update on dependency allowances  in September 2018.  
1.7.  An Official from the Secretariat stated that at the time the work plan was prepared, the 
timelines for the JAC advice and the DG's decision had not been expected to be as short as they 
turned out to be. Given that the agenda of the CBFA me eting scheduled for June 2018 would be 
heavy, the plan had been to table the revised Annex 2 of the staff rules for consideration by the 
Committee during its meeting of September 2018. Given the fact that this subject was being 
discussed on 26th April, it would no longer be part of the agenda of the Committee's meeting in 
September.   WT/BFA/17 2 
 
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  1.8.  A Member asked what the contractual obligations of the Secretariat were to the staff 
members who had submitted complaint s on the dependency allowances, and what the likelihood of 
litigation was.   
1.9.  The DDG responded that the concerns of the staff would be assessed by the Joint Appeals 
Board (an internal body). He further stated that the staff members could still take a case to the 
ILO Administrative Tribunal.  
1.10.   In closing, the DDG  invited the Committee to endorse the revised A nnex 2 of the staff rules 
and make a recommendation to the General Council.   
1.11.   The Committee makes the following recom mendation to the General Council:  
1.12.   The Committee recommends that the General Council approve the amendment of 
Annex 2 of the WTO Staff Rules, as set out in Appendix 1  of document WT/BFA/W/448 . 
2  QUARTER 1 2018 BUDGE T AND FINANCE REPORT  – WT/BFA/W/44 7 
2.1.  An Official from the Secretariat introduced the paper by informing the Committee that the 
contributions received during Q1 2018 were slightly higher than those received in the comparable 
period in 2017 , since a major contributor's funds pertaining to 2017 had been received in 
January  2018. She said that contributions received to date for the current year approximated 
CHF98 million from Members and CHF147,000 from Observers.  
2.2.  Turning to Members  under Administrative Measures, she indicated that 141 were under  
Category I, 42 under Category II and 103 under Category III.  
2.3.  Six of the Members in Category 3 had entered into payment plans to settle their arrears but 
were not abiding by the agreed terms. These Members are: Burundi, Chad, Djibouti, The Gambia, 
Guinea -Bissau and Sierra Leone.   
2.4.  Regarding Observers, 34 were under Category I and 25 under Category III.  
2.5.  The Secretariat Official stated that Côte d'Ivoire  had entered into a payment plan in 2009, to 
settle its arrears over 10 years , and that this Member had abi ded by the terms of the payment 
plan. The last instalment for arrears would be paid in 2019.  
2.6.  On the subject of budget implementation rate, the Secretariat  Official  informed the 
Committee that the expenditure for the first quarter was in line with expectations, at 30% of the 
annual budget.  
2.7.  A Member took the floor to confirm the speculation of some Members that his delegation is 
the one whose 2017 contributions were r eceived by the Secretariat only in the first days of 2018. 
He informed the Committee that his country's budget year spans from 1st October to 
30th September. He stated that the customary practice has been that a large tranche of the 
contributions attributa ble to a given year were transmitted during the last quarter of the year and 
the remaining balance in the beginning of the following year. He informed the Committee that 
transfer of the first, larger tranche for 2017 was extraordinarily delayed due to broa der challenges 
surrounding the finalization of budget appropriations by the legislature of that Member.   He noted 
that this transfer was in fact carried out on 10 January 2018.   He clarified that the slight delay was 
attributable strictly to extraordinary legislative challenges and was not in any manner a function of 
policy considerations with regard to the WTO specifically. . 
                                                
1 Angola, Belize , Burkina Faso, Congo, El Salvador, Lesotho, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, 
Solomon Islands, Suriname, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.  
2 Antigua and Barbuda, Cameroon, Guinea and Rwanda.  
3 Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, The Gambia, Guinea -Bissau, Mauritania, Niger, 
Sierra Leone and Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.  
4 Somalia, Syrian Arab Republic and Timor -Leste.  
5 Libya and Sao Tome &  Principe.  WT/BFA/17 2 
 
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  2.8.  A Member enquired when the Administrative Measures had last been revised . She opined that 
the Secretariat could review the  Administra tive Measures , taking on board comments previously 
made by Members, and make a submission to the Committee  at a future meeting of the CBFA . 
2.9.  The Secretariat Official stated that Administrative Measures were initiated in 1986 and 
reviewed in 1994, 2006 and 2 012 ( taking effect  in 2013).  
2.10.   The Committee took note of the report .  
3  QUARTER 1 2018 EXTRA  BUDGETARY FUNDS REPO RT – WT/BFA/W/44 9 
3.1.  The key introductory remarks by an Official from the Secretariat were that the format of the 
report had been enhanced and he req uested Members to provide any suggestions that they may 
have on further improving the format.  
3.2.  He informed the  Committee that the high balance carried forward from 2017 for the Doha 
Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF) was driven by the fact that some contributions 
came in towards the end of the year. Regarding the trend over the past few years wherein annual 
expenditure surpassed contributions received in the same year, he said that this is not of great 
concern at the present time but needed to be  watched closely over the coming years.  
3.3.  On th e other Trust Funds,  he said that the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) 
needed additional contributions in order to finance its activities and projects in 2018. He informed 
the Committee that the several other Trust F unds were in good shape.  
3.4.  A Member raised concerns that contributions to the DDAGTF have been declining over the 
past few years. She said that big economies have reduced their contributions to this Trust Fund, 
which doesn't bode well fo r the provision of training on trade negotiations to the targeted 
stakeholders. He urged all Members, with emphasis on the larger ones, to continue to contribute 
to the DDAGTF . She said that her country has continued to provide the same level of support ov er 
the years, in terms of its average annual contributions to the DDAGTF. Citing the complexities 
relating to the Doha Development Agenda, she mooted the idea that consideration should be made 
to change the name of the DDAGTF . She said that the current nam e might be impeding attracting 
more contributions.     
3.5.  The same Member proposed that footnotes be added to indicate the full form of 
abbreviations, to aid readers of the documents, especially new delegates. The Secretariat agreed 
to implement this in futur e documents.  
3.6.  The Committee took note of the re port. 
4  NEW EXTRA -BUDGETARY FUNDS: THE NATURAL DISASTERS AND  TRADE  EXTRA-
BUDGETARY CONTRIBUTI ON FROM AUSTRALIA (W T/BFA/W/445) AND THE AGREEMENT 
ON ECONOMIC AND TECH NICAL COOPERATION BE TWEEN THE GOVERNMENT  OF THE 
REPUBLIC CHINA AND T HE WTO (WT /BFA/W/ 446)  
4.1.  An Official from the Secretariat stated that the normal procedure for establishing  Trust 
Funds6 that come into being after the Trade -related  Technical Assistance Plan for a given biennium 
has already been approved can be accepted by the Director General . He said that t he two E xtra-
budgetary F unds tabled have an indirect cost implication for the Secretariat. Therefore, in 
accordance with Financial Regulation 19, the consent of the CBFA  is being solicited7. He indicated 
that the indirect costs that are relevant here would be of a supervisory and administrative nature, 
and the associated staff time.  
4.2.  A Member asked for clarification of various aspects. Commenting that paragraph 4 of the 
paper had the phrase " the CBFA is invited to provide its consent…"  he enquired what the CBFA 
was being asked to do, exactly. He also asked what the nature of the indirect costs would be  and 
what the implications of these Trust F unds would be on the already busy Secretariat staff . 
                                                
6 Trust Fund  and Extra -budgetary Fund  are synonymous terms.  
7 Refer to Financi al Regulations of the World Trade Organization (WT/L/156/Rev.3 ). WT/BFA/17 2 
 
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  4.3.  The Secretariat Official responded by saying that the approval of Trust Funds was within the 
scope of the Director General's authority since the donor is a Government. He indicated that the 
indirect costs concerned would be associated staff time.  
4.4.  A Membe r stated that he had attended a symposium on natural disasters and trade in the 
morning of 26th April and appreciated the interest of Australia, the WTO and other Members on this 
subject. He made a s uggestion that outputs from activities funded from the Na tural Disaster and 
Trade Fund be presented to the relevant body in the WTO , given that this is a Member -driven 
organization.  
4.5.  Speaking on behalf of Caricom , a delegate thanked the Australian delegation  for providing 
support to regions prone to natural disas ters. He provided salient details related to the extent of 
economic and social destruction caused by hurricanes in his region. He stated that this also directly 
impair s trade and the ability of the countries to effectively participate in discussions on mul tilateral 
trade. He asked the CBFA to give its consent of this Trust  Fund. 
4.6.  A Member stated that the document motivating for the Na tural Disasters and Trade 
Extra -budgetary Fund had clarity of scope, time -span and a budget amount.  
4.7.  Members made detailed comm ents on the paper motivating for the Agreement on Economic 
and Technical Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of China and the WTO . 
Several  Member s enquired as to which entity would be administe ring this Extra -budgetary F und; 
what its programme was ; if any projects were under way; and whether the CBFA would be 
requested to consent for the undertaking of specific projects each time they were proposed.  
4.8.  A Member expressed concern that the language in the document was unclear and ambiguous.  
4.9.  A Member asked why a new Trust Fund  was being setup, considering that the other Trust 
Funds already existed, such as the DDAGTF , given that the Trade -related Technical Assistance Plan 
has a breadth of projects and activities. He further mentioned that Don ors can  provide funding on 
a bilateral basis to targeted implementation parties or Government s, if the preference was to 
dedicate resources to specific and distinct activities. The Member said that the paper should be 
revised to incorporate elements addres sing comments made during the meeting and that the 
updated version be included in the agenda of the next meeting of the CBFA.   
4.10.   A Member said that the scope of the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation 
between the Government of the Republic of Ch ina and the WTO  was too broad . She said that the 
Extra -budgetary F und's objectives are not clearly defined nor are the types of projects that could 
be eligible for funding.  
4.11.   In his closing comments the Chairman stated that the views expressed on the two E xtra-
budgetary Funds were varied. He indicated that there seemed to be consent to the Natural 
Disasters and Trade Extra -budgetary Fund . On the other hand, many questions were raised with 
regard to the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation between t he Government of the 
Republic of China and the WTO .   
4.12.   The Committee consented to the establishment of the Natural Disasters and Trade Extra -
budgetary Fund.  
4.13.   The Committee requested the Secretariat to submit a revised version of the document 
motivating for t he consent of the Committee to the establishment of the Agreement on Economic 
and Technical Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of China and the WTO . WT/BFA/17 2 
 
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  5  WTO PENSION PLAN REP ORT 
5.1  The Chairman of the WTO Pension Plan ("WTOPP") Management Board gav e an update to the 
CBFA. He started out with the topic of investments, highlighting that financial markets had had 
good returns in 2017. Therefore, the WTOPP  investment portfolio registered nominal returns of 
11.8% for the year.  After discounting for Swiss inflation of 0.8%, real returns for the WTOPP  were 
10.4%. Noting the strong returns in the most recent years, he pointed out that markets could 
correct in the near future.  
5.2  The Chairman of the WTOPP informed the Committee that the updated actuarial valuation for 
2017 showed a slight year -on-year improvement.  
5.3  Regarding other activities of the WTOPP, he touched on the revision of the Regul ations of the 
WTOPP to align the definition of "spouse" to that in the WTO Staff Rules ; and a change in the 
reference period for the calculation of cost of living adjustments.  
5.4  He informed the CBFA that the WTOPP Management Board would put out a tender for the 
selection of a C onsulting Actuary, in 2018.  Other activities foreseen for 2018 are the development 
of a risk management policy and the review of procedures for managing disability cases.  
5.5  He also stated that it was anticipated that the appointment of Management Board Membe rs to 
fill two vacant posts would be approved by the General Council during its meeting on 8th and 9th 
May. 
5.6  The Committee  took note of the report.  
6  STRATEGIC FACILITIES  PLAN  (WT/BFA/444)  
6.1.  An Official from the Secretariat  introduced the document by saying that it was to be u sed as 
a guide to plan s hort- and medium -term operations for b uilding maintenance , technical 
installation, space management , conference room renovations  and safety & s ecurity needs . She 
said that p rojections for several time periods had been made and said that it i s difficult to be 
precise on pricing to be applied in the 11 -30 years ' forecast .  She said the Extramuros bui lding has 
an energy rating of Minergie -Plus, which signifies the highest ecological standard for energy 
efficiency of b uildings in Switzerland .  
6.2.  The Secretariat Official highlighted that annual expenditure for operational expenses on the 
premises, buildings, technical installations and security equipment and conference technology 
averaged CHF  3.3 million.  
6.3.  The Secretariat Official indicated that there had been cost savings on energy consumption 
and other expenditures during the past few years and touched on planned projects such as the 
replacement of lights in the buildings with LED lighting since old school bulbs will beco me obsolete 
in the next 5 years.  
6.4.  She informed the C ommittee of the funds forecast for expenditure in the short term, mediu m 
term and long term as well as the sources of finance, being the regular budget, resources from the 
Fondation des Immeubles  pour les Organisations Internationales (FIPOI) and the Building 
Renovation Fund. S he informed the Committee that the Building Ren ovation Fund has  a balance of 
CHF11.8 million . She also spoke of funding from the FIPOI, whi ch makes an allocation of 
CHF 1.2 million pe r year for capital improvements of the CWR8 buildings and security perimeter.  
6.5.  She stated that the FIPOI had committed CHF550,000 for extraordinary maintenance works 
to be carried out in the CWR  during 2017 .  
6.6.  A Member said that adequate resources,  both financial and human, need to be available for 
the building  maintenance and renovation requirements. He a sked if the WTO Secretariat has 
adequate numbers of people  and requisite skills, to manage the buil ding-environment, given its 
size and equipment.    
                                                
8 Centre William Rappard . WT/BFA/17 2 
 
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  6.7.  The Member raised concern that the budget allocated to the Building Renovation  Fund, 
CHF 600,000 , is less than that recommended amount as per the Swiss Confederation standards 
(CHF 1.3 million per annum ). He said that , going forward, the full financial needs for the Building 
Renovation Fund should be i ncluded in the regular budget. That is , the sum allocated for the 
Building Renovation Fund should be revised upwards from CHF600,000 per annum to 
CHF1.3 million per annum.  
6.8.  The Member enquired why the financing projected for FIPOI f or years 1 to 5 was only 
CHF 3.3 million, which is lower than the cumulative funds receivable from the FIPOI during the 
same period.  
6.9.  Responding to the questions, an Official of the Secretariat said that due to budget 
constraints, the aspirations of the Secretariat to optimally implement the ideas in the Strategic 
Facilities Plan may be hinder ed. She informed the Committee that Division under which the Facil ity 
Management Section falls (the Administration and General Services Division) recently deliberated 
on a sustainable structure that would be necessary to ensure continuity of efficient services. She 
stated that, as in the case of many other Divisions in the Secretariat, posts had had to be 
transferred from the Facility Mana gement Section to other Divisions whose needs  had had to be 
urgently addressed. She said that the Secretariat would strive to get skilled and qualified people in 
future, as and when vacancies opene d up due to turnover of staff. However, she stated that the  
time-frame over which this is feasible would be long and draw n-out given that retirements would 
be infrequent  as average age of staff members in the Secretariat  is relatively low . 
6.10.   The Secretariat Official said that the seeming underspend earmarked for FIP OI-donated 
funds was due to the fact that only actual and known committed expenses, at this present 
moment, and projects were included in the total. She clarified that the intention is to spend the full 
FIPOI allocation of funds per annum and thus this tot al will keep growing.  
6.11.   Another Secretariat Official said that, indeed, the aim was  to identify suitable projects to 
present to the FIPOI for the funds it allocates to the WTO. She indicated that some of the costs 
that will be incurred in the future for lar ge ticket items would exceed the resources available from 
all sources and would thus be spread over several years.  
7  ANY OTHER BUSINESS  
7.1.  A Member asked for an update on his previous suggestion that the Secretariat should further 
look for operational efficienc ies by replacing the dispatch of documents via facsimile with email.  
7.2.  An Official of the Secretariat gave an update saying that some Divisions had already moved 
to this approach. He said that a limiting factor in some cases was that the distribution of 
documents by facsimiles was prescribed in the rules of procedure , since these preceded the advent 
of email. He said that relevant Divisions in the Secretariat  were working collaboratively on this and 
would look for viable solutions and putting in place electr onic enhancements.   
7.3.  The Member requested the Secretariat to give updates, to the Committee, on this whenever 
there was notable progress.  
7.4.  Building on a  statement that he had made in the previous CBFA meeting , a Member  opined 
that there are many regular bod ies that are likely no longer necessary nor fit for purpose.  He said 
that some bodies rarely hold meetings, others go for long stretches of time without meeting, whilst 
others meet without holding any substantive discussions. He said that paragraph 29 of the Nairobi 
Ministerial Declaration encompassed the need for WTO resources to be used as efficiently as 
possible. He said that at this stage, his delegation's  request was that the Secretariat should 
provide basic data  and information and submit it to the C BFA for deliberation. He said such data 
and information could include: a list of the regular bodies; the legal basis for each body; its 
mandat e; the number of each bod y's meetings per year; the average duration of the meetings of 
each body; a list of activ ities carried  out by each body out in a year; the list of documents 
prepared for and distributed by the each body; whether or not the body has a Chairperson; 
whether or not the activities of the body have been suspended; and estimated cost implications of 
preparing for and running these bodies.  WT/BFA/17 2 
 
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  7.5.  The Chairman  stated  that the issues raised are important. He said that, however, they 
appeared to be beyond the scope of the CBFA. He suggested that these could be raised at the 
General Council, which may, in turn, give the CBFA a mandate to look deeper into this matter and 
provide appropriate recommendations. He stated that the proposed analysis infers the need to 
contract external management consultancy companies, with specific expertise.   
7.6.  In response, the Member t hat had tabled this issue said that he is not proposing that major 
decisions be made at this stage but that useful information be provided to the CBFA to allow it to 
determine the appropriate path thereafter.  
7.7.  DDG Brauner said that the Secretariat would pro vide the information that it can access and 
compile in time for the CBFA meeting scheduled to take place in October 2018.  He said that 
political decisions on the issues raised would have to be taken by Members.  He pointed out that 
the question of costs could only be considered after the Members had made decisions that they 
deem appropriate.  
7.8.  A Member said that the explanatory note that the Secretariat had circulated regarding the 
implementation of salary scales di d not entirely address the questions he had raised. He said that 
the existence of five parallel salary scales posed an equity problem. He added that the salary scale 
for 2018 had not been applied as of January for some new recruits. He requested that in fu ture, 
the new salary scales should be applied to all people who assume duty as of January of the given 
year.  
7.9.  The Chairman announced that the next CBFA meeting will be on 26 June 2018. He then 
closed the meeting.  
 
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