WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/BFA/131 
10 August 2012 
 (12-4410) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 24 JULY 2012 
 
1. The WTO Committee on Budget, Finance and Admi nistration met on 24 July 2012 under the 
chairmanship of Ambassador Albinas Zananavi čius (Lithuania).  The terms of reference and 
composition of the Committee are set out in documen t WT/L/44/Rev.1.  The agenda contained in 
document WTO/AIR/3982 was adopted. 
I. ADMINISTRATIVE UP-DATES AND PROG RESS REPORTS AS AT 30 JUNE 2012 
A. WTO
 BUDGET AND FINANCE REPORT (WT/BFA/W/276  AND 277) 
2. A member of the Secretariat presented the situation regarding Members' and Observers' 
contributions received in the first semester of 2012.  The level of receipts and the cash position of the 
Organization remained satisfactory.  The 2012 budge t continued to be implemented as foreseen.  At 
midyear, the Secretariat had engaged half of the budget.  
3. The financial situation of the Doha Developmen t Agenda Global Trust Fund remained an area 
of concerns.  The overall slow rate of contributions  impacted the implementation of planned activities.  
Voluntary contributions amounting to CHF 4.5 mi llion coming from Austria, Canada, Denmark, 
Estonia, France, Germany and Switzerland were re ceived by the fund during the first semester.  
Sweden had just pledged a two-year contribution a nd remained the largest donor of the fund, year 
after year, since 2006.  
4. The Secretariat updated the Committee on the streamlining measures approved by Members 
as part of the 2012 budget.  A number of actions ha d already been taken since the beginning of the 
year to reduce the volume of translation, document printing and distribution, and to improve the 
scheduling of meetings while limiting the impact on the quality of the services provided to Members. 
The foreseen level of financial savings should be achieved.  However, Members and the Secretariat 
should continue their efforts to transform t hose measures into structural changes.   
5. The Committee was informed about the poten tial impact and the actions taken by the 
Secretariat regarding changes in the registrati on of internet domain names as proposed by the 
International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The Committee took note of 
the report. 
B. HUMAN RESOURCES REPORT  
6. A member of the Secretariat updated the Member s on the salary scale adjustment for 2012.  In 
accordance with the WTO Salary Scale methodology, the Director ‐General had decided to apply a 
further 2.4 per cent negative adjustment to the WTO Salary Scale in 2012.  Operationally, the 
Director‐General had decided to implement this by freezing salaries of existing staff in 2012. 
Therefore, salaries of existing staff would remain  at 2009 levels.  The 2.4 per cent reduction in 2012 
WTO Salary Scale would be offset against future  salary increases, along with the 1 per cent  reduction 
in 2011.  The adjusted WTO Salary Scale would be a pplied to new staff across all grades that join the 
organization in 2012.  That represented a negative adju stment of 3.4 per cent to salaries of new staff. WT/BFA/131 
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  7. One Member questioned the interpretation of th e discretion granted to the Director-General. 
In that Member's view the salary indexation methodo logy did not include the discretion to apply a pay 
freeze in case of salary reductions and thus would require the consent of Members.  While not blocking a consensus of the Committee on this matte r, the Member proposed that in the future i) 
Members would be consulted before the Director-G eneral took a decision on salary indexation, and ii) 
that this item would be made more visible in th e agenda of the Committee.  A number of Members 
supported these two proposals.  Some Members al so highlighted the current sensitive economic 
context and invited the Secretariat to continue its st reamlining efforts and take every step to continue 
human resources reforms.  
8. The Secretariat provided the Committee with a dditional and detailed data on diversity by 
illustrating the composition of the WTO Senior Manage ment, disclosed by country member status and 
by gender.  The Secretariat also  declared that the future annual diversity report would include 
information on internal and external vacancies.  A Member expressed concerns that the Secretariat 
opened some positions only to internal candidates.   Two Members welcomed the progress on diversity 
achieved by the Secretariat. 
9. The Committee took note of the report and endorsed  a proposal to ensure that Members would 
be consulted before the Director-G eneral took a decision on salary indexation and that this item would 
be made more visible in the agenda of the Committee. 
C. B
UILDING PROJECT REPORT  
10. A Member of the Secretariat updated the Comm ittee on the Building Project.  He informed 
the Committee about the intra-muros  project and stated that it was not yet fully finalized as there were 
some on-going disputes with the general contractor.  He emphasized that the overall project remained 
within schedule and budget.  The WTO had just  received the building permit for the security 
perimeter from the Host Country's Authorities.  The new 200-spaces underground car park would be ready by early next year and would mainly be ava ilable to delegations.  In addition, a 400-spaces car 
park was under construction at Sécheron.   
11. The Secretariat also warmly thanked China, w ithin the tradition of accepting artwork, for their 
donation to the WTO of a Suzhou type garden that  would be created between the Centre William 
Rappard and the rue de Lausanne.  He also added that negotiations about the infrastructure agreement 
were also on-going with the Swiss Authorities.   
12. A Member enquired whether a new car acces s to WTO was foreseen.  The Secretariat 
answered that the access would be slightly modifi ed during the BCI construction and illustrated the 
new temporary arrangements.  The Secretariat also emphasized that the Swiss Police had refrained 
from changing the access to the WTO because of the already heavy tr affic in Rue de Lausanne.  
Another Member wished to know if the Secretaria t would be in a position to liberate meeting rooms 
earlier than in December 2012.  The Secretariat answ ered that before doing so, the renovated meeting 
rooms would be tested in order to ensure that they functioned properly.  The Committee took note of 
the report. 
II. UTILIZATION OF THE MEMBERS' TRANSITION OPERATING FUND 
(WT/BFA/W/275) 
13. The Deputy Director-General presented the situ ation of the Members' Transition Operating 
Fund and recalled the progress achieved on the projects already approved.  The Fund's balance amounted to CHF 3,9 after projects authorized at the last meeting of the Committee.    WT/BFA/131 
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  14. The Committee was requested to approve the funding of two projects, which included the 
security facilities and the accreditation facilities (BCI) for an amount of CHF 0.8 million and CHF 2.1 million, respectively.  The remaining bala nce of the Fund would be sufficient to cover the 
scheduled common facilities projects in the near future.   
15. Several Members enquired about what had b een decided for the buildings previously 
occupied by the Crèche.  The Deputy Director Gene ral indicated that no final plans had been decided 
for these buildings yet and declared that an amount, not yet defined, would remain in the Funds even 
after paying for their renovation.   
16. In December 2012, some 300 staff members, the Data Centre and the print shop would have 
to be moved from the building currently rented  in the Chemin des Mines (CDM) to the new 
administrative building.  The Secretariat assured Members that funds for this move would be set aside 
from the regular budget. 
17. The Committee took note of the report and adopted the following decision:  
The Committee agrees that the following projects may be funded from the Members' Transition 
Operating Fund for a total amount of CHF 2,900,000:   
 The equipping of the Security Facilities for an amount of up to CHF 800,000; and  
 The Accreditation Facility for an amount of up to CHF 2,100,000 
III. MEMBERS SUBJECT TO ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES 
18. A member of the Secretariat presented the situation of Members on Administrative Measures.  
The Committee was informed that the following three Members that were not complying with the 
approved payment plans to liquidate arrears were again subject to Administrative Measures as of 1 July 2012:  Central African Republic, Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.   
19. The Chair of the Working Group on Admini strative Measures updated the Committee on 
progress made among the Working Group and explaine d that the Working Group would hold an open 
session on 11 September 2012 in order to finalize its work report and proposal to amend the existing 
Administrative Measures.  He also  informed the Committee that the Working Group had reviewed the 
process regarding Members not complying with the terms of approved payment plans.  The Working Group concluded that a) Administrative Measures s hould be re-instated when payments plans were 
not complied with;  b) the situation should be assessed on 1
st February of every year;  c) the 
Secretariat would regularly inform the Committee on the situation regarding payment plans and when 
Administrative Measures were being re-instated;  a nd d) the Secretariat would write letters to those 
Members in September and December every year to remind them of their obligations and the 
consequences of not complying with the payment terms. 
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