RESTRICTED  
  
WT/BFA/W/298/Rev.1/Suppl.1  
 
6 September 2016  
(16-4738) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration    
 
 PRESENTATION OF THE REVISED ADAPTATION  
OF THE INFRASTRUCTUR E CONTRACT  
COVER NOTE – CBFA  
Supplement  
1.1.  The document WT/BFA/W/298/Rev.1 is the final text of the Adaptation of the 
Infrastructure Contract convened by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Swis s 
Confederation, the Geneva Canton and the Fondation des Immeubles pour les Organisations 
Internationales (FIPOI) in 2013.  
1.2.  For ease of reference, the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration (CBFA) 
Members may recall that at the moment of the creat ion of the WTO in 1995, an Infrastructure 
Contract was established in order to set the legal framework between the WTO and the host 
country concerning the WTO premises. During the renovation and extension works of the period 
2008-2012, the Infrastructure C ontract had undergone significant adaptation in order to be in line 
with the modified WTO infrastructure. For the sake of clarity, the parties to the original 
Infrastructure Contract decided to elaborate a separate text, which is to be read in conjunction 
with the  1995 Contract. The A daptation of the Infrastructure Contract (hereinafter Adaptation) and 
its main features were illustrated to the CBFA Members in a presentation from the WTO Secretariat 
at the CBFA session on 27 May 2013.  
1.3.  On 16 September 2013, t he finalized text of the Adaptation was sent to the Land Register of 
the Geneva Canton for registration. According to applicable Swiss law, this is the date of entry into 
force of the Adaptation. This text was circulated to the CBFA Members on 23 May 2013 as 
document WT/BFA/W/298.  
1.4.  On 7 August 2015, the Land Register validated the Adaptation and on 15 March 2016, Me 
Pascal FONTANET, the notary mandated by the signatories of the Adaptation, communicated to the 
WTO a new version of the text containing some mi nor amendments that the notary himself and 
the Land Register legal office considered necessary to undertake.  
1.5.  The amendments are as follow s: 
 the representatives of the four parties are named (p. 3 -4); 
 the dates of the signature by the four Parties were upd ated (p. 3 -4); 
 a number of easements were redenominated following the attribution of different 
numbers in the Land Register to the said easements (various pages) ; 
 in Section H "Purpose of the Deeds" a 7th point was added, creating conventional pre -
emption rights to the benefit of the Swiss Confederation and to the Geneva Canton as 
per Swiss law (p. 16) ; 
 section I "Record of Transfer and Drawings" was updated (p. 16) ; 
 points 3.6.3 and 5.6.3 were completed with the indication of the applicable index 
(respecti vely p. 25 and p. 38) ; 
 mention of the registration date (last page) . WT/BFA/W/298/Rev.1/Suppl.1  
 
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  1.6.  All these amendments were necessary in order to:  
 fill in the names of the Parties' Representatives that were missing in the 2013 version;  
 update the text of the adaptation to new inscript ions in the Land Register, namely 
easements  created or modified in the WTO lands during the period 2013 -2015;  
 insert compulsory references to applicable Swiss Law, namely pre -emption rights, 
indexes, dates;  
 correct the errors.  
1.7.  None of these modifications  affect the legal value and meaning of the Adaptation, nor 
generate any substantive consequence s for the WTO and its premises.  
1.8.  In view of the above -mentioned, the CBFA is requested to take note of document 
WT/BFA/W/298/Rev.1 and submit this document to the  General Council to take note.  
 
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