RESTRICTED  
  
WT/BFA/W/385  
1 March 2016  
(16-1238)  Page: 1/5  
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration   
 
  WTO BUDGET AND FINANCE REPORT – 4th QUARTER 2015 
1  CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MEMBERS AND OBSERVERS 
1.1.  The receipts of contributions from Members as at the end of 2015 are below the level of 
receipts in December 2014. This is due to the fact that some Members, who usually pay their 
contributions on a yearly basis, have not made their payment or have paid less. At the end of the fourth quarter 2015, 66% of the Members have no outstanding balance. With respect to the 
assessed amount of CHF 195 million, 92% has been received. 
Figure 1. Total Annual Receipts in MCHF as at 31 December 2015 
 
 
1.2.  The receipts of contributions for the end of  2015 from Observers amounted to CHF 486,635 
representing 75% of the assessed amount. 59% of the Observers have no outstanding balance. 
Table 1. Status of contributions as at 31 December 2015 (in CHF) 
CONTRIBUTIONS 
  162 Members 22 Observers 
Total net assessment for 2015   195,520,011   651,818 
Payment received for 2015 (% of total assessment) (92%) 179,775,065 (75%) 486,635 
Payment received for prior years   11,286,070   91,397 
No outstanding balance (% of  total) (66%) 106 (59%) 13 
 
2  CASH SITUATION 
2.1.  The cash situation at the end of December 2015 is satisfactory and slightly higher than the 
situation at the end of 2014. This is mainly due to a higher amount of advances of contribution 
received in 2015 for 2016 compared to 2014. The cash situation also includes the funds received 
for the Global Trust Fund and the Enhanced Integrated Framework. WT/BFA/W/385  
 
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  Figure 2. Cash Situation as at 31  December 2015 
 
 
3  MEMBERS AND OBSERVERS UNDER ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES 
3.1.  On 1st of January 2013, the new Administrative Measures have been introduced, reducing the 
number of categories from four to three. Member s in Category III (three or more full years of 
outstanding contributions) are since then considered inactive. 
3.2.  At the end of December 2015, eight Members ar e subject to Category I (more than one, but 
less than two years outstanding) of the new Administrative Measures, no Member is subject to 
Category II (more than two, but less than three years outstanding) and four Members are subject 
to Category III (from three years outstanding = Inactive). Since the last report in September, Benin (formerly in Category I) made a payment and has been taken off the list of Administrative 
Measures. Djibouti and The Gambia (both formerly in Category III), who were not compliant with 
their respective payment plans, settled part of their arrears and have been taken off the list. 
Table 2. Members and Observers under Administrative Measures as at 31 
December 2015 
Cat. I (8) Cat. II (0) Cat. III (4)  
Grenada   Central African Republic* 
Malawi   Dominica 
Rwanda   Guinea-Bissau 
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines   Mauritania 
Suriname    
The former Yugoslav Republic     
of Macedonia    
Vanuatu    
Venezuela, Bolivari an Republic of      
*Member not compliant with Payment Plan terms. 
 
3.3.  At the end of 2015, three Observers are subject to Category I of the Administrative 
Measures, and one Observer is subject to Catego ry III. This means that the accession working 
groups do not meet anymore and that the WTO suspends the request for annual contributions 
from inactive Observers. No changes ha ve occurred since the September report. WT/BFA/W/385  
 
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  Table 3. Observers under Administrati ve Measures as at 31 December 2015 
Cat. I (3) Cat. II (0) Cat. III (1) 
Equatorial Guinea   Sao Tomé and Principe 
Libya     
Sudan     
 
3.4.  As at the end of September 2015, seven Members are subject to a Payment Plan.  
Table 4. Members following a Payment Pl an as at 31 December 2015 (in CHF) 
Member Plan 
duration in 
years End of 
plan Last 
payment 
received Amount 
Outstanding 
for 2015 Total 
Outstanding 
Contributions Advance 
Burundi 20 31/12/2030 18-Apr-13 0 521,489 25,418 
Chad 15 31/12/2026 23-Jan-15 2,399 855,464 0 
Côte d'Ivoire 10 31/12/2019 19-Aug-15 0 351,562 0 
Djibouti 10 31/12/2019 09-Dec-15 31,070 218,643   
The Gambia 10 31/12/2019 09-Nov-15 18,898 298,226 0 
Niger 15 31/12/2024 10-Feb-15 55,065 477,925 0 
Sierra Leone 15 31/12/2025 16-Oct-14 93,866 768,622 0 
Total       201,298  3,491,931 25,418  
 
3.5.  The Member listed in the table below is not co mpliant with its Payment Plan terms. Since the 
month of September, Djibouti and The Gambia settl ed part of their arrears with respect to the 
payment plan terms and could be re-integrated under the Payment Plan. 
Table 5. Members not compliant with Payment Plan and therefore back to 
Category III (Inactive) as at  31 December 2015 (in CHF) 
Members Plan 
duration 
in years End of plan Last 
payment  
received Amount 
Outstanding  
for 2013 Amount 
Outstanding 
for 2014 Amount 
Outstanding  
for 2015 
Central African 
Republic 30 31/12/2039 24-Jul-13 53,180  55,982 55,982  
Total      53,180  55,982 55,982  
 
4  2015 BUDGETARY EXPENDITURE 
Table 6. Consolidated Statement of Budgeta ry Expenditure as at 31 December 2015 - 
Provisional Report (in kCHF) 
Part Section Budget Expenditure 
(Provisional) Balance 
(Provisional) % of 
Expenditure 
A Staffing Resources 1. Staff Expenditure 131,415 127,432 3,984 97% 
  2. Temporary Assistance 17,167 17,162 6 100% 
A Staffing Resources Total 148,582  144,593  3,989 97%  
B Other Resources 3. General Services 15,601 14,251 1,350 91% 
  4. Travel & Hospitality 7,481 6,810 671 91% 
  5. Implementing Partners 273 231 42 85% 
  6. Capital Expenditure 2,967 2,289 678 77% 
  7. Financial Expenditure 1,230 1,269 -39 103% 
B Other Resources Total 27,551  24,849  2,702 90%  
C Operating Funds 
and ITC 8. Contributions to ITC & 
Special Reserves 21,070 21,070 0 100% 
C Operating Funds and ITC Total 21,070  21,070  0 100%  
Grand Total   197,204  190,513  6,691 97%  
4.1.  The expenditure as at the end of the year 2015 is on track with an overall expenditure rate of 
97% or CHF 191 million. These figures are still provisional, as the closure of the accounts is still ongoing and the accounts are not audited yet. WT/BFA/W/385  
 
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  Part A - Staffing Resources 
4.2.  Part A of the budget comprises expenditure for re gular staff related to salary, pension, health 
insurance, death and invalidity insurance, staff be nefits and expenditure related to travel, removal 
and installation. It also includes expenditure related to short term staff, consultants, panellists and 
Appellate Body Member fees. 
4.3.  Under Staff Expenditure, a saving under regular salaries is anticipated which is due to a high 
number of vacant posts at the beginning of the year, which were gradually filled. The saving under 
regular salaries is partly offset by over-exp enditure under separations, due to a number of 
voluntary terminations at the end of the year in  order to liberate highly needed posts for the 
dispute settlement area. 
4.4.  Under Temporary Assistance, the over-expenditure due to short term staff hired to work in 
the dispute settlement area, as well as to replace staff on leave without pay or on long term sick 
leave, is offset by a saving under consultants and translations. The saving under consultants is mainly due to a saving under the Human Resources training programme as well as due to the 
outsourcing of the IT service desk, which has been moved to General Services - Contractual 
Services. 
Part B - Other Resources 
4.5.  Part B of the budget relates to expenditure for general services, travel and hospitality, 
activities jointly funded by the WTO and third parties, as well as capital and financial expenditure. 
4.6.  Under General Services, the saving is mainly composed of savings under telecommunications, 
postal expenditure and electricity, which have been realised due to a number of cost-saving 
measures. This is partly offset by over-expenditure under building maintenance due to the 
increased maintenance expenditure since the WTO has become the owner of the WTO buildings.  
4.7.  Under the Section Travel and Hospitality, the saving mainly pertains to technical assistance 
related activities. 
4.8.  The Section 'Capital Expenditure' includes the procurement of fixed assets such as computing 
hardware and software, office furniture and securi ty equipment. Savings could be realised under 
rental and leasing of equipment for the documents reproduction area and on items procured for 
the security area. 
4.9.  The Section 'Financial Expenditure' includes the reimbursement of the 50-year interest-free 
loan for the new premises of CHF 1.2 million. This  Section also includes bank charges for the WTO 
bank operations, as well as the negative interests charged by the bank since 31 March 2015. For 
the year 2015, the financial impact of the negative interest could be kept at some CHF 42,000 due to intensive negotiations with the main banks of the WTO. Without the special conditions 
negotiated with the WTO banking partners, the financial impact could have been far beyond 
CHF 100,000. 
Part C - Operating Funds and ITC 
4.10.  Part C of the budget relates to the contributions to the International Trade Centre (ITC) as 
well as the two operating funds. 
4.11.  Under Part C, the Appellate Body Operating Fund (CHF 2 million) and the Ministerial 
Operating Fund (CHF 0.6 million) have been replenished. WT/BFA/W/385  
 
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  Table 7. Financial Result as at 31 December 2015 - Provisional Report 
  in million CHF  
Budgetary result 6.7  
Write-off for uncollectible contributions from former Yugoslavia -0.8  
IPSAS projected service cost fo r ASHI and Pension benefits -36.0  
Financial result -30.1  
 
4.12.  Due to the introduction of IPSAS, the budgetary result became only an intermediate element 
of the performance evaluation and has been replaced  by the financial result as the final result of 
the exercise. For 2015, projected elements to be  deducted from the budgetary surplus are the 
uncollectible contributions from former Yugoslavia  and the projected IPSAS-related service cost for 
ASHI and Pension benefits. The financial result is therefore projected to result in a deficit of 
approximately CHF 30 million. The final figures rela ted to ASHI and Pension benefits will only be 
provided by the consulting actuary at the end of  March 2016, therefore, the available figures are 
based on a projection by the actuary in March 2015 for the closure of 2014. 
4.13.  With respect to IPSAS, the projected service cost for ASHI and Pension benefits shows an 
increase of approximately 12 MCHF, from some 24 MCHF in 2014 to more than 36 MCHF in 2015. 
However, it has to be considered that these values are extremely volatile; a slight change in the 
discount rate applied this year versus the proj ection of the previous year might generate a 
significant positive variance or a drastic worsen ing of the situation. These projections should 
therefore be considered as merely indicative. Th e final figures will only be known once the 2015 
discount rate will be provided by the consulting actuary. 
5  BUILDING RENOVATION FUND 
5.1.  The Building Renovation Fund1 (BRF) was established at the end of 2015 in order to cover the 
foreseeable costs of medium and long-term buildin g and infrastructure projects. The purpose of 
the Building Renovation Fund is to finance the costs of extraordinary but necessary building and 
infrastructure maintenance of the single site, in cluding the costs of future projects, undertaken 
with a view to introducing improvements or enhancements to the site. 
5.2.  According to a model provided by the FIPOI (Fondation des Immeubles pour les Organisations 
Internationales), major building and infrastructure projects are anticipated every 10, 15, 25, and 50 years on the basis of the depreciation or ex pected duration of a building component. The 
necessary annual provision by WTO to the Building Re novation Fund would be CHF 1.3 million. This 
translates into allocations by the WTO of at le ast CHF 13.1 million over the next ten years and of 
CHF 65.6 million over the next 50 years. 
5.3.  Following the establishment of the Building Renovation Fund in November 2015, it has been 
replenished with the remaining funds from the Members Transition Operating Fund (MTOF), the 
remaining surplus of 2011 and availabl e funds from the regular budget. 
Table 8. BRF Funding Situation as at 31 December 2015 
Funding in kCHF 
Allocation of Balance MTOF to BRF (WT/BFA/151) 1,701 
Allocation of Surplus 2011 to BRF (WT/BFA/151) 740 
Allocation of Funds to BRF from 2015 budget (WT/BFA/151) 1,400 
Total Balance BRF as at 31 December 2015 3,840  
 
__________ 
                                               
1 WT/BFA/W/359 Building Renovation Fund.