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WT/BFA/162  
 
27 April 2017 
(17-2300) Page 1/5 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration    
 
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETIN G HELD ON 31 MARCH  2017  
The Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration (CBFA) met on 31 March  2017 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 is contained in document 
WTO/AIR/BFA/ 15. The following item was includ ed under  "Any Other Business" : Least Developed 
Countries Trust Fund for Participation in Ministerial Conferences .  
 
1 ANNUAL REPORT ON WTO RISK MANAG EMENT  SYSTEM – WT/BFA/W/414 
1.1.  A Member of the Secretariat introduced the report containing the key elements of the risk 
management system implemented by the WTO Secretariat, highlighting that a cross -divisional 
qualitative co nsultation had been carried out  in 2016 with key members of Senior Management.  
1.2.  The Member of the Secretariat cited the following critical risks and mitigating actions for 
each: the financial risk related to the funding of the actuarial deficit of the After Service Health 
Insurance (ASHI) ; and the risk of a cyber -attack.   
1.3.  Some Members express ed their appreciation o f the report that was presented. Although they 
had received information  on critical risks, the Members were keen on receiving additional 
information  on other identified  risks. On e Member welcomed the progress made on the report and 
wished to k now whether there was a formal I nformation Security Strategy Plan in place within the 
Organization. On this request, a member of the I nformation Technology Solution s Division 
answered that th is issue was currently under discuss ion within the Information Technology and 
Security Steering Committee.  
1.4.  The Secretariat informed the Committee that the reporting on risks would be extended for 
future reports.   
1.5.  The Committee took note of the report.  
2  2017 SALARY SURVEY AND ADJUSTMENT OF THE WT O DEPENDENCY ALLOWAN CES – 
WT/BFA/W/4 13 
2.1.  DDG Brauner first introduced the document to the Committee. He then informed the 
Committee that the Secretariat had received comments from some Members  prior the Committee 
meeti ng. He then acknowledged that the paper needed more clarification  as the subject was 
complex.  He stated that the Secretariat would no longer be tabling any recommendations during 
the meeting and that the anticipation was that Members would pose more questi ons that would 
serve as input to an enhancement of the paper. Subsequently, he mentioned that the document  
contained two separate items that the Secretariat had presented  in distinct sections . DDG Brauner  
further declared  that the Secretariat , after those constructive exchanges with the Members,  would 
prepare two separate documents that would be self -explanatory , to enable clearer understand ing 
of the subject s. 
2.2.  Subsequently, a n Official from the Secretariat presented the Salary Survey topic indicating  
that the salary scales were benchmarked on the weighted average of the salaries of professionals 
at the United Nations Office in Geneva  (70%) and Coordinated O rganizations (30%). In 2017, the WT/BFA/162  
 
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  salary comparatives demonstrated that  the WTO Secretariat salary leve ls were 0.47%  lower than  
the comparators . The Official emphasized that the salary scales for 2012 to 201 5 will be 
maintained until they are overtaken by comparators.  
2.3.  The Secretariat sought the Committee's approval for introduc tion of  a threshold of 1% tha t 
would minimize the administrative burden attendant in regularly adjusting  on salar y scales, and 
curbing the existence of multiple salary scales.   
2.4.  Some Members supported the idea of introducing a threshold of 1%. Other enquired why the 
proposed threshold was 1%, instead of any other figure.  One Member asked which salary scales 
would be used as a basis for determining the change. He then requested to know whether tha t 
threshold would be cumulative from one year to next one.  The Official stated that the refe rence 
salary scales would be expressly stated in the next iteration of the paper and th at the 1% would 
be cumulative. Another Member sought clarifications as to whether adjustments for difference 
exceeding 1% in any given year would be based on the differe nce between 1% and the actual 
percentage difference or on the actual difference itself.    
2.5.  One Member enquired whether  the Secretariat would have proposed to introduce a threshold 
of 1% if it ha d concerned the whole WTO staff.  The Secretariat answered in the affirmative . 
Another Member request ed that the character of the recommendation be improved upon to outline 
the following: its objective; to whom is it being made; and when staff members will be informed .  
2.6.  In presenting the subject of adjustment of the W TO dependency allowances, the Official 
highlighted the  history and chronology  of this issue from 1999 , with specific reference to changes 
effected in Annex 2 of the Staff Rules in 2004 and 2009 . She  mentioned that there was no change 
in the reference rate,  being the applicable tax rates of the Geneva Canton, from 2009 to 2011.  
From 2012 to 2016 no adjustment was made to Annex 2 of the WTO Staff Rules, whereas the 
dependency allowances had changed during those years. She then pointed out  that the legacy 
implied a revision of  Annex 2 of the Staff Rules and approval by the General Council. The Official 
underlined that the methodology prescribed that the basis for determination of the allowances was 
the average salary at the  WTO Secretariat, which in the current  period was the mid -point Grade 8. 
Some Members inquired why the change in allowances should be approved by the General Council.  
2.7.  Several Members posed many questions pertaining to  the methodology, the tenets of 
Annex  2, the implications of Staff Regulation  13.2, the legal implication s governing the decision 
making , whether it was possible to apply the adjustments retroactively, why the Secretariat had 
not taken any action in prior years as and  if the amount  to make retroactive adjustments for 2016 
could be financed from the 2016 budget .  
2.8.  The Secretariat representatives responded to most of the questions and informed the 
Committee that the next version of the paper would address all the issues raised.   
2.9.   The Chairperson concluded by thanking the Secretariat Of ficials for having done a detailed 
review of the technical aspects relating to this subject under a relatively short span of time and 
reassuring the Committee that though all questions posed during the Committee meeting were not 
answered, the Secretariat w ill respond to the pending requests in the revised document.  The 
Chairperson indicated that that topic will be discussed at the next CBFA meeting.  
2.10.   The Committee took note of the report.  
3  2016 ANNUAL REPORT O N DIVERSITY IN THE W TO SECRETARIAT  – WT/BFA/W/4 15 
3.1.  A member of the Secretariat presented an overview of the 2016 annual report on diversity. 
She detailed data on the current composition of WTO staff on the basis of WTO Membership by 
gender and by region, as well as the evolution of staff diversity since 1 995. The member of the 
Secretariat underlined that there was 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.  
3.2.  The member of the Secretariat indicated that the report was more detailed and focused , with 
a breakdown by gender and Region. She then informed the Committee that the Annual Human WT/BFA/162  
 
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  Resources Report on Promotions and Grading Structure will be presented at a later meeting, which 
also will focus on gender.  
3.3.  She demonstrated that the share of professional staff had increased and there has been a 
significant improvement in terms of gender balance since 1995. The share of professional staff 
represented by developin g and Least Developed Countries had increased from 21.6% in 1995 to 
35.2% in 2016. The percentage of female staff members has continued to increase, especially 
from Developing Countries (7% in 1995 to 13.1% in 2016). In addition, professional staff from 
Africa, Asia and Latin America had continued to rise progressively since 1995, whereas Europe and 
North America had continued to decrease.  
3.4.  Furthermore, she announced that as of December 2016  Africa and Latin America had the 
highest representation at the Sen ior Management level and that the representation from Africa, 
Asia and Latin America had more than  doubled since 1995.   
3.5.  The member of the Secretariat elaborated on the improvement in gender balance amongst 
professional staff from 1995 to 2016. The proporti on of females amongst professional staff had 
significantly increased from 31%, in 1995 to 44.6% in 2016. While noting that  there is always 
room for  improvement , she pointed out that the trend remained positive.  
3.6.  The Committee's attention was drawn to the f act that gender diversity had specifically 
improved for grades 6, 7, and 9. In comparison to last year, there was a significant increase of 
female professionals in Grade 7. Regarding grade 9, women had higher representation (57 females 
versus 55 male staff ). Subsequently, she pointed out that professional staff at grade 10 had 
decreased to 87 in 2016 from 118.  
3.7.  The member of the Secretariat informed the Committee about the total applications received 
versus the short listed candidates , per region , for profe ssional vacancies. For Africa, the number of 
applications increased from 16.8% to 24.7% since last year as well as for those shortlisted (10.5% 
to 11.4%). In addition, Asia had shown an increase since last year of 16.7% to 19.2%, as well as 
those shortlist ed (from 14.7% to 19.4%). It was also underlined that only 23% of the applications 
received for grade 11 were women. For Grade 10, only 35% were women. Although the 
Secretariat keeps striving for  gender representativeness  in the shortlisting of candidates at senior 
levels, the situation becomes increasingly difficult if the number of female applicants is low . 
3.8.  With respect to overall recruitment activity, the Secretariat continue s to issue a large number 
of vacancy notices (73 in 2016), an increase of 33.6% from the year before. Positions continue to 
be advertised systematically through social media and other outlets.  
3.9.  The Secretariat informed the Committee that  the highest number of interns come from 
Africa, Asia and  Europe. In 2016, of the 99 interns recrui ted, 52.5% were from developing 
countries. In addition, the Young Professional s Program was launched last year . Its aim is to offer 
opportunities to young professionals from  unrepresented Member  State s. Male and female 
representation in the  internship prog rammes is balanced , overall. In 2016, there were more 
female  intern s (approximately 53%).  
3.10.   Several delegations appreciated the further detailed and comprehensive report on diversity 
as well as the efforts made by the Secretariat to improve gender balance an d geographical 
representation, which demonstrated encouraging progress in diversity in the Secretariat. They also 
encouraged the Secretariat to maintain the length of that report illustrated by tables and 
comprehensive graphs. It was also underlined that t he trend of Diversity keeps going in the right 
direction. Several Members stressed the importance of continuing to promote and maintain 
diversity within the Secretariat.  
3.11.   One Member appreciated the increase of the proportion of employees from developing an d 
Least Developed Countries which has gone up from 21.6% in 1995 to 35.2% in 2016. Though he 
recognized efforts made by the Secretariat, he pointed out that there was still possibility for 
improvement. He then highlighted that Latin America had a lower rep resentation of professional 
staff, particularly for women. He also suggested that the Secretariat should make extra efforts to 
remedy that. WT/BFA/162  
 
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  3.12.   One Member expressed concerns regarding the geographical representation and  recruitment  
parity among  the Members. Sh e declared that her Country was not represented among staff 
though they have been a Member for 17 years, and some countries from her Region already have 
more than one member of staff in the Secretariat. Subsequently, she expressed interest in 
receiving statistics on the number of applications for internship received from citizens of her 
country,  from 2001 to 2017. She then inquired about the percentage of interns that had been 
hired through the various internship programmes from 2005 to 2016 between Western  Europe an 
and Eastern Europe an Countries. The Secretariat stated that it would send the requested data to 
her delegation.  
3.13.   Another Member stressed the fact that though the representation by Region and Gender 
remained important, nonetheless, the selection of  candidates should continue to be based on merit 
first. In response, the Secretariat informed the Committee that tests on technical knowledge took 
precedence and that diversity only became a consideration when two candidates had the same 
level of skills an d experience.  
3.14.   In order to improve diversity, one Member suggested that the Secretariat liaise with 
universities in developing countries in order to encourage students to apply for internships. The 
delegate then added that the Members of Develop ing Countrie s may consider encouraging young 
professionals candidates to work as Interns, for example taking part in the China Program.  
3.15.   One Member underlined the importance it attaches to an active gender policy in recruitment 
and promotions and pointed out that this  as a central part of the responsibilities of the leadership 
in the secretariat.  She thanked the Secretariat for having distributed the Staff Regulations and 
Staff Rules to the Membership. The Member hoped that these and other central documents such as 
the Financial Regulations and the Financial Rules will be easier to find on the Members’ webpage in 
the future. She then drew attention to Staff Regulation 8.2 where maternity and parental leave are 
mentioned and to Staff Rule 110.4 where maternity leave is e laborated further. She wanted to 
know what the rules are regarding parental leave and whether there are specific rules for paternity 
leave. The Secretariat will revert to the questions after further clarifications.  
3.16.   DDG Brauner thanked the Members and then suggested that with future reports, staffing 
figures should incorporate the staff members ' nationality when they were  first hired. This is 
proposed due to the fact that over time some members of staff adopted Swiss  nationality, thus 
adjusting the statistic s. He pointed out that becoming Swiss should not affect the diversity within 
the Organization.  
3.17.   The Committee took note of the 2016 annual report  on diversity . 
4  STATUS UPDATE ON EXT ERNAL AUDIT FINDINGS  
4.1.  A member of the Secretariat presented a quarterly update  on the status of the External 
Auditor s' findings. The member of the Secretariat informed the Committee that the External 
Auditors had just completed a follow -up on the pending recommendations. He informed the 
Committee that  three recommendations were alre ady closed. Concerning the "on -going and to be 
closed recommendations", the member of the Secretariat announced that the External Auditor s will 
be present at the WTO in the coming week,  for a period of four weeks , to perform an audit of the 
2016 WTO accoun ts as well as review of the implementation of recommendations from previous 
performance audits . He stated that the focus of the 2017 performance audit would be on the  
following subjects: the organization of the WTO Ministerial Conferences ; information security and 
confidentiality ; and follow -up on IT S trategy and Business activity.  
4.2.  A Member took the floor to thank the Secretariat for the progress made with respect to the 
recommendations presented. Nevertheless, he underlined that it  would be appreciated to highlight 
what had changed from the report of the previous quarter . He stated that future documents on 
this topic should be presented in a format geared to Members, as opposed to the current format 
which was relevant for internal purposes . The Secretariat undertook to make the required 
improvements .  
4.3.  The Committee took note of the report.  WT/BFA/162  
 
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  5  ANY OTHER BUSINESS  
5.1.  The Chairperson continued to encourage the Members to liaise with their Capitals to request 
contributions from their Governments to finance the LDCs Min isterial Trust Fund . Although there 
were some optimistic discussions among some Members, the Chairperson indicated that the 
Secretariat was far from achieving the required level of funding. She then urged Members to make 
contributions as soon as possible t o enable the Least Developed Countries to participate in the 
Ministerial Conference in Argentina as well as to enable  the Secretariat to purchase air tickets in 
advance, at a lower cost . 
5.2.  The Chairperson mentioned that the next meeting will take place on th e 27th of April before 
adjourning the meeting.  
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