WT/GC/W/706  
20  November 2015  
(15-6147)  Page: 1/5  
General Council  
30 November and 1 December 2015   
 
  AMENDEMENT TO THE REGULATION S OF THE WTO PENSION PLAN 
 
 
1. The Regulations and Administrative Rules of the WTO Pension Plan were adopted by the 
General Council on 16 October 1998 and subsequently amended on 7 November 2005, 28 July 2009 and 26 October 2011. 
2. In light of the actuarial deficit which was reported in the context of the regular actuarial 
valuation conducted at 31 December 2013 and pursuant to Article 9 of the Plan Regulations, the Management Board recommends the following action in order to redress that deficit.  
3. First, the Management Board recommends that the General Council approve amendments to 
Articles 23, 24 and 25 of the Plan Regulations in  order to increase from 1/3 to 1/2 the maximum 
part of a retirement benefit which ma y be commuted into a lump sum.   
4. Second, the Management Board recommends that the General Council approve an 
amendment to Article 2 of the Plan Regulations in order to extend from three year to five years the 
period over which the final average remuneration (FAR) is calculated. 
5. Third, the Management Board recommends that  the General Council approve an amendment 
to Article 24 of the Plan Regulations in order to raise the early retirement reduction factor from 3% to 6% for participants with fewer than 30 years of contributory service and from 1% to 3% for 
participants with more than 30 years of contributory service. 
6. Fourth, the Management Board recommends that the General Council approve an 
amendment to Article 32 of the Plan Regulations in order to reduce the scope of the cost-of-living 
indexation on applied between the date of separation and that of first benefit payment for deferred 
pensions. 
7. In addition to the above actuarially motivated amendments, the Management Board 
recommends the following changes to bring greater administrative clarity to the Regulations.  These changes do not have actuarial or financial impacts on the Plan and do not imply any change 
in the financial obligations of Members toward the Plan. 
8. First, the Management Board recommends that the General Council approve an amendment 
to Article 5 of the Plan Regulations in order resp ond to a request from the external auditors to 
codify the long-established practices related to administrative costs of the Plan.   
9. Second, the Management Board recommends that the General Council approve an 
amendment to Article 30 of the Plan Regulations in  order to clarify the specified child benefit. 
10. Third, the Management Board recommends that  the General Council approve an amendment 
to Article 28 of the Plan Regulations in order to clarify that the age at which a disability pension 
benefit is deemed permanent corresponds to the age at which the beneficiary would become 
entitled to early retirement. 
11. Finally, the Management Board recommends that the General Council approve an 
amendment to Article 29 of the Plan Regulations in  order to correct a typographical error in the 
heading of the Article.  WT/GC/W/706 
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  12. The Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration (CBFA) endorsed the above 
recommendations at its meeting of 6 November 2015. 
13. The corresponding amendments are set out in Annex 1 and are submitted to the General 
Council for approval pursuant to Arti cle 43(a) of the Plan Regulations. 
 
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  ANNEX 1 
 
REGULATIONS OF THE WTO PENSION PLAN 
Article 2 
Definitions 
 […]  
(i) " Final average remuneration"  (FAR) shall mean the average annual pensionable 
remuneration of a participant during:  For participants whose participation commenced before 1 January 2016: 
 
(i) The thirty-six completed calendar months of highest pensionable remuneration within the last five years of the participant's contributory service; or  
(ii) If the participant's contributory service was less than five years, the thirty-six 
completed calendar months of highest pensionable remuneration within the actual period of such service; or  (iii) If the participant's contributory service contained less than thirty-six completed 
calendar months, the actual number of such months within the participant's contributory 
service; or  (iv) If the participant's contributory service contained no completed calendar month, the 
actual period of such service. 
 For participants whose participation commenced on or after 1 January 2016: 
 
(v)  The sixty completed calendar months of highest pensionable remuneration within the 
last seven years of the participant's contributory service; or  (vi)  If the participant's contributory service was less than seven years, the sixty completed 
calendar months of highest pensionable remuneration within the actual period of such 
service; or  (vii)  If the participant's contributory service contained less than sixty completed 
calendar months, the actual number of such months within the participant's contributory 
service; or  (viii)  If the participant's contributory service contained no completed calendar month, 
the actual period of such service. 
 
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Article 5 
Administration of the Plan  […] 
 
(f) With the exception of the costs incurred by th e WTO in providing a Secretariat in support of 
the Plan, all expenses incurred in administering th e Plan, investing Plan assets, and employing the 
services of professional advisers shall be borne by the Plan. Each element of the expenses borne 
by the Plan shall be separately identified in the annual report. 
 
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  Article 23 Retirement benefit 
 
[…]  (b) The benefit shall, subject to any reduction resulting from the application  of paragraph (c) 
below, be payable at the standard annual rate obtained by multiplying the first 30 years of 
contributory service by 2% of FAR and the years of contributory service in excess of 30, but not 
exceeding ten, by 1% of FAR.  
(c) The benefit may be commuted at the request of the participant into a lump sum not 
exceeding 1/2 of the actuarial equivalent of the benefit or the amount of the participant's own 
contributions, whichever is the larger.  
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 Article 24 Early retirement benefit 
 
[…]  (b) For participants whose participation commenced prior to 1 January 2016, the benefit shall, 
subject to any reduction resulting from the application of paragraph (d) below, be payable at the 
standard annual rate for a retirement benefit, reduced by 3% of such benefit for each year 
between the date the benefit becomes effective an d the date corresponding to the participant's 
normal retirement age, except that, if the contri butory service of the participant was 30 years or 
longer, the benefit shall be reduced by 1% per year. 
 (c) For participants whose participation commenced on or after 1 January 2016, the benefit shall, subject to any reduction resulting from the application of paragraph (d) below, be payable at 
the standard annual rate for a retirement benefit,  reduced by 6% of such benefit for each year 
between the date the benefit becomes effective an d the date corresponding to the participant's 
normal retirement age, except that, if the contri butory service of the participant was 30 years or 
longer, the benefit shall be reduced by 3% per year. 
 
(d) The benefit may be commuted at the request of the participant into a lump sum on the conditions specified in Article 23.  
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 Article 25 Deferred retirement benefit  
 
[…]  (b) The benefit shall, subject to any reduction resulting from the application of paragraph (c) 
below, be payable at the standard annual rate for a retirement benefit and shall commence at the 
normal retirement age, or, if the participant so el ects, at any age not less than 55, provided that in 
such event it shall be reduced in the same manner and under the same conditions as specified in Article 24. 
 
(c) The benefit may be commuted at the request of the participant into a lump sum on the conditions specified in Article 23.  
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  Article 28 Disability benefits 
 
[…]  (b) The total disability benefit shall commence on separation or, if earlier, on the expiration of 
the paid leave due to the participant and shall continue for as long as the participant remains fully 
incapacitated. The incapacity shall be deemed to  be permanent after the age when the beneficiary 
would have been entitled to early retirement as per the provisions of Article 24.  
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Article 29 Surviving spouse's benefit [heading only]  
 
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Article 30 
Child's benefit 
 […]  
(d) The benefit shall, during the continuance of any periodic benefit resulting from retirement, 
early retirement, disability, or death in service, but subject to paragraphs (e) and (f) below, be 
payable at the annual rate of one third of the benefit payable to the participant or, if the participant died in service, one third of the retirement or disability benefit which would have been 
payable to the participant if the participant had become entitled thereto at the date of death, 
subject to a minimum of the amount corresponding to  one half of that specified in Annex 2(b)(i) of 
the Staff Rules  and a maximum of the amount corresponding to that specified in Annex 2(b)(i) of 
the Staff Rules , expressed in Swiss francs per annum. 
 
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Article 32 
Cost-of-living adjustment of benefits 
 […]  
(h) For the adjustment of deferred retirement bene fits, the reference date for the application of 
paragraphs (b) and (g), above, shall be the date of separation from service of the beneficiary and the scope of adjustment under paragraphs (b) and (g) shall be made as follows: • For the period from the date of separation to the date of commencement of payment of the 
benefit: 
 
o For participants whose contributory servic e began prior to 1 January 2016, the full 
deferred retirement benefit entitlement sh all be adjusted in accordance with the 
provisions of paragraphs (b) and (g). 
 
o For participants whose contributory service began on or after 1 January 2016, 1/3 of the 
deferred retirement benefit entitlement sh all be adjusted in accordance with the 
provisions of paragraphs (b) and (g). 
 
• For the period beginning on the date on which payment of the benefit commences, the full deferred retirement benefit shall be adjusted in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs (b) 
and (g). 
 
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