. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/BFA/W/134 
8 July 2005 
 
 (05-3024) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
 
 
DELIBERATIONS ON THE NEW WTO ANNEXE 
 
 1. The WTO External Auditor commented as follows  in the recently completed report on the 
2004 accounts of the WTO: 
 
"The External Auditors highlighted that the need for a new building was identified in 2001, 
based on certain assumptions with respect to the future development of the WTO.  The 
External Auditors recommended evaluating th e original assumptions, which identified the 
need for a new building.  It should also be cons idered that this project would lead to a binding 
commitment of member states for fifty years for the repayment of the loan.  In addition, the 
repayment period would exceed the economic lifecycle of the premises." 
2. The first written information concerning building space for the WTO is contained in a 
July 2001 report of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration when the question was addressed orally under "Other Business."  Followi ng is an extract of the Committee's report: 
 
"18.  Considering the development of  both the WTO and the Appellate Body 
Secretariats and the fact that the worki ng conditions in the Avenue Blanc annex are 
unsatisfactory (noise, etc), the Canton of Ge neva has found another building situated on 
rue Rothschild.  This annex will replace, unde r the same conditions (no rental cost for 
the WTO), that of avenue Blanc as from N ovember 2001.   This new annex will contain 
some 90 to 100 working places and should solve the accommodation problem for some time. 
19. In the future, with a view to avoid th e multiplication of annexes which is costly, 
it would be appropriate to get in additio n to the CWR a single second building which 
should be in its vicinity.  The only location av ailable which meets this requirement is on 
the Avenue de France.  The Swiss authoriti es envisaged the construction of a building 
which in all, or in part, would be put at the disposal of the WTO according to the stipulation outlined in the Headquarters Agreem ent.  Such a project would take some 5 
to 7 years to be implemented." (WT/BFA/54). 
 
3. At that time, it was assumed that the problem of office space would be addressed by having 
one single annex for the WTO.  The initial information was followed up in December 2001 by a letter from the Permanent Representative of Switzerland  outlining the financial conditions that the 
Confederation and the Canton of Ge neva intended to offer, subject to the approval of the competent 
federal and cantonal authorities.  The letter also  refers to the report of the Budget Committee 
(WT/BFA/54) which "stresses the need to accommodate the different annexes of the Secretariat in one WT/BFA/W/134 
Page 2  
 
building.  The capacity of that building must take  account of the future development of the WTO and 
its Appellate Body. 
4. By virtue of a recommendation of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration, 
approved by the General Council, the Director-Gen eral was authorized "to notify to the Swiss 
authorities the Members’ agreement in principle with the new building project and the funding 
arrangements as set out in document WT/BFA/SPEC /67.  The Committee also recommends that the 
Director General be authorized to launch, in c ooperation with the Swiss authorities, a draft project 
study – which is part of the total estimated co st of CHF 50 million – aimed at producing a building 
plan and putting together the financial package need ed for its implementation.  This process should 
then put the WTO General Council and the Swis s authorities in a position to make a final  decision." 
(WT/BFA/56). 
5. Subsequent to the authorization for a draft pr oject study authorized in December 2001, an 
international competition was launched by the WTO in liaison with the FIPOI.  Ultimately, the 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration recommended to the General Council in December 2003 that the "Golden Eye" project be produced in liaison with the Swiss authorities, 
bearing in mind the overall envelope of CHF 50 million." (WT/BFA/70). 
6. Since December 2003, when the choice of th e project was made, pre-construction activities 
have continued.  The Committee is presently examini ng the financial implications of costs primarily 
relating to security and archives, which were not incl uded in the original cost estimates.  The financial 
implications amount to an additional CHF 10 million, leading to a total of CHF 60 million.  The Swiss 
authorities need to have the agreement of the WTO in  order to initiate the process at the federal level 
to authorize the financing package, i.e. an in terest-free loan, repayable over fifty years.  The 
notification to the Swiss authorities needs to be made in  the near future so that the administrative steps 
can be completed in order to pe rmit construction to begin in the summer of 2006.  A delay in the 
notification to the Swiss authorities would mean th at construction could not begin until late 2006 or 
early 2007, a delay of at least six months. 
7. In summary, the original assumptions leading to the initiation of the avenue de France project 
can be summarized as follows:  (i) that the Centre William Rappard (CWR) was no longer able to 
meet the office space needs of the WTO;  (ii) th at the multiplication of annexes to cope with the 
additional space needs of the Organization would not  be desirable;  (iii) that it was deemed 
"appropriate to get in addition to the CWR a single second building which should be in the vicinity [of 
the CWR]" (WT/BFA/54);  and (iv) that the longer-t erm needs of the Appellate Body should be taken 
into account.   
8. Having considered that the original assumpti ons outlined in paragraph 7 above remained 
valid, the Committee would take this fact into consideration in the process of formulating its 
recommendation to the General Council with respect to the funding of the project. 
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