WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/BFA/130 
31 May 2012 
 (12-2880) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 9 MAY 2012 
 
 1. The WTO Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration met on 9 May 2012 under the 
chairmanship of Ambassador. Albinas Zananavi čius (Lithuania).  The terms of reference and 
composition of the Committee are set out in documen t WT/L/44/Rev.1.  The agenda contained in 
document WTO/AIR/3934 was adopted. 
I. ADMINISTRATIVE UP-DATES AND PROGRESS REPORTS AS AT 
31 MARCH 2012 
A. WTO
 BUDGET AND FINANCE REPORT (WT/BFA/W/271  AND WT/BFA/W/267) 
2. A member of the Secretariat presented the situation regarding Members' and Observers' 
contributions received in the first quarter of 2012.  Receipts of contributions and the cash position of 
the Organization were satisfactory.  The number of Members subject to Administrative Measures had been reduced to 8 in May 2012.  Three of the th irteen Members following a payment plan in May 
2012 had still arrears related to 2011 greater than CHF 15,000. 
3. The 2011 financial accounts had been closed and reviewed by the External Auditors in April 
2012.  The 2011 performance report will present an overall budget saving of CHF 0.4 million.  The 
External Auditors' report would be circulated to Members once finalized.  This report will contain the 
findings of the review of the concerns raised by some delegations at the last meeting of the 
Committee.   
4. The 2012 budget remained on track at the end of the first quarter with 27% of the budget 
being committed. The Secretariat already implemented a number of the streamlining measures 
foreseen for 2012:  a) transportation services had been reduced and five vehicles had been disposed in 
the last six months;  b) the internal distributio n of mail and documents we re provided by self-service 
since the start of April;  c) the distribution of ne wspapers by online subscr iptions had been put in 
place;  and finally, d) the distribution of prin ted documents within the Secretariat had been 
significantly decreased.   
5. The financial situation on trust funds was then  presented, especially focusing on the Doha 
Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF).  Voluntary contributions amounting to CHF 0.5 
million coming from Canada and Estonia were receiv ed by the DDAGTF during the first quarter.  In 
the second quarter 2012, an additional payment from Ca nada and one from France were received.  In 
order to secure the timely execution of the planne d activities, the Secretariat encouraged the donors 
who had outstanding pledges to make possible pa yment shortly.  Denmark announced that the 
payment of its pledge was under way.  Germany in dicated that a 1 million Euro voluntary contribution 
would be soon transferred. WT/BFA/130 
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  B. WTO
 PENSION PLAN REPORT  
6. The newly appointed Secretary of the WTO Pension Plan Management Board, Mr. John 
Breckenridge, informed the Committe e on the open and a transparent selection process chosen by the 
Management Board following the retirement of the form er Secretary.  He was appointed for two years 
effective 1 May 2012. The list of the three member s appointed to the Mana gement Board was also 
presented. 
 C. H
UMAN RESOURCES REPORT  
7. A member of the Secretariat presented an overview of human resources in the Organization 
by funding source, contract type and by divisi on.  As at 31 March 2011, the WTO had employed 
721 staff with 94 per cent funded by regular budget and 6 per cent from extra-budgetary funds.     
8. The Secretariat issued 30 vacancy notices in 2011 and 22 were for professional posts.  Twelve 
of the professional posts were recruited at the junior  professional grade 6.  In 2011, eleven staff had 
been transferred through mobility within the Orga nization as well as seven staff had moved within 
divisions.  The Secretariat employed 106 interns in 2011.   
9. The human resources priorities for 2012 we re WTO output planning and performance 
management.  The Director-General granted 18 promotions in 2011, a significant reduction to 
previous years.  The salary adjustment for 2012 would be presented at the next meeting of the 
Committee.   
10. One Member welcomed the Director-General's new promotion policy due the current 
imbalance in the Secretariat's grade structure a nd sought additional inform ation on the link between 
job profiles and grading of posts.  Other questio ns included an interest in obtaining additional 
information on internship selection process.  Fo llowing a question from a Member, the Secretariat 
confirmed that the two positions in the Appellate  Body Secretariat (ABS) have been filled on a 
temporary basis from the start of this year from the additional one-year post funding provided from Members, for the urgent work in the ABS .   
11. The Committee took note of the reports.  The Chair indicated that human resources matters 
would continue to be discussed in the future. 
II. REPORT ON DIVERSITY IN THE WTO SECRETARIAT (WT/BFA/W/266) 
12. A member of the Secretariat pres ented the third Annual Report on Di versity in the Secretariat.  
This report provided detailed data  on the current composition of WTO staff on the basis of WTO 
Membership, gender and the evolution of staff di versity since 1995.  Data were provided on staff 
recruitment, including the number of applica tions received and candidates interviewed.  
13. Diversity in the Secretariat continued to grow  in 2011, despite an overall low staff turnover 
and the limited number of vacancy notices. The number of nationalities from WTO Members represented in the Secretariat grew by 5 in 2011 to reach 82.  Between 1995 and 2011, the share of 
professional staff represented by developing c ountries and least developed countries (LDCs) had 
increased from 21.5 per cent to 34.2 per cent of the to tal professional staff including linguistic staff.  
During the same period, the proportion of professional women increased from 13 per cent to 24.9 per cent of total staff.  The number of female in sen ior management positions had also increased from 0 in 
1995 to 6 in 2011.     
14. The WTO continued to be active and to promote me rit and diversity in the recruitment policy.  
In this respect, WTO Members were also invited to ta ke part and play an important role in promoting  WT/BFA/130 
 Page 3 
 
 
  diversity; therefore, the Secretariat was ready to provide Members with the necessary advice and 
assistance.    
15. Several Members welcomed the report on divers ity and the progress achieved. However, they 
continued to express concerns about the insufficient le vel of diversity in the Secretariat.  They also 
sought to obtain additional information on the sel ection process for interns, and the number of 
recruitments done internally versus externally, especi ally in light of two recent senior level positions 
that were filled internally.    
16. The Secretariat answered that those two posts  required extensive in-house experience and had 
to be filled urgently.  Finally, the Secretariat reassured that for candida tes of equal merit the 
recruitment policy took into consider ation, gender and nationality.   
17. The Committee took note of the report. 
III. UTILIZATION OF THE MEMBERS' TRANSITION OPERATING FUND 
(WT/BFA/W/270) 
18. The Deputy Director-General Yerxa presented the situation of the Members' Transition 
Operating Fund and recalled for the Committee the progress achieved on the projects already 
approved.  The Fund's balance amounted to CHF 7.8 million at the end of April.   
19. The Committee was requested to approve the funding of two projects, which included the 
equipping and installation of the new building with catering facilities and with furniture for an amount 
of CHF 1.7 million and CHF 2.2 million, respectively.   
20. Members enquired about the situation of the Building Project's schedule following a cold 
winter, possible future expenditures to be covered by the Fund, the presentation of the expenditure 
incurred by the Fund and why some expenditure had not  been previously foreseen and included in the 
Building Project.  The Secretariat clearly confirmed that the Building Project remained overall within 
budget and schedule and that it was not seeking more funding than was already provided for by the Fund.  The remaining balance of the Fund would be sufficient to cover the scheduled common 
facilities projects in the near future.   
21. The Committee took note of the report and adopted the following decision:  
The Committee agreed that the following addition al projects may be funded from the Members' 
Transition Operating Fund for a total amount of CHF 3,900,000:   
 The equipping and installation of the new building with catering facilities for an amount 
of up to CHF 1,700,000;  
 The equipping and the installation of the ne w building with furniture and furnishings, 
including the restaurant area, for an am ount of up to for CHF 2,200,000. 
IV. ACCESSION OF MONTENEGRO (WT/BFA/W/268) 
22. A member of the Secretariat introduced the document regarding the assessed contribution of 
Montenegro following its accession. 
23. Consequent to the accession to the WTO of Montenegro on 29 April 2012, the Committee 
recommends to the General Council that a pro ra ta contribution to the 2012 budget amounting 
to CHF 21,038 be assessed to the Government of  Montenegro, as well as a contribution to the 
Working Capital Fund amounting to CHF 50,649 as an advance to the Fund.  WT/BFA/130 
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  V. ACCESSION OF SAMOA (WT/BFA/W/269) 
24. A member of the Secretariat introduced the document regarding the assessed contribution of 
Samoa following its accession. 
25. Consequent to the accession to the WTO of Samoa on 10 May 2012, the Committee 
recommends to the General Council that a pro ra ta contribution to the 2012 budget amounting 
to CHF 18,844 be assessed to the Government of  Samoa, as well as a contribution to the 
Working Capital Fund amounting to CHF 50,649 as an advance to the Fund.  
VI. MEMBERS SUBJECT TO ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES 
26. The Chair of the Working Group on Administ rative Measures updated the Committee on the 
work of the Working Group.  He first reminded that  any interested Member was welcome to join the 
Working Group.  At its last meeting, the Workin g Group discussed the situation of Members' subject 
to payment plans going into default.  Different vi ews were exchanged, but no conclusion had been 
reached yet.  The Working Group was also continuing  to work on a proposal to review Administrative 
Measures.  Meetings with Regional Coordinators would be taking place to finalize an acceptable proposal acceptable by all.  
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