WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/BFA/W/170 
26 May 2008 
 (08-2439) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
 
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SWISS CONFEDERATION AND 
THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 
ON THE LONG-TERM HOUSING NEEDS OF THE WTO 
 
 
 The attached draft Agreement between the Swi ss Confederation and the WTO is the result of 
discussions between the Swiss authorities and the Secretariat of the WTO, as well as informal 
consultations with WTO Members over the last se veral months.  It is proposed that the CBFA 
recommend to the General Council that the Agreem ent be approved and the Director-General be 
authorized to sign.  The authentic text for signature will be the French version. 
 WT/BFA/W/170 
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AGREEMENT 
 
 
 
between 
the Swiss Confederation 
and 
the World Trade Organization (WTO) 
on the long-term housing needs of the WTO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 WT/BFA/W/170 
Page 3 
 
  
  The Swiss Federal Council, on behalf of the Swiss Confederation, 
on the one hand 
 
and  the World Trade Organization (WTO), 
on the other hand 
 (hereinafter "the Signatories"), represented by the undersigned,   Recognizing the importance of the WTO's mission for relations between its Members, 
 Determined to maintain the WTO's headquarters in Switzerland, 
 Determined to respond to the WTO's long-term housing needs,  Bearing in mind the WTO's wish to be located at a single site,  
 Considering that the question of the site's exte rnal and peripheral security will be the subject 
of a separate arrangement, and that the use of th e buildings formerly occupied by the Montessori 
School and those occupied by the Crèche du lac  remains to be decided in this context, 
 
 Taking account of the letter sent by Mr Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the WTO, to 
Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, on 
19 December 2007, and the reply thereto dated 30 January 2008, 
  Desirous that these matters should be regulated by an agreement, 
 
 Have agreed as follows, subject to approval of the necessary loans by the Federal Assembly. 
 WT/BFA/W/170 
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  Chapter 1: PURPOSE
 
 
Article 1  
 
1. In keeping with the calendar set forth in Article 14  below, the purpose of this Agreement is: 
(a) Renovation of the Centre William Rappard (hereinafter the CWR); 
(b) intra-mural adaptation and extension of the CWR; 
(c) extra-mural extension (new building); 
(d) transitional measures (temporary premises); 
(e) parking space; 
(f) densification of the William Rappard conference room; 
(g) financial obligations and allocation of costs; 
(h) adaptation of the Infrastructure Contract of 2 June 1995; 
(i) purchase of the project studies for the constr uction of a building at the Avenue de 
France. 
2. Indents (a) to (i) of paragraph 1 above shall be  undertaken as part of a single project that 
includes a design and a technical plan to cover a ll the elements of the renovation and construction. 
3. Decisions relating to the implemen tation of indents (a) to (g) of  paragraph 1 shall be made by 
a building commission comprising an equal number of representatives of the Swiss Confederation and 
of the WTO. 
  WT/BFA/W/170 
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  Chapter 2: SCOPE  
 
Article 2  Renovation of the CWR 
 
1. The entire CWR building and technical infrastru cture shall be renovated on the basis of the 
building plan agreed between the WTO and the Swiss Confederation. 
2. The renovation shall consist mainly of: 
(a) Refurbishment and modernization of of fices, common areas and meeting rooms; 
(b) optimization of office spaces and common areas; 
(c) improvement of thermal insulation of interior facades; 
(d) upgrading of fluid networks (plumbing, heating, technical cooling systems, electricity, 
computer cabling, waste water separation) a nd fire safety equipment (fire protection 
and detection); 
(e) replacement of the lifts; 
(f) restoration and cleaning of the outer surfaces of the building. 
3. The furniture and the installations and equipm ent put in place by the WTO are not included in 
the renovation. 
 
Article 3  Intra-mural adaptation and extension of the CWR 
 1. Work shall be conducted within the CWR to adapt and extend the premises within the 
existing footprint on the basis of a building plan agreed between the WTO and the Swiss 
Confederation. 
2. This intra-mural adaptation and extension shall consist of: 
(a) Creating a central hub in the northern courtyar d to link up the main conference areas.  
This space will house the services needed  for key activities of WTO Members; WT/BFA/W/170 
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  (b) creating conference rooms in the southern courtyard (former IUHEI library); 
(c) creating a meeting room on the ground floor wh ere the delegates' cafeteria is currently 
located; 
(d) transforming the current WTO library into a conference room; 
(e) transforming the area located above th e WTO library into a meeting room. 
 
Article 4
 Extra-mural extension (new building) 
1. The CWR shall be extended beyond its current foot print on the basis of a building plan agreed 
between the WTO and the Swiss Confederation. 
2. The extra-mural extension shall consist mainly of: 
(a) Building a new office building on the current parking area in front of the south 
entrance of the CWR.  This building will accommodate: 
I. Approximately 300 work places for WTO staff, together with the necessary 
associated facilities; 
II. general services such as documents reproduction and the library; 
III. a cafeteria with its production unit; 
IV. the thermal power installations serving the entire site; 
V. an underground car park for 200 vehicles. 
 (b) Building a covered passageway between the main entrance of the CWR building and 
the William Rappard conference room. 
  WT/BFA/W/170 
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  Article 5  Transitional measures (temporary premises) 
1. The Swiss Confederation shall provide the WTO with premises, free of charge, to replace the 
Rue Rothschild annexe and to meet the temporary needs of the Secretariat during the renovation work 
provided for in Article 1 , paragraph 1(a) to (c) in accordance with the timetable set forth in Article 14  
below. 
2. The premises in question consist of a building lo cated at the Chemin des Mines, with an area 
of approximately 5,500 sq. metres and a capacity of 250 persons. 
3.  The building shall be refurbished by  its owner in accordance with the Descriptif des travaux 
de rénovation  (specifications for the renovation work ) agreed between the owner and FIPOI. 
4. If the Swiss Confederation does not hand over all of the items specified in Article 1 , 
paragraph 1(a) to (c) to the WTO within the period set forth in the timetable under Article 14 , it shall 
continue to assume the aforementioned rental cost s until such time as the said items are handed over, 
except where the WTO is responsible for the delay. 
5. Should it not be possible to build the extra-mural extension, Article 1 3 would apply. 
 
Article 6  Parking space 
1. For the duration of the rental by the Swiss C onfederation of the offices at the Chemin des 
Mines, 150 parking spaces will be made available to  the WTO free of charge to compensate for the 
spaces lost on the CWR grounds during the work. 
2. Upon completion of the project, the WTO should have a total of at least 630 parking spaces as 
follows: 
(a) 200 places in the CWR underground car park beneath the new building; 
(b) 30 surface parking places at the CWR; 
(c) At least 400 places, financed for the WTO by the Canton of Geneva in accordance with 
the Infrastructure Contract of 2 June 1995, to be made available in the future Sécheron 
car park which the Canton of Geneva has undertaken to build. WT/BFA/W/170 
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  3. During the construction of the car park men tioned in paragraph 2(c) above, the Swiss 
Confederation shall ensure that at least 400 parki ng spaces are made available to the WTO in addition 
to the 150 spaces mentioned in paragraph 1 above. 
 
Article 7
 Densification of the William Rappard conference room 
 The William Rappard conference room shall be  densified on the basis of a building plan 
agreed between the WTO and the Swiss Confederation as follows: 
(a) Increase in the capacity of the room by optimizing the furniture layout; 
(b) adaptation of audiovisual and simultane ous interpretation equipment to the new 
capacity; 
(c) adaptation of air-conditioning to the new capacity. 
 Article 8
 Financial obligations and allocation of costs 
1. The parties plan to carry out this project with in an overall financial limit amounting, in the 
light of current conditions and hypotheses, to 130 million Swiss francs.  This figure comprises: 
(a) An interest-free FIPOI loan of 60 milli on Swiss francs repayable over a period of 
50 years, which is the upper limit of the c ontribution by the WTO Membership to the 
project;  and 
(b) a non-repayable contribution of 70 million Swiss francs from the Swiss Confederation, 
which is the upper limit of its contribution to the project. 
2. The WTO and the Swiss Confederation shall end eavour to ensure that the project remains 
within the above-mentioned limit. 
3. The FIPOI loan of 60 million francs menti oned in paragraph 1( a) above covers: 
(a) The new building (not counting the car park); 
(b) intra-mural extension;  WT/BFA/W/170 
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  (c) the covered passageway. 
4. The Swiss Confederation's contribution of 70 million francs mentioned in paragraph 1(b) 
above covers: 
(a) Renovation of the CWR; 
(b) densification of the William Rappard conference room; 
(c) the car park under the new building; 
(d) the temporary premises (Chemin des Mines). 
 
Article 9  Ownership of the CWR building 
5. It should be borne in mind that, as reflected in the letter of 1 June 1995 from the Swiss 
Federal Council to the Director-Gen eral of the WTO and in the Infr astructure Contract concluded on 
2 June 1995 between the Swiss Confederation, th e Republic and Canton of Geneva, FIPOI and the 
WTO, the WTO has already accepted fu ll ownership of the CWR building. 
 
Article 10 : Ownership of the extra-mural extension  
 As a prerequisite to the granting of the FIPOI loan and to ensure that there is no conflict of 
ownership between the CWR and its extra-mural ex tension, the WTO accepts ownership of the said 
extension upon its completion.  This acceptance is w ithout prejudice to the content of any agreement 
concerning, inter alia,  the duration of the property right, its renewal, and the conditions governing the 
retrocession of the extra-mural extension of the CWR to FIPOI. 
 
Article 11  Purchase of the project studies for the construction of a building at the Avenue 
de France 
1. The parties recall that a loan contract was concluded between FIPOI and the WTO on 
17 December 2003, followed by two amendm ents on 28 January 2005 and 5 December 2006 
respectively, providing for a 5 million Swiss franc loan to the WTO to finance studies relating to the WT/BFA/W/170 
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  preliminary design, the draft project, the overall estim ate, and the calls for tenders for the construction 
of a new building for the WTO at the Avenue de  France, and that the WTO spent an additional 
amount of 153,054.39 Swiss francs for the same purpose. 
2. The parties agree that the project covered by  this Agreement nullifies the project for the 
construction of the building at the Avenue de France. 
3. The parties note that the Conseil de foundati on (Foundation Council) of FIPOI decided, on 4 
April 2008, to take over from the WTO the studies relating to the preliminary design, the draft project, 
and the overall estimate for the construction of a ne w building originally intended for the WTO at the 
Avenue de France. 
4. In these circumstances, the WTO agrees to se ll the said studies to FIPOI for a total of 
5,153,054.39 francs, representing the financing cost s incurred, in accordance with an arrangement to 
be concluded between the WTO and FIPOI. 
5. The WTO undertakes to ensure that of the to tal sales price of 5,153,054.39 francs, five 
million francs are paid to FIPOI as a reimbursement of the loan that FIPOI granted for the above-
mentioned studies on 17 December 2003. The WTO sh all retain 153,054.39 francs to cover its own 
advance payments towards the realization of the said studies. 
 
Article 12
 Compliance with time-limits 
 The project shall be carried out within the shortest time reasonably possible, subject to and 
taking account of any technical constraints or possibl e delays in the legislative, parliamentary and 
administrative procedures required for its completion – inter alia  for the construction of the new 
building – including, but not limited to, obtaining loans and building permits, modification of the zoning plan in the vicinity of the CWR, amendment of the cantonal law on the protection of the lakeshore, etc. 
 Article 13
  Failure to build the extra-mural extension of the CWR 
 If, for any reason for which the WTO cannot be he ld directly responsible, it is not possible to 
build the extra-mural extension, the WTO sh all accept the items already completed and the 
Confederation shall place at the WTO's disposal, on c onditions to be mutually agreed, facilities with a  WT/BFA/W/170 
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  capacity of 300 work places in the immediate vicinity of the CWR during the time required for the 
WTO and the Swiss Confederation to agree on a single-site solution. 
 
Article 14   Timetable 
1. The timetable for the renovation and intra- mural extension work will be as follows: 
 (a) Renovation of the CWR  
I. Mid-2008:  application for a building permit for the renovation of the CWR and 
the densification of the William Rappard conference room; 
II. 2009:  beginning of the renovation work; 
III. Mid-2011:  end of renovation work. 
 (b) Intra-mural extension  
I. Beginning of 2009:  application for a building permit; 
II. Beginning of 2010:  beginning of extension work in the CWR; 
III. End of 2012:  end of the intra-mural extension work. 
2. The timetable for the extra-mural extension work (new building) will be as follows: 
I. 2008-2010:  planning and preparation (inc luding, inter alia, application for a 
building permit, modification of the zoning plan and amendment of the Cantonal law on the protection of the lakeshore); 
II. Beginning of 2011-2012:  construction of the new building; 
III. End of 2012:  handing over of the new building to the WTO. WT/BFA/W/170 
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Chapter 3: FINAL CLAUSES
 
 
Article 15   Adaptation of the Infrastructure Contract signed on 2 June 1995 by the Swiss 
Confederation, the Canton of Geneva, FIPOI, and the WTO 
 The parties shall discuss the impact of this Agreement on the above-mentioned Infrastructure 
Contract and shall take such measures as are necessar y to bring the said Contract into conformity with 
this Agreement by the end of 2010. 
 
Article 16  Arbitration Clause 
 Any dispute arising with regard to the conc lusion, interpretation or execution of this 
Agreement shall be submitted to the dispute settleme nt procedure provided for in Article 48 of the 
Agreement concluded on 2 June 1995 between the Swiss Confederation and the World Trade 
Organization to determine the legal status of the Organizat ion in Switzerland (Headquarters 
Agreement). 
 Article 17
 Entry into force 
 This Agreement shall enter into force for each of the Parties on the date of its signature. 
 
Article 18  Duration of the Agreement 
 This Agreement shall terminate by mutual ag reement between the Parties with the hand over 
to the WTO of the items specified in Article 1 , paragraph 1(a), (b), (c), (e) and (f). 
 
Article 19  Termination of the Agreement 
 Should it not be possible to complete the pr oject according to the agreed timetable or a 
revised timetable mutually agreed between the partie s, this Agreement could be terminated by mutual 
agreement between the parties.  WT/BFA/W/170 
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In witness whereof, the representatives of the two Si gnatories, duly authorized to that effect, have 
signed the present Agreement,  
 
Done in duplicate at ............................................ on ............................................ in French. 
    
For the Swiss Federal Council For the WTO