RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/BFA/111 
17 July 2009 
 (09-3525) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 9 JULY 2009 
 
 1. The WTO Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration met on 9 July 2009 under 
the chairmanship of Ambassador Marie-Claire Swärd Capra (Sweden).  The terms of reference 
and composition of the Committee are set out in document WT/L/44/Rev.1.  The agenda 
contained in document WTO/AIR/3397 was adopted. 
I. ADMINISTRATIVE UP-DATES AND PROG RESS REPORTS AS AT 30 JUNE 2009 
A. WTO
 BUDGET AND FINANCE REPORT (CRP(09)12) 
2. A member of the Secretariat presented the situation regarding Members' contributions 
as at 30 June 2009 showing that CHF 129 million of the assessed CHF 183 million had been 
received and that 82 Members or 54 per cent of the Membership had no outstanding balance.  Payments received from Observers represented 53 per cent of the total assessment of CHF 0.8 million.  With respect to Members under Administrative Measures, it was reported that 22 Members were currently under Administrative Measures, comprising two in Category II, four in Category III and 16 Members in Category IV (Inactive). 
3. The cash situation showed that the WTO held CHF 111 million on its bank accounts, 
including the working capital fund and extra-budgetary funds.  It could be considered as rather strong, with 70 per cent of the assessed contributions received. 
4. The budget performance as at 30 June 2009 did not show any specific area of concern.  
Actual staff costs were slightly below budget.  The higher implementation rates in selected 
budget sections could be explained by the specific commitment approach used to capture the 
related expenditure.  However, the second semester would put more pressure on the resources with the first major office move following the renovation of the first sector of the CWR building and the Ministerial Conference at the end of November. 
B. E
XTRA -BUDGETARY FUNDS REPORT (CRP(09)13) 
5. The Committee was informed that, as at 30 June 2009, total funds available in the Doha 
Development Agenda Global Trust Fund  (DDAGTF) stood at CHF 20.5 million, which 
represented 85 per cent of the target set at CHF 24 million for 2009.  The Secretariat was confident that funds would be sufficient to implement the technical assistance and training activities planned for 2009 and to build the required reserve for next year, provided that pledged contributions from Germany, Japan and Spain were received shortly and further 
contributions from other potential donors materialized.  It was added that the expenses 
recorded so far for the implementation of the DDAGTF technical assistance activities amounted to CHF 14.9 million, which represented 62 per cent of the level of planned activities. This left an uncommitted balance of CHF 5.6 million. WT/BFA/111 
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  C. H
UMAN RESOURCES REPORT (CRP(09)14) 
6. With respect to the training on trade related programmes, Members were informed that 
staff were offered three major training opportunities: (i) the WTO Secretariat Community Forum, providing staff with the possibility of learning from their colleagues about current issues relevant to work at the Secretariat,  (ii) the external speaker series, enabling staff to 
attend courses or interactive seminars from invited experts in economics, law or foreign affairs 
and  (iii) the learning network for technical coaches, aimed at training staff in coaching skills in order to respond to requests by colleagues for support in the development of new areas of technical expertise.  Furthermore, it was reported that an Executive Forum for Directors was being developed with the aim of addressing the role of the Secretariat in 2009, as well as a 
Training for Trainers with the objective of establishing closer links among staff from different 
divisions of the Secretariat involved in Trade Related Technical Assistance.  The Committee was informed that the Community Forum, the Learning Network for Technical Coaches and the proposed Forum for Directors were in response to a previous request by Members regarding the need to promote greater exchange of information across the Secretariat. 
7. The Committee was presented with an update on the level of temporary assistance 
contracts within the Organization.  It was added that there were currently 18 external vacancies at various stages of the recruitment process. 
8. A Member expressed its concern with respect to eventual obligations of the 
Organization in respect of long-term temporary assistance contracts.  The Secretariat confirmed that it was fully aware of the situation and working on more rigorous review and 
control mechanisms for temporary assistance. 
D. WTO
 PENSION PLAN REPORT (CRP(09)15) 
9. The Secretary to the WTO Pension Plan reported that, with respect to the correction of 
the actuarial deficit, the Management Board had agreed upon a revised set of recommendations with a view to resolving the difficulties encountered by the CBFA in reaching a consensus. 
10. The Committee was also informed that the Board had extensively discussed the results 
of the asset optimization study and received independent inputs from four separate sources in the banking and investment advisory sectors.  The next step in this exercise would be the development of an investment portfolio structure, followed by the selection of managers, with a view to having the new strategy in place in 2010. 
E. B
UILDING PROJECT REPORT  
11. A member of the Secretariat informed the Committee that the first stage of the 
renovation, comprising all the floors of half of the South Wing except for the restaurant, had started in March and should be finished in October 2009.  Regarding the intra-muros project, it was reported that the request for the building permit had been submitted to the cantonal authorities in May.  The message to the federal chambers for the authorization of the loan was 
being studied in Bern.  The works for the new building were scheduled from January 2011 until 
end 2012, and the security perimeter should be finished at the same time.  It was highlighted that the Secretariat was currently elaborating procedures in order to respect cost limits, timelines and the quality of the project. 
12. Furthermore, the City of Geneva had accepted the declassification of the land and the 
modification of the law on the protection of the lakeside, conditions sine qua non  for the new 
building and the security perimeter.  However, a referendum at city level was scheduled for 27 
September, and the risk of a second referendum at the cantonal level following the decision of  WT/BFA/111 
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  the General Council of the Canton could not be excluded.  These obstacles could delay the 
finalization of the project and also have financial consequences as the rent for the building on Chemin des Mines would need to continue to be paid by the Host Country, as stipulated in the Memorandum of Understanding.  If, for any reason not attributable to the WTO, the new building could not be built, the Host Country would  provide the WTO with premises for some 
300 work spaces until a solution for a single site could be found. 
13. The competition for the security perimeter had been launched on 6 July and was aimed 
at architects and landscape architects.  The final project would be chosen on 4 September 2009.  An 'Open Day' of the WTO would take place on Sunday 6 September, where the WTO would present its activities as well as plans and models of the building project to the public in order to 
allow them to develop their own opinion before voting at the referendum. 
14. A Member asked whether the expenditure on the renovation work was so far within the 
budget.  The Secretariat confirmed that everything was on track and that the budget was being reviewed regularly, although the project was still in a very early phase. 
II. ACTUARIAL POSITION OF THE WTO PENSION PLAN – RECOMMENDATIONS 
BY THE MANAGEMENT BOARD (WT/BFA/W/186) 
15. The Chairman of the Management Board explained that the current document 
represented a modified version of the original document presented the previous year and that it had been revised following consultations with Members.  He explained that the proposal for the amendment of the retirement age from 62 to 65 had not been changed, but the proposal for the increase of the contribution rate had been adjusted to an increase of the overall contribution 
rate from 22.5 per cent to 23.7 per cent instead of the originally proposed 24.3 per cent. 
16. A Member requested confirmation that this issue will not be revisited in the future 
except following a future actuarial assessment and also asked for confirmation that the renewal of the contract of the consulting actuary will be subject to a fair open competition per normal WTO practice.  In reply, the Chairman of the Management Board explained that, pursuant to 
Article 9 of the Plan Regulations, the Management Board was required to have a full actuarial 
valuation carried out at least once every three years.  Interim valuations were carried out on an annual basis, but the question of actuarial balance could be addressed only in the context of a full valuation.  There would thus be no basis on which to revisit the question of the actuarial balance of the Plan until the results of the next full valuation were known.  That valuation would be carried out on 31 December 2010 at the latest.  With respect to the contract of the 
consulting actuary, the Chairman replied that the contract was tacitly renewable on an annual 
basis, unless terminated with at least three months' notice. As in the case of other service providers and the current procurement policy of the Organization, it was the intention of the Management Board to issue a call for tenders for this particular service in the near future which would be open to competition per normal practice.  The same Member asked for 
confirmation that the recommendation to the General Council from the Committee concerned 
only Annex I of document WT/BFA/186 and not the supporting documentation from the Management Board. The Chair of the CBFA confirmed that the proposed decision was for the Committee to endorse with effect from 1 January 2010 the recommendations to amend Articles 2 and 20 of the Regulations as set our in Annex I of the referenced document. 
17. The Committee endorses the recommendati ons of the Management Board to the 
General Council that Articles 2 and 20 of the WTO Pension Plan Regulations be amended as set 
out in Annex 1 of document WT/BFA/W /186 with effect from 1 January 2010.  WT/BFA/111 
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  III. ADJUSTMENT OF THE WTO DEPENDENCY ALLOWANCES (WT/BFA/W/185) 
18. A member of the Secretariat recalled that the dependency allowances had been 
recalculated following the 2009 adjustment to the WTO salary scale and would be applied retroactively effective 1 January 2009 pending their approval by the General Council under Staff Regulation 13.2. 
19. Therefore,  the Committee, bearing in mind that the methodology for adjusting 
dependency allowances was approved by the Ge neral Council in December 2004 (WT/GC/M/90, 
paragraph 158), recommends that the revised  allowances as set out in document 
WT/BFA/W/185 be incorporated into the WTO Staff Rules with effect from 1 January 2009.  
IV. WORKING GROUP ON ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES  
20. The Chair of the Working Group on Administrative Measures informed the Committee 
that the Working Group had held a first meeting focussing on three main issues:  (i) a diagnosis of the current situation, (ii) the efficiency of the current system of administrative measures and  (iii) possible options to improve the measures in place. 
21. The analysis of the current situation of outstanding contributions highlighted the 
particular issue of Members who had never paid since their accession to the GATT and/or the 
WTO.  The Chair of the Working Group indicated that he would hold bilateral consultations with the Members in question. 
22. Members of the Working Group also observed a certain inconsistency in the 
interpretation of some administrative measures, especially the distribution of documentation and the access to technical assistance.  It was also noted that there were no administrative 
measures in place for arrears from Observers.  With respect to the possible options to improve 
the current measures, the Secretariat would conduct a study with respect to the administrative measures in place within the UN system of organizations. 
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