WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/BFA/W/271 
7 May 2012 
 (12-2442) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
 
WTO BUDGET AND FINANCE REPORT 
 
1
st quarter 2012 
 
 
I. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MEMBERS AND OBSERVERS 
1. The receipt of Members' contributions has been  satisfactory during the first quarter 2012. As 
at end of March, the amount of CHF 115 million has been received from Members, of which CHF 106 million (or 55% of the total assessment) is for the current year. 58 Members (or 38%) have no outstanding balance at the end of March.  Co mpared to the receipts in 2011, an additional 
CHF 16.5 million have been received in the firs t quarter 2012.  An amount of CHF 88 million still 
needs to be received before the end of the year. 
 
2. An amount of some CHF 1.7 million remains out standing for Observers as at the end of 
March. Only 28% of the total assessment for 2012 h as been received, and only 7 Observers out of 31 
have no outstanding balances. 
  Members Observers 
Total net assessment for 2012   194,147,849   903,495 
Payment received for 2012 (%  of total assessment) (55%) 106,165,012 (28%) 252,845 
Payment received for prior years   9,395,939   63,990 
No outstanding balance (% of total) (38%) 58 (23%) 7 
 
II. CASH SITUATION 
3. The WTO cash situation at the end of March is  satisfactory and exceeds the situation at the 
same date in 2011 by some CHF 16.5 million.  This is mainly due to the receipt of CHF 10.6 million 
from FIPOI in the month of February, representing CHF 3.6 million for the intra-muros project, WT/BFA/W/271 
Page 2  
 
  CHF 5 million for the new building and CHF 2 milli on related to the parking grant.  The cash 
situations at the end of March 2012 together with 2010 are the highest compared to the last eleven years of cash received in the month of March. 
 
Cash situation 31 March 2012 
 
 
 
 
III. MEMBERS UNDER ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES 
4. The number of Members under Administrative Meas ures has been reduced to 13 at the end of 
March. The following Members made payments a nd came subsequently out of Administrative 
Measures since the start of the year:  Haiti (Cate gory I), Solomon Islands (Category II) and Nicaragua 
(Category III).  The Former Yugoslav Republic  of Macedonia changed from Category III to 
Category II.  Furthermore, three Members in Category IV - Inactive Members- accepted a payment plan.  These Members are Chad, Djibouti and Sierra Leone.  There is only Guinea-Bissau remaining as 
an Inactive Member. The situation as at 31 March is as follows: 
Members under Administrative Measures: 
Cat. I (4) Cat. II (2) Cat. III (2)   Cat. IV (4)  
Antigua and Barbuda FYROM Dominica  Chad*  
Bolivia, Plurinational State of Grenada Venezuela, Bolivarian 
 Republic of  Djibouti*  
Nepal       Guinea-Bissau  
Papua New Guinea       Sierra Leone*  
           
 
5. Ten Members are subject to payment plans at the end of the March. Three of these Members 
have arrears related to 2011 greater than CHF 15, 000: the Central African Republic, Congo and the 
Democratic Republic of Congo.  WT/BFA/W/271 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
 
IV. 2011 BUDGETARY EXPENDITURE 
6. The 2011 accounts of the WTO have been closed and the external auditor has completed his 
field work in April. The report of the External  Auditor as well as the Financial Performance Report 
2011 shall be published once completed.  
7. The preliminary data provide for an overa ll budget saving of CHF 0.4 million and an 
accumulated Surplus Account balance of some CH F 0.7 million for 2011. This Surplus Account 
balance includes the net budgetary surplus as well as ite ms that are not part of the budget such as 
provisions for contributions in arrears, write offs of inventory and the balance of the miscellaneous 
income. 
8. The following tables provides for the provisional consolidated statement of budget 
expenditure for 2011. A detailed report on these expe nditures will be provided in the 2011 Financial 
Performance Report.  
Provisional Consolidated Statement of Budgetary Expenditure for 2011 
(in kCHF) 
 
Account Section Budget Expenditure Balance % of 
Expenditure 
Sect  1 Work Years 126,311 126,111 200  99.8% 
Sect  2 Temporary Assistance 15,993 20,914 -4,921  130.8% 
Sect  3 Communications 1,787 1,476 310  82.6% 
Sect  4 Building Facilities 3,866 4,226 -360  109.3% 
Sect  5 Permanent Equipment 1,089 1,284 -195  117.9% 
Sect  6 Expendable 1,281 942 339  73.6% 
Sect  7 Contractual Serv. 9,237 8,733 503  94.6% 
Sect  8 Staff Overheads 4,827 4,007 820  83.0% 
Sect  9 Missions 2,939 2,786 153  94.8% 
Sect 10 TPTC 3,315 1,908 1,407  57.6% 
Sect 11 Various 6,450 6,316 134  97.9% 
Sect 13 ITC 18,911 16,948 1,963  89.6% 
Total 196,004 195,653 351  99.8% Members 
Swiss Francs Plan 
duration
in years Last 
payment 
received Amount 
Outstanding
for 2011 Amount 
Outstanding 
for 2012 Total 
Outstanding 
Contributions 
Burundi 20 03-Mar-11 14,344 65,605 799,612  
Central African Republic 30 28-Jul-11 55,802 55,802 1,128,469  
Congo 5 13-Apr-10 73,832 215,601 615,708  
Côte d'Ivoire 10 15-Feb-12 -  -  600,136  
Democratic Republic of  
 the Congo 5 15-Nov-10 154,359 160,188 888,035  
Gabon 3 25-Aug-11 12,260 158,218 170,479  
Gambia 10 28-Mar-12 -  25,156 513,977  
Mauritania 25 13-Jan-12 - 65,118 1,037,255  
Niger 15 20-Jan-12 -  37,221 642,754  
Togo 5 01-Jul-11 14 115,802 289,128  
Total    310,611 898,711 6,685,553  WT/BFA/W/271 
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  V. 2012 BUDGETARY EXPENDITURE 
9. The budgetary expenditure, which include actua l expenditure and commitments, is overall on 
track at the end of the first quarter of 2012 with an expenditure rate of 27% or  CHF 53 million.  At the 
end of March, actual expenditure amount to CH F 42 million and commitment to CHF 11 million.  
10. Salaries and Temporary Assistance expenditure ar e within the budget with an expenditure rate 
of 23% and 25%, respectively.  It also includes CHF 0.8 million related to the consultants for the 
building project. A higher rate of expenditure (74%) can be observed under 'Building Facilities', 
where a number of annual contracts have been committed, such as the cleaning contract 
(CHF 0.7 million), the building maintenance contract with FIPOI (CHF 0.5 million), the rental of the 
annex CDM (CHF 0.7 million) and the rental of storage space during the building renovation 
(CHF 0.05 million).  The same applies to the S ection 'Contractual Services', where the annual 
contracts for the security service provider contract  have been committed (CHF 4.6 million), as well as 
the maintenance contracts for IT equipment (CHF 0.4 million) and reproduction equipment 
(CHF 0.08 million). Expenditure on travel and hospitality also remain on course.  
11. For expenditure specifically related to the Appella te Body Secretariat, they are generally on 
track. Section 11 'Various' includes the replenishmen t of the Appellate Body Operating Fund (ABOF) 
of CHF 1.6 million at the beginning of the year. 
Consolidated Statement of Budgetary Expenditure  
for the first quarter of 2012 
(in kCHF) 
 
Account Section 2012 Budget Expenditure and 
Commitments Balance % of 
Expenditure 
Sect  1 Work Years 127,002  28,725 98,276  23% 
Sect  2 Temporary Assistance 15,171  3,769 11,401  25% 
Sect  3 Communications 1,780  172 1,608  10% 
Sect  4 Building Facilities 4,314  3,194 1,120  74% 
Sect  5 Permanent Equipment 1,354  325 1,029  24% 
Sect  6 Expendable 1,201  818 383  68% 
Sect  7 Contractual Serv. 9,037  5,774 3,262  64% 
Sect  8 Staff Overheads 4,962  1,244 3,718  25% 
Sect  9 Missions 3,057  712 2,345  23% 
Sect 10 TPTC 2,960  430 2,530  15% 
Sect 11 Various 6,257  3,087 3,169  49% 
Sect 13 ITC 18,911  4,728 14,183  25% 
Grand Total 196,004  52,978 143,026  27% 
 
 
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