. /. 
     WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/BFA/81  
30 November 2005 
 (05-5682) 
 
 
 
ANNUAL REPORT (2005) OF THE COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, 
FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION 
  
1. In accordance with the procedures for an annua l overview of WTO activities and for reporting 
under the WTO, adopted by the General Counc il on 15 November 1995 (WT/GC/M/8, item 11), a 
report on the activities of the WTO Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration in 2005 is hereby submitted. 
 
2. It will be recalled that the Committee met fo rmally and informally on a number of occasions 
and has presented reports to the General Council on a regular basis
1. 
 
I. ON-GOING RESPONSIBILITIES 
3. The Committee monitored on a re gular basis the fina ncial and budgetary situation of the 
Organization, the receipt of contributions includi ng the implementation of the related schemes and 
measures pertaining to receipt of contributions.  It formulated reco mmendations to the General Council 
on assessment to the budget and advance to the Worki ng Capital Fund subsequent to the accession of 
one new Member.  It considered elements related to human resources management and heard progress 
reports on the WTO Pension Plan, the implementation of the Security Enhanc ement Programme and the 
new WTO annexe.  It also examin ed: (i) the Director-G eneral’s Budgetary a nd Financial Report for 
2004 and Report of the External Auditors Thereon; (ii) the Report on Extra-Budgetary Funds for 2004 and (iii) the Budget Estimates for the Biennium 2006- 2007.  At the time of finalizing this report, the 
General Council is scheduled to ac t on the recommendations contained in the report of the meetings of 
the Committee in October and November 2005. 
 
II. MAJOR AREAS OF ACTIVITIES 
A. 
NEW WTO ANNEXE  
4. The Committee examined the proposal to increas e the original envelope of 50 million Swiss 
Francs by 10 million Swiss Francs up to 60 millio n Swiss Francs, due to unforeseen requirements 
relating to security and archives and the additional impact of inflation and made a recommendation to 
the General Council to approve  the increase (WT/BFA/78). 
 
                                                      
1 Reports: WT/BFA/77 covering the meeting held on 17 March 2005; WT/BFA/78 and WT/BFA/79 
covering the meetings held on 29  June and 11 July 2005.   
Documents WT/BFA/80 covering the meeting held on 29 September 2005 and  WT/BFA/82 covering 
the recommendations from the meetings of October and November 2005 will be submitted to the General 
Council on 1-2 December 2005. WT/BFA/81 
Page 2  
 
B. 
EXTERNAL AUDITOR : DURATION OF MANDATE  
5. In view of the fact that the formal audit repor t must cover the two annual financial periods of 
the biennium, and the five-year term of the Austrian Court of Audit finishing with the accounts of 2006, it was recommended to extend the mandate by one year (WT/BFA/78).  
C. 
LONG -TERM TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE  
6. The Committee was informed about an independ ent consultant's report commissioned to 
examine temporary assistance which concluded that th e tasks performed by 33 of the staff considered 
were deemed to be of an ongoing nature and that the Secretariat was considering current means to address this issue.  Subsequently, the Committee recommended the re-deployment of the financial 
resources made available with the departure and non -replacement of three Directors to cover five and 
a half of the posts examined by the consultant (WT/BFA/78).  D. 
DIRECTOR -GENERAL 'S CONDITIONS OF SERVICE  
7. The Committee was informed by the Chairman  on the subject of the Director-General's 
conditions of service.  After consultation with Memb ers, it was proposed to adjust the base salary of 
the Director-General by applying the movement of the Geneva Consumer Price Index (CPI) which 
would be effected on 1 September each year, the first time in 2006, based on the movement of the 
Geneva CPI from the year previous to the adjustment (WT/BFA/80).  E. 
SECURITY MATTERS  
8. It is recalled that the service provider in charge  of security has been selected and has been 
operational since 1 August 2005.  F. 
DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA GLOBAL TRUST FUND (DDAGTF)   
9. The Committee recommended that the targ et amount for the DDAGTF be set at 
CHF 24 million in 2006. 
 G. 
PROPOSED BUDGETS FOR THE BIENNIUM 2006-2007 
10. The Committed recommended that the General C ouncil approve the budgets for the biennium 
2006-2007 in the amounts of CHF 170.3 milli on and CHF 180.4 million respectively. 
 
H. OTHER ITEMS  
11. The Committee also discussed and/or was informed  about the following points in the various 
meetings:  (i) the 2006-2007 revised budget est imates of the International Trade Centre 
UNCTAD/WTO, (ii) the situation of contributions  for the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust 
Fund (DDAGTF) and (iii) the question of WTO Members with arrears. 
 
 
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