WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/W/552 
7 November 2005 
 (05-5134) 
General Council  
 
  
WTO PENSION PLAN 
 
Amendments to the Regulations and Administrative Rules
 
of the WTO Pension Plan  
 
 1. The Regulations and Administrative Rules of the WTO Pension Plan were adopted by the 
General Council on 16 October 1998 (WT/L/282). 
 2. The Management Board has recently complete d a review of the procedures governing the 
treatment of requests for determination of total and partial disability as set out under 
Article 28 of the Plan Regulations and Section H of the Administrative Rules. 
 3. As a result of that review, the Management  Board wishes to recommend that the General 
Council approve an amendment to Article 28 of th e Plan Regulations in order to provide for 
the payment of a partial disability benefit in  the case of assignment not only to duties at a 
lower grade but also to part-time work. 
 4. The corresponding amendments are set out in  Annex 1 and are submitted to the General 
Council for approval pursuant to Article 43(a) of the Plan Regulations. 
 
5. Pursuant to paragraph (b) of the Introduction to  the Administrative Rules and as a result of the 
above review, the Management Board has also approved certain amendments to Section H of 
the Administrative Rules.  These amendments ar e set out in bold text in Annex 2 and are 
submitted to the General Council for information. 
 
 
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 ANNEX 1
 
  
WTO PENSION PLAN 
 
 
DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO THE PLAN REGULATIONS
1 
 
 
Article 28 
Disability benefits 
 
(a) A total disability benefit shall, subject to Artic le 34, be payable to a participant who is found 
by the Management Board to be fully incapac itated for further service reasonably compatible 
with the participant's abilities, due to injury or illness constitu ting an impairment to health 
which is likely to be permanent or of long duration. 
 (b) The total disability benefit shall commence on sep aration or, if earlier, on the expiration of the 
paid leave due to the participant and shall con tinue for as long as the participant remains fully 
incapacitated, provided that after age 55 incap acity shall be deemed to be permanent. 
 (c) The total disability benefit shall, if the ag e of the participant on entitlement is the normal 
retirement age or more, be payable at the standard annual rate for a retirement benefit.  If the age of the participant is less than the normal re tirement age, the benefit shall be payable at the 
rate of the retirement benefit which would have been payable had the participant remained in 
service until the normal retirement age and had the participant's FAR remained unchanged. 
 (d) A partial disability benefit shall, subject to Article 34, be payable to a participant who is 
found by the Management Board to be par tially incapacitated due to injury or illness 
constituting an impairment to health and who, as a consequence of that incapacity, is assigned 
to other duties at a reduced salary . 
(e) The partial disability benefit shall be payable at  the rate of the retirement benefit which would 
be payable if the participant remained in ser vice until the normal retirement age and if the 
participant's FAR were equal to the difference between the participant' s FAR before and after 
the assignment to duties at a reduced salary . 
 
(f) A benefit which is discontinued shall, if a pa rticipant who has been separated does not upon 
such discontinuance again become  a participant, be converted to a deferred retirement benefit 
if the participant would have been so eligible at the date of separation.  Otherwise, a single 
payment shall be made of the balance between  the value of the withdrawal settlement under 
Article 26 and the value of paymen ts received under this Article. 
 
(g) The Management Board shall prescribe the exte nt to which and the circumstances in which a 
disability benefit shall be reduced or when it sha ll be terminated as the beneficiary's degree of 
incapacity changes, when the beneficiary is  in paid employment or in such other 
circumstances as the Management Board deems appropriate.  
 
                                                      
1 Amended text shown in bold. 
 
  WT/GC/W/552 
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 ANNEX 2  
 
 
DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE RULES2 
 
 
SECTION H 
Determinations of Incapacity and Inabi lity to Engage in Gainful Employment 
 
General  
H.1 (a) The determination of incapacity for the purp ose of disability bene fits under Article 28 of 
the Regulations  and of children's and secondary de pendants' benefits under Article 30(b) 
and 31(a), respectively, shall be made in each case by the Management Board. 
 
(b) For entitlement to a total disability benefi t, the incapacity for further service must be 
found to exist or to have existed on the participant's date of separation. 
 H.2 In each case in which the Management Board has determined that a participant or a child is 
incapacitated, the medical adviser of the WTO shall transmit a report on the medical aspects of the case to the Secretary. 
 Disability benefits
 
 
H.3 A request for a determination by the Management  Board under Articles 28(a) or 28(d) of the 
Regulations  shall be made by the WTO: 
 
(a) whenever during, or on the expiry of, the contract of a participant there is reason to 
believe that the participant may be incapacitated within the meaning of Articles 28(a) or 28(d) of the Regulations ; or 
 
(b) whenever a participant is placed, or is proposed to be placed, on special leave without 
pay for reasons of health; or 
 
(c) whenever the contract of a participant is terminated, or is proposed to be terminated, for 
reasons of health. 
 H.4 A determination under Arti cles 28(a) or 28(d) of the Regulations  shall be made by the 
Management Board at the request of a participant: 
  (a) Whenever the WTO has no t acted in accordance with Rule H.3 above;  or  
 
(b) Whenever a participant alleges an incapacity within the meaning of articles 28(a) or  
28(d) of the Regulations . 
 H.5 (a) The request shall be in writing, addres sed to the Secretary, and in the case of a 
participant shall be made not later than four months after the date of separation or commencement of special leave without pay, unless in the opinion of the Management 
Board there are exceptional circumstances justifying submission of the request at a later 
date. 
                                                     
 
2 Amended text shown in bold. 
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Page 4  
 
  
(b) The request shall state the material facts on which the WTO or the participant relies and 
the conclusions which are deduced therefrom, and shall be accompanied where practicable by a report from the medical adviser of the WTO or a medical practitioner retained by the participant, as the case may be.   
 
(c) In application of Rule H.5(b), above,  the WTO shall in each case certify the 
following: 
  (i) the date at which the participant concerned will have exhausted his/her 
paid sick leave; 
  (ii) that, after consultation with the medical adviser, it has been determined 
that it is not possible to assign the participant to other duties reasonably compatible with his/her abilities, whether on a full-time or part-time basis; 
 
 (iii) that a formal request for determination of partial or total disability has 
been made either by the WTO or  by the participant concerned; 
  (iv) that, in the case of total disability, the WTO has initiated the necessary 
procedure for termin ation of the contract of th e participant for reasons of 
health under Staff Regulation 10.3(b). 
 
 The WTO shall keep a complete record of the above-mentio ned information in 
order to support its certifications. 
 
(d) In further application of Rule H.5(b), above, the medical adviser shall in each case 
certify the following: 
  (i) that the participant has an incapacity which prevents him/her from 
carrying out duties reasonably compatible with his/her abilities, with specific reference to the participan t's current duties and accompanied by 
the necessary supporting evidence from the participant's medical 
practitioner or  practitioners; 
  (ii) that the participant's disability is such that it has not been possible to assign 
him/her to other duties reasonably compatible with his/her abilities as 
described by the Administration. 
 
 The medical adviser shall present each case in person to the Management Board in order to explain the details of th e case and respond to questions.  
 
(e) The WTO, or the participant if the request has been submitted by the participant, may be 
required by the Management Board to provide further evidence or information thereon 
prior to a determination being made. 
 
(f) Except where deemed unnecessary or ina ppropriate, the Secret ary shall, for the 
purposes of the determination by the Management Board, obtain a further, 
independent medical report from a recognized medical expert other than the 
medical adviser and the participant's medical practitioner(s).  
 
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 H.6 (a) A determination of incapacity  within the meaning of Articles   28(a) or 28(d) shall, until 
the beneficiary reaches age fifty-five, be reviewed by the Management Board from time to time for the purpose of establishing th e continued eligibility or otherwise of the 
beneficiary for a disability benefit. 
 
(b) The date for each such review shall be set by the Management Board, having regard to 
the opinion of the medical adviser on the prospects for the beneficiary's recovery, and in such manner that the interval between reviews does not normally exceed three years;  the Management Board may nevertheless review a de termination at an earlier date than that 
set if there is reason to believe that th e beneficiary is no longer incapacitated. 
 
(c) The beneficiary shall be informed in writing by the Secretary of the date or interval set 
for the review in each case and shall, as and when required, submit to a medical examination by the medical adviser, or a medi cal practitioner designated by the medical 
adviser, for the purpose of providing evidence enabling the Management Board to 
determine whether or not the beneficiary continues to be incapacitated. 
 (d) Upon review, the Management Board shall cont inue a disability benefit if it determines 
that the beneficiary remains incapacitated; it may decide to suspend or discontinue a benefit if the beneficiary has failed to submit to a medical examination when required to do so, or if the results of a medical examination are inconclusive; it may render the 
continuation of a benefit or the removal of a suspension subject to certain conditions; 
and it shall discontinue a benefit when the evidence before it shows beyond reasonable 
doubt that the beneficiary is no longer in capacitated, provided that a benefit so 
discontinued may be re-instated by the Manage ment Board if it is satisfied, upon further 
evidence, that the beneficiary was in fact then incapacitated. 
 
H.7 (a) A disability benefit which is suspended or discontinued shall cease to be paid at the end 
of the third complete month after the month in which the decision was taken. 
 
(b) A disability benefit which is re-instated af ter suspension or discontinuance shall be paid 
from the date of reinstatemen t, unless the Management Boar d, after a review of the 
circumstances of the case, decides that it shall be paid from an earlier date. 
 
Disabled children's (and brother's or sister's) benefits
 
H.8 A determination under Article 30(b) or 31(a) of the Regulations  shall be made by the 
Management Board whenever the child, or the brother or sister, of a participant, eligible in other 
respects for a child's or secondary dependant's benefi t, claims, or is claime d, to be incapacitated 
by illness or injury for substantial gainful employment: 
 
(a) upon reaching the age of 21, if immediat ely prior thereto a child's or a secondary 
dependant's benefit was payable, as the case may be; 
 
(b) upon the death in service or entitlement to a retirement or disability benefit of the 
participant, if the child is then over the age of 21; 
 
(c) upon the entitlement of the participant to an early retirement benefit, provided that a 
child under the age of 21 shall be consider ed to be incapacitated only if the child 
would have been considered to be such ha d the child been 21 years of age on the date 
of the participant's separation; 
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 (d) upon the death of a participan t entitled to a reti rement, early retirement, or disability 
benefit, if a brother or sister is then over  the age of 21 and is claimed to have been 
incapacitated at the date of the participant's separation. 
 
H.9 The claim shall be made in writing, addressed to the Secretary, by or on behalf of the child or 
secondary dependant, and shall be accompanied by  a report from a medical practitioner on the 
nature of the illness or injury and the extent, if any, to which gainful employment is possible;  in the case of Rule H.8(b) above, the report shall be submitted by the medical adviser of the WTO. 
 H.10  A determination that a child or secondary depe ndant is incapacitated within the meaning of 
Article 30(b) or 31(a) of the Regulations  shall be reviewed, mutatis mutandis , in accordance with 
the provisions applicable to  disability benefits in Rules  H.6 and H.7 above, save that the intervals 
between reviews may exceed three years. 
 
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