WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/BFA/W/216 
8 October 2010 
 (10-5180) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
 
     
 
    
 
     
REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 
31 DECEMBER 2009 AND PERFORMANCE AUDITS 
 
Court of Audit
 
 WT/BFA/W/216 
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  TABLE OF CONTENTS  
 
Page  
I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... .4 
II. LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS .........................................................................................4  
A. CERTIFIED ACCOUNTS FOR 2009 ................................................................................................4  
B. PERFORMANCE AUDITS ...............................................................................................................6  
III. CERTIFIED ACCOUNTS FOR 2009 ....................................................................................8  
A. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ............................................................................................................8  
1. Preparation of the WTO's transition to IPSAS......................................................................8  
2. Presentation of de ferred revenue ............................................................................................9  
3. Levy on extra-budgetary expenditure...................................................................................10  
4. Provision for employee benefits.............................................................................................11  
5. The Working Capital Fund....................................................................................................11  
6. 2009 accounts (brief presentation) ........................................................................................12  
B. INCOME ............................................................................................................................... ......13  
1. Statutory contributions  by Member States ..........................................................................13  
2. Provision for contributions in arrears ..................................................................................14  
3. Contributions by Observers...................................................................................................15  
4. Voluntary contributions ........................................................................................................ .16 
5. Refund of tax by the Unit ed States of America ....................................................................16  
C. EXCHANGE LOSSES ...................................................................................................................17  
D. STAFF COSTS .............................................................................................................................19  
E. ASSETS ............................................................................................................................... .......20  
1. Cash flow ...................................................................................................................... ...........20  
2. Property, plant and equipment..............................................................................................21  
F. PLANNED EXTENSION TO WTO  HEADQUARTERS .....................................................................23  
1. Project supervision arrangements.........................................................................................23  
2. Financing of the project....................................................................................................... ...24 
G. LIABILITIES AND OTHER COSTS ................................................................................................25  
1. Provision for accrued liability................................................................................................ 25 
2. Travel expenses ................................................................................................................ .......25  
3. Security costs ................................................................................................................. ..........27   WT/BFA/W/216 
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  Page  
IV. PERFORMANCE AUDITS...................................................................................................28  
A. DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA GLOBAL TRUST FUND (DDAGTF) ........................................28  
1. The position of the Fund and of extra-budgetary expenditure as a whole in 
WTO's expenditure.............................................................................................................. ...28 
2. The role of the Fund ........................................................................................................... ....29  
3. The Fund's ac tivities.......................................................................................................... .....29  
4. "Realigning" the training and technical assistance policy..................................................29  
5. It would be advisable to reinforce certain policy trends in the plan for reform of 
the training and techni cal assistance policy..........................................................................31  
6. Prior conditions for th e reform's success..............................................................................35  
7. Ways of financing the activities .............................................................................................37  
B. THE WTO' S PUBLICATIONS POLICY .........................................................................................41  
1. The WTO's distribution network for publications ..............................................................41  
2. Distribution of publications ................................................................................................... 42 
3. Financial and accounts aspects ..............................................................................................43  
C. FOLLOW -UP TO PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................46  
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................................ ...50 
CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... ...............50  
ANNEXES ........................................................................................................................ ....................51 
Annex A:  Doha Fund Activities ................................................................................................. ........51  
Annex B:  The Main Outlines of WTO's Publications Policy ..........................................................54  
Annex C:  Production and Distrubution of Documents ...................................................................56 
1. Documents control .............................................................................................................. ....56  
2. Reproduction................................................................................................................... ........56  
 WT/BFA/W/216 
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  I. INTRODUCTION 
1. In order to prepare the certified accounts for the 2009 financial year, a team of five auditors 
carried out two audits of WTO services from 12 to 24 April 2010.  The first part of this report presents 
the findings of this audit,  which focused mainly on: 
 - Maintenance of the WTO accounts and linking  of operations to the financial year; 
 
 - collection of the Organization's income, especially statutory and voluntary 
contributions; 
  - human resource management; 
 
 - cash and cash equivalents;   - procurement;  
 - outstanding commitments;  and 
  - provisions.  2. The audit was conducted in compliance with th e WTO's Financial Regul ations and Financial 
Rules. 
3. The auditors confirm that they had access to the accounts, supporting doc uments and all other 
relevant documentation. 
4. Every observation and recommendation was discuss ed with the officials concerned.  The 
closing conference took place on 22 April 2010. 
5. The second part of the report resumes and upda tes the findings of the performance audit of 
the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust F und (DDAGTF) and WTO's publications policy, 
conducted by four auditors from 5 to 16 Septem ber 2009.  The closing conference took place on 
16 September 2009.  The provisional observations on the report as a whole have been amended in 
light of the written comments forwarded by the WTO on 3 June 2010. 
II. LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS 
A. C
ERTIFIED ACCOUNTS FOR 2009 
Recommendation No. 1:  The liabilities in the stat ement of financial position and Note 13 to the 
financial statements should explicitly indicate th at the amounts due to donors correspond to deferred 
revenue.  Recommendation No. 2:  The trend in the deferred revenue balance compared to the amounts due to 
donors should be explained in Note 13 to the financial statements. 
 Recommendation No. 3:  A breakdown by Member State and by trust fund of the voluntary contributions paid in advance and recorded under de ferred revenue should be gi ven in a note or an 
annex to the financial statements.  
Recommendation No. 4:  The financial statements should indicate how the 13 per cent levy on trust 
funds is used.  WT/BFA/W/216 
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Recommendation No. 5:  The WTO should indicate in a note to the financial statements the stages it 
intends to follow in order gradua lly to make provision for untaken paid leave before the International 
Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) come into effect.  These stages should be calculated as a 
percentage of the full provision to be made when the IPSAS are implemented. 
 
Recommendation No. 6:  The WTO should correct the error made in its accounting entries (which was 
rectified in its financial statem ents) concerning the amount of the advance to the Working Capital 
Fund made by Member States and should explain this error in Note 14 to the financial statements. 
 
Recommendation No. 7:  Note 4 to the financial statements should list the various components of 
receivables from Member States, including the paym ents expected for the Working Capital Fund. 
 Recommendation No. 8:  The provision for contributi ons in arrears should be calculated taking into 
account the Organization's assessment of the risks of non-payment (confirmation of a 
recommendation for the previous financial year). 
 Recommendation No. 9:  The WTO should adopt a pl an to absorb contributions in arrears by 
Observer States.  Recommendation No. 10:  The total amount of voluntary  contributions received in the course of the 
preceding financial year and its breakdown by donor c ountry and by trust fund should be shown in an 
annex to the financial statements  (confirmation of a recommendation for the previous financial year). 
 Recommendation No. 11:  The WTO should pursue its efforts to (i) accelerate refund by the United States of the taxes of WTO staff who reside d there;  (ii) obtain this refund according to the 
method stipulated by the Administrative Tribunal of  the International Labour Organization (partial 
confirmation of a recommendation for the previous financial year).  Recommendation No. 12:  The WTO should (i) verify  all accounting operations resulting in exchange 
rate variations;  and (ii) consider a method for cal culating such differences, limiting the possibility of 
error as far as possible. 
 
Recommendation No. 13:  The WTO should (i) publish a list of delegations of authority given to its 
officials and keep this list up to date;  and (ii) ensure that supporting documents are submitted for the 
allowances it pays.  
Recommendation No. 14:  Note 3 to the financial st atements showing the breakdown of cash and cash 
equivalents should be brought into line with the overall balance as regards the amount of short-term 
investment and on-demand deposits.  Recommendation No. 15:  Note 3 should in futu re be supplemented by comments concerning the 
financial targets, investment-related risks and the supervision exercised. 
 
Recommendation No. 16:  The WTO should record inte rest on its foreign currency investments at the 
exchange rate in effect on the day the interest is received.  Recommendation No. 17:  Computer equipment of a value not exceeding CHF 5,000 should be 
aggregated and recorded under property, plant and equipment, in accordance with paragraph 18 of 
IPSAS 17.  Recommendation No.18:  Assets should be grouped in to several categories for recording as fixed 
assets and each category's period of amortiza tion should reflect its economic lifespan. WT/BFA/W/216 
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Recommendation No. 19:  An interface should be cr eated between the accounts management system 
and the databases for monitoring pr operty, plant and equipment. 
 Recommendation No. 20:  The WTO should modify its  accounting system so as to record charges 
when goods ordered are delivered or when services commissioned are provided in order to calculate 
automatically the charges to be paid  at the end of the financial year. 
 Recommendation No. 21:  The WTO should amend Re gulation 23 of its Financial Regulations in 
order to be able to record provisions carried over for charges payable by deducting them from the 
charges account. 
 Recommendation No. 22:  In order to make use trav el costs as efficiently as possible and exercise 
better control over them, the WTO should (i ) update Administrative Memorandum No. 957 
OFFICE (05)/58 of 1 September 2005, notably by requiring the systematic submission of supporting 
documents to substantiate any travel expenditure;  an d (ii) encourage its travel agency to obtain lower 
rates for certain destinations and accordingly co nsider adjusting the agency's remuneration. 
 Recommendation No. 23:  The WTO should (i) draw up a list of persons authorized to certify expenditure committed;  and (ii) at the end of each c ontract, draw up a list of all the costs incurred in 
connection with this contract. 
 
B. P
ERFORMANCE AUDITS  
Recommendation No. 24:  The WTO should keep statistics on the number of videoconferences 
organized by the ITTC and introduce a policy to  develop this particularly economic method of 
information and training. 
 
Recommendation No. 25:  The WTO should set a quantified target for the proposed policy to reduce the number of reference centres.  Recommendation No. 26:  The WTO should make it a ru le to undertake prior screening of candidates 
for each training course. 
 
Recommendation No. 27:  The WTO should take measure s to monitor systematically the individual 
results of each training course and should award diplomas and not simply end-of-training certificates.  Recommendation No. 28:  The WTO should draw up  a performance indicator based on the results 
obtained by all the participants in each training  course after having undertaken the monitoring 
suggested in Recommendation No. 27 in order to  assess the effectiveness of the training courses 
given.  Recommendation No. 29:  The WTO should formalize its methods for evaluating the long-term results of its training and technical assistance activities and report on the results of such evaluations in 
the annual reports on these activities. 
 Recommendation No. 30:  The WTO should adopt a stra tegy to intensify its training and technical 
assistance activities for the Arab, Middle East, Cent ral and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the 
Caucasus regions. 
 
Recommendation No. 31:  The WTO should revise its various ITTC training modules and harmonize their contents and levels so as to ensure that the mandatory passage between on-line and face-to-face 
training and between different levels  of training functions properly.  WT/BFA/W/216 
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Recommendation No. 32:  In the annual programmes of the Technical Cooperation Audit Unit, the WTO should incorporate a follow-up to the new approaches in the biennial training and technical assistance plan as regards the select ion and evaluation of participan ts and the arrangements for 
mandatory passages between training courses. 
 
Recommendation No. 33:  The WTO should (i) show all the expenditure on training and technical assistance costs financed under the budget and by ex tra-budgetary funds in a note attached to the 
specific financial statements;  (ii) determine rules for sharing of training and technical assistance costs 
between the budget and extra-budgetary funds;  and (iii) increase the amount of the levy on voluntary 
contributions paid into the Organization's regular budget. 
 Recommendation No. 34:  The WTO should (i) take into account the non-attendance of participants 
when deciding where future similar training sessions should be held;  (ii) require confirmation of 
participation in training courses within strict deadli nes limits so as to be able to obtain the best 
possible terms for the cancellation of hotel reservations ;  and (iii) negotiate ag reements with hotels so 
as to limit any losses if reservations have to be cancelled.  Recommendation No. 35:  The WTO should avoid programming several training activities intended for the same public over the same period in orde r to take into account pa rticipants' availability. 
 
Recommendation No. 36:  A procedure for the closur e of technical assistance projects should be 
introduced.  Recommendation No. 37:  There should be better co ordination among the various divisions involved 
in technical assistance and training if projects are postponed or cancelled. 
 
Recommendation No. 38:  The WTO should analyse the performance of its distribution network with a view to streamlining it.  Recommendation No. 39:  The WTO should formally appoint two persons responsible for collecting 
proceeds from the sale of publications and souvenirs  in the Bookshop, defining the scope of their 
personal liability for handling funds. 
 Recommendation No. 40:  Purchases of works separatel y by the Bookshop and by the Library, as is 
presently the case, should be grouped.  
Recommendation No. 41:  The purchase of all promo tional items for sale or for free distribution 
should be centralized.  Recommendation No. 42:  Proceeds from the sale of publications should go to the service concerned. 
 Recommendation No. 43:  The WTO should introduce an accounting system for publications 
produced by the print shop that also includes personnel costs. 
 Recommendation No. 44:  The WTO should make fr amework agreements a permanent and general 
feature and should systematically make a comparison  of the respective real costs of internal and 
external solutions. 
 
Recommendation No. 45:  The WTO should put in place a detailed accounting procedure for updating inventories and evaluating the human resources needed to implement it.  WT/BFA/W/216 
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  Recommendation No. 46:  The WTO should follow up th e reforms adopted in relation to management 
of inventories.  
III. CERTIFIED ACCOUNTS FOR 2009 
A. F
INANCIAL STATEMENTS  
1. Preparation of the WTO's transition to IPSAS 
6. The plan for implementing the transition to IPSAS, submitted by a WTO steering committee, 
was accepted by the Director-General on 28 Ap ril 2009 and adopted by the Committee on Budget, 
Finance and Administration on 11 May 2009, pursuan t to our recommendation on the 2009 financial 
statements. 
7. The first two stages of this plan went ahead  in accordance with the timetable fixed and 
resulted in the following modifications to the 2009 fi nancial statements in comparison with those for 
2008: 
 - Two new statements concerning cash flow and changes in net assets, as prescribed in 
IPSAS 1, were presented; 
 
 - WTO-specific positions not covered by th e aforementioned IPSAS were presented in 
the notes attached to the financial statements , relating to the surplus for the financial 
year, the Working Capital Fund and the new annex building fund in the budget; 
  - voluntary contributions used to finance programmes carried out in 2009, recorded as 
income for the 2009 financial year in the statement of financial performance, were 
distinguished from those intended to finan ce programmes to be carried out after 2009, 
recorded as deferred revenue (unde r the title "amounts due to donors"
1) in the 
liabilities column in the statement of financial position; 
 
 - a staff benefits provision for education grants, home leave and paid leave not taken 
was created; 
  - the statement of financial position disti nguished current and non-current assets and 
liabilities, the latter concerning the firs t tranche of the refurbishment of 
WTO's headquarters and the first tranche of the interest-free loan from the 
Swiss authorities to finance this work. 
 8. The WTO has therefore made progress in bringi ng its financial statements into line with 
IPSAS 1 but still has to take the following major step s, which are planned for the next stages to be 
completed by the end of 2012:  presentation of the Organization's long-term commitments for 
pensions and medical cover, which involves actuari al valuation;  valuation and recording of the 
Organization's tangible and intangible assets as property, plant and equipment, together with their amortization, whereas works and the purchase of asse ts are presently recorded as charges;  drawing up 
inventories to cover all its asset s (and not only publications). 
9. The WTO has implemented our recommendation on combining its two traditional series of 
financial statements concerning, respectivel y, budgetary and extra-budgetary operations
2, which has 
                                                      
1 "Trust funds balance due to donors ". 
2 Extra-budgetary operations are financed by the Organization's trust funds, composed of voluntary 
contributions from certain Member States.  WT/BFA/W/216 
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  meant revising the 2008 accounts as explained in Note 2.  Schedules C, D, E, F and G of the new 
consolidated financial statements present the de tailed information previously contained in the 
financial statements on extra-budgetary funds.  Th e presentation of these new consolidated financial 
statements calls for the following observations. 
2. Presentation of deferred revenue 
10. As just mentioned, the amount of voluntary contributions financing programmes carried out 
after 2009 is classified as "amounts due to donors" (CHF 24,951,397) in the liabilities column in the statement of financial position. 
11. Notes 1 and 2 to the financial statements con cerning, respectively, the accounting policy and 
the aforementioned revisions explain that this am ount corresponds to deferred revenue, in conformity 
with IPSAS 1, but Note 13 entitled "Trust fund s balance due to donors" indicates that the 
aforementioned amount of CHF 24,95 1,397 corresponds to the balance available to finance future 
trust fund activities and gives the breakdown of th is amount among donor countries, to which these 
funds will be returned if they are not fully disbur sed, without specifying that this is deferred revenue. 
12. There is therefore no mention either in the stat ement of financial position or in Note 13 that 
the "Trust funds balance due to donors" corresponds  to deferred revenue.  It would be clearer and 
more in line with IPSAS 1 to entitle the corresponding  line in the liabilities column in the statement of 
financial position "deferred revenue  (amounts due to donors)" and to r ecall in Note 13 that the balance 
available in the trust funds corresponds to deferred revenue. 
Recommendation No. 1:  The liabilities in the stat ement of financial position and Note 13 to the 
financial statements should explicitly indicate  that the amounts due to donors correspond to 
deferred revenue.  
Note 13 to the 2009 financial statements was immediately amended accordingly. 
 
13. In addition, the trend in amounts due to donors from 2008 (CHF 20,662,679) to 2009 
(CHF 24,951,397), as shown in the liabilities column in the statement of financial position, is not 
explained in Note 13 and cannot be  reconstituted solely on the basis of Schedules C, D, E, F and G 
already mentioned.  This CHF 4,288,718 increase ca n essentially be explained by the amount of the 
voluntary contributions received in 2009, including voluntary contributions for 2010 paid in advance 
in 2009, which exceeded the expenditure committed in 2009. 
14. The breakdown by Member State is only given for refunds.  A breakdown by 
Member country and by trust fund for the voluntary contributions paid in advance and recorded as 
deferred revenue cannot be found either  in Note 13 or in Schedules C, D, E, F and G.  It is suggested 
that this information should in future be included in a note or an annex to the financial statements. 
Recommendation No. 2:  The trend in the def erred revenue balance co mpared to the amounts 
due to donors should be explained in Note 13 to the financial statements. 
 
Note 13 to the 2009 financial statements was immediately amended accordingly. 
 
Recommendation No. 3:  A breakdown by Memb er State and by trust fund of the voluntary 
contributions paid in advance and recorded under de ferred revenue should be given in a note or 
an annex to the financial statements. 
 
Schedule E to the 2009 financial statements was immediately amended accordingly. 
 WT/BFA/W/216 
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  3. Levy on extra-budgetary expenditure 
15. A 13 per cent levy that is not provided for in the WTO's Financial Regulations or Financial 
Rules but was decided by the General Council in  1996 and 1999, is imposed on extra-budgetary 
expenditure and goes to the Programme Support Fund (which is a purely financial trust fund).  This 
Fund covers the following costs: 
 - Some of the general costs committed by ot her international orga nizations taking part 
in certain trust fund programmes, in acc ordance with the relevant agreements
3; 
  - the payment of the salaries of 23 officials with fixed-term contracts carrying out 
administrative tasks related to tec hnical assistance activities financed by 
extra-budgetary funds; 
  - the payment of certain overheads for trust funds;   - the retrocession to the WTO's regular b udget of an amount equivalent to 10 per cent 
of the Fund's total expenditure, " as a token contribution in recognition of the fact that 
the Organization's resources are being used  for the delivery of the technical 
assistance activities financed from the extra-budgetary funds ".
4 
 16. Note 2 to the financial statements explains that  the consolidation of the financial statements 
relating to budgetary and extra- budgetary operations meant elimina ting reciprocal transactions.  
Consequently, participation in the overheads shared w ith other organizations has been reclassified as 
expenses and the retrocession to the budget of 10 pe r cent of the extra-budgetary funds' costs, as 
compensation for use of the Organization's r esources for extra-budgetary activities, has been 
eliminated:  the latter is not wholly correct as an  amount of CHF 243,384 is still transferred to the 
budget, where it is shared among the communications , reproduction and translation services.  Note 2 
does not mention the cost of the officials financed under budgetary activities.  The report attached to 
the financial statements, however, which gives de tails of the performance of the extra-budgetary 
funds, does provide this information. 
17. Schedule G shows the total of the 13 per cent overheads levy in 2009 (CHF 3,094,027.78) and 
the retrocession to other organizations (CHF 431,992 .93), but not the other costs of the Programme 
Support Fund, as indicated in the table below. 
Trend in the Programme Support Fund in 2009 (Swiss francs
) 
 
Opening balance 1,173,766.38 
Income in 2009 (13% levy) 3,094,027.78 
Total income 4,267,796.16 
Retrocession to other Organizations 431,992.92 
Costs for 23 officials 2,323,268.40 
Payment of various overheads for trust funds 110,572.09 
Share of certain Secretariat costs (previous retrocession of 10% to the regular budget) 243,384.00 
Total costs 3,109,217.41 
Closing balance  1,158,576.75 
                                                      
3 These agreements provide for the sharing of the 13 per cent administrative costs ("overheads") 
between the WTO Secretariat and the other organizations. 
4 According to the Director-General's report on extra-budgetary funds for 2008.  WT/BFA/W/216 
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Recommendation No. 4:  The financial statements should indicate how the 13 per cent levy on 
trust funds is used. 
 
Each year, the WTO Secretaria t gives every donor an additional report for each fund, including the 
Programme Support Fund.  These reports  show in precise detail each fund's activities and costs.  The 
Secretariat, together with the external auditor, will consider the level of detail needed for the 2010 
consolidated accounts. 
 
4. Provision for employee benefits 
18. The provision of CHF 3,778,700 for employee benefits, created in 2009, has had a marked 
impact on the statements of financial position and of cash flow (see the brief presentation of the 
accounts below).  Its composition is explained in Note 12 to the financial statements. 
19. The largest share of this provision concerns annual paid leave not taken, amounting to 
CHF 1,578,900.  It only takes into account the rights of permanent staff members who have 
accumulated more than 40 days of paid leave not ta ken.  If all the leave not taken was included, this 
provision would rise to CHF 9,377,285.635, comprising CHF 9,274,456.38 for permanent staff 
members and CHF 102,829.25 for temporary personnel. 
20. The WTO did not want to make 100 per cent provision for this leave in order to avoid having 
to make too radical changes to its accounts and bala nces.  It will only make 100 per cent provision at 
the time of the full transition to IPSAS in 2012.   Neither in its financial statements on the 
2009 accounts nor in its plan for the transition to  IPSAS does it describe the intervening stages. 
21. It would be preferable to explain the stages to be followed by the Organization and to make 
provision each year for a certain percentage of the total provision as calculated in the financial 
statements under review rather than selecting a b asis for partial provision without any particular 
reason. 
Recommendation No. 5:  The WTO should indicate  in a note to the financial statements the 
stages it intends to follow in order gradually to  make provision for untaken paid leave before 
the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) come into effect.  These stages should be calculated as a percentage of the full provision to be made when the IPSAS are 
implemented. 
 
The WTO Secretariat is following a gradual approach , taking into account the resources available 
and complying with the Financial Rules.  The Secretariat will consid er introducing an approach 
based on a percentage of the total provision. 
 
5. The Working Capital Fund 
22. The amount in the Organization's Working Capital Fund (CHF 10,071,222 at 
31 December 2009) is shown in the statement of financial position, in the breakdown of net assets.  
Note 14 to the financial statements gives details of  its composition, showing in particular that the 
amounts of the advances to the Working Capital Fund by Member States, unchanged in comparison 
with 2008, amount to CHF 4,468,180.  This amount does not, however, correspond to that indicated in the overall balance, namely, CHF 3,994,000. 
                                                     
 
5 This amount also takes into account overtime, which can be taken as time off. WT/BFA/W/216 
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  23. Note 14 indeed mentions a revision of the am ount of the advances received and the interest 
earned by the Working Capital Fund in comparison w ith the financial statements for 2008 because of 
an error noted by the finance division in 2010 when reconciling the advances and the corresponding 
accounting entries.  This correction was recorded in the general ledger and in the overall balance. 
Recommendation No. 6:  The WTO should co rrect the error made in its accounting entries 
(which was rectified in its financial statements ) concerning the amount of the advance to the 
Working Capital Fund made by Member States and should explain this error in Note 14 to the 
financial statements. 
 
The WTO Secretariat immediately corrected the accounts and the restatements for the 2008 and 2009 
financial years and explained these corrections in Note 2 to the 2009 financial statements. 
 
6. 2009 accounts (brief presentation) 
24. In 2009, the statement of financial perform ance recorded a reduc tion in the surplus 
(CHF 997,968), which was almost th ree times less than th e surplus in 2008 (CHF 2,839,020), despite 
a slight increase (+1.78 per cent) in the Organi zation's income (CHF 216,836,622 compared to 
CHF 213,028,576 in 2008).
6 
25. The reason for these figures is the 2.68 per cent increase in the WTO's charges 
(CHF 215,838,654 compared to CHF 210,189,556), mainly caused by the following three factors: 
 - A 2.97 per cent increase in expenditure  by trust funds (CHF 26,630,176 as against 
CHF 25,860,275 in 2008); 
 
 - a fourfold rise in exchange losses (C HF 1,210,266 compared to CHF 267,572); 
  - and a fourfold increase in the provision for arrears in contributions (CHF 447,432 as 
against CHF 101,596). 
 
26. Despite this reduced surplus, the cash flow s ituation improved with a 4.10 per cent increase in 
the amount of cash available (from CHF 56,373,496 to  CHF 58,685,489) at the end of the period, 
chiefly attributable to the creation of the CHF 3.77 million provision for staff benefits, the 
CHF 4.28 million increase in the trust funds balance (following the increase in voluntary 
contributions) and the reduction in the surplus re turned to Member States (from CHF 4 million in 
2008 to CHF 2.8 million in 2009). 
27. The statement of financial position at 31 D ecember 2009 shows a 12.79 per cent decrease in 
net assets (from CHF 23,572,467 to CHF 20,556,244), the result of an increase in assets that was 
2.76 per cent lower than that in liabilities (8.23 per cent).  In fact, the aforementioned introduction of 
a provision for staff benefits and the increase of  20.75 per cent (CHF 20,662,679 to CHF 24,951,397) 
in deferred revenue corresponding to voluntary cont ributions, already mentioned, increased liabilities. 
28. The WTO's financial position remains largely sound, although as already indicated in 2009, 
the transition to IPSAS will see it deteriorate because it will mean including in the accounts the 
Organization's long term commitments to its pensioners
7 (for their retirement and medical cover), 
                                                      
6 These are the surplus a nd income for 2008 as revised becaus e of the merger of the financial 
statements on budgetary an d extra-budgetary funds. 
7 The report of February 2010 of the Mercer firm of  actuaries valued the pension fund commitments at 
CHF 1,517 million at 31 December 2008 (compared to CHF 1,408 million at the end of 2007) and the fund's 
assets at CHF 279 million at the end of 2008 (com pared to CHF 366 million at the end of 2007).  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 13 
 
 
  whose amount will probably exceed that of the Organization's financial assets, land, buildings8 and 
equipment.  Nevertheless, pens ion commitments are implicitly covered by Member States under 
Article 21 of the Regulations of the Pension Plan:  " In the event of dissolution of the WTO, the 
General Council shall take the necessary steps to  guarantee the benefits acquired under these 
Regulations by participan ts and beneficiaries at the date of dissolution ."  The probable deficit in the 
statement of financial position is therefore in no way comparable to that of a private company. 
B. INCOME  
1. Statutory contributions by Member States 
29. Pursuant to Regulation 12 of the Financial Re gulations, the contributions of the 153 Member 
States9 of the WTO are determined as a percentage of each country's international trade (imports plus 
exports) in relation to the total international trade of all WTO Members, according to a scale that is 
revised each year by the General Council.  The mini mum contribution is set at 0.015 per cent of this 
trade.  Five reference years are taken into acc ount, for example, 2002-2006 for the 2009 contributions. 
30. In practice, each year the Organization calls for the contributions determined in the scale 
minus, where applicable, each State's share of th e distribution of the Organization's budget surpluses 
at the end of the preceding financial year (prescrib ed by Regulation 26 of the Financial Regulations) 
and the amount of interest credited under the Early Payment Encouragement Scheme.  The WTO has refunded budget surpluses since 2007. 
31. The following table shows that in 2009 there wa s only a slight improvement in the percentage 
of contributions paid in relation to assessed c ontributions as compared to 2008 and a very slight 
increase in contributions in arrears in 2009 (+1. 15 per cent) and in accumulated arrears (+1.76 per 
cent). 
Contributions by Member States assessed and paid in 2008 and 2009
 
 
  2008 2009 2009/2008 
% 
A. Statutory contributions by existing Member States 183,396,223 187,700,000 +2.34 
B. Statutory contributions by new Member States 375,052 0  
C. Distribution of the surplus among Member States 5,496,223 4,000,000 -27.22 
D. Interest earned and paid out to Member States 508,375 830,378 +63.39 
E. Total contributions assessed (E=A+B-C-D) 177,766,677 182,860,622 +2.86 
F. Total contributions paid 166,916,703 171,895,305 +2.98 
G. Arrears of contributions for the financial year 
(G=E-F) 10,849,974 10,974,317 +1.15 
H. Accumulated arrears of contributions 25,407,996 25,855,428 +1.76 
 
                                                      
8 The value of the WTO headquarters, estimated by its headquarters agreement and its infrastructure 
contract of 17 May 1995 to be CHF 56 million, has to be estimated at its "fair value", pursuant to IPSAS 17, taking into account the CHF 130 million for the planned work on the extension. 
9 Former Yugoslavia still counts as a Member of the WTO because of its contribution arrears. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 14  
 
  32. Payment arrears accounted for 6 per cent of the total amount of assessed contributions in 2009 
and accumulated payment arrears for 14.14 per cent of  the amount of statutory contributions for 2009 
(as against 13.85 per cent in 2008).  At 31 December  2009, 53 Member States out of 153 had payment 
arrears;  as in 2008, 24 of these had payment arre ars exceeding CHF 100,000;  the following are the 
highest amounts: 
 - United States of America (CHF 4,953,282 as against CHF 7,526,187 in 2008;  this 
debt only concerns 2009, the United Stat es regularly pays part of its annual 
contribution the following year); 
  - India (CHF 1,520,002 for 2008 alone); 
 
 - Chad (CHF 1,340,535);   - Sierra Leone (CHF 1,260,026);  
 - Mauritania (CHF 1,237,988). 
 33. The latter three countries have systematic arr ears which date back before 1988.  Among the 
24 countries mentioned above, 16 have debts datin g back to the years preceding 2004 and 11 have 
debts preceding 1988. 
34. To encourage countries to pay their contributio ns rapidly, which are due on 1 January each 
year according to Regulation 13 of the Financial Re gulations, the WTO pays them interest calculated 
between the date on which each one pays its c ontribution for the current financial year and 
31 December.  This interest is deducted from the amount of the assessed contributions with a two-year interval:  interest in 2007 lowered contributions for 2009. 
35. The WTO places countries in arrears into four categories, depriving them of a certain number 
of rights depending on the amount of their debt
10;  at the end of 2009, this procedure involved 
19 countries.  In accordance with our recommendati on, the Organization is at last trying to make 
arrangements with these countries for absorption of th eir debts:  the Director-General has proposed 
negotiations on such arrangements to all countries in  category 4.  In 2009, Gabon signed a plan to 
absorb its debts and Côte d'Ivoire is preparing to  do the same;  several countries with arrears made 
payments at the beginning of 2010 (Congo, Gambia, Mali, the Central African Republic and Senegal). 
2. Provision for contributions in arrears 
36. The accumulated amount of contributions in arr ears is the subject of two parallel accounting 
entries in the statement of financial position:  receivables in the form of contributions by 
Member States amounting to CHF 26,020,170 in the assets, and a provision for contributions in arrears of CHF 25,855,428 in the liabilities. 
37. The difference between these two amounts (CHF 164,742) arises from receivables from 
certain Member States for the Working Capital Fund.  This difference is not explained in Note 4 to the 
financial statements regarding receivables from Members and Observers. 
                                                     
 
10 For example, any country classified in category  2 (which has arrears of one to two years of 
contributions) is systematically ca lled to appear before each meeting of the WTO's General Council.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 15 
 
 
  Recommendation No. 7:  Note 4 to the financia l statements should list the various components 
of receivables from Member States, including the payments expected for the Working Capital 
Fund. 
 
Note 4 to the 2009 financial statements was immediately amended accordingly. 
 
38. It is quite normal to include all the receivabl es in the assets, but the provision should not 
cover 100 per cent of arrears in contributions, especi ally when contacts with the countries concerned 
and past experience allows the date  at which the arrears will be settled to be foreseen.  For example, 
there is no reason to make 100 per cent provision for the debt of the United States, the largest 
contributor to the Organization, which always pays part of its contribution in the following financial 
year. 
39. It would be more logical only to make 100 per cent provision for debts whose absorption 
appears uncertain and to adopt a lower rate of pr ovision (50 per cent, for example) in other cases. 
Recommendation No. 8:  The provision for contribu tions in arrears should be calculated taking 
into account the Organization's assessment of the risks of non-payment (confirmation of a 
recommendation for the previous financial year). 
 
Before the end of 2010, the WTO Secretariat will submit to the Committee on Budget, Finance and 
Administration an amendment for calculating the prov ision for contributions in arrears so that it can 
be put it into effect for the 2010 accounts. 
 
3. Contributions by Observers 
40. Observer States pay a contribution corresponding to the minimum contribution mentioned 
above for Member States.  Their number fell (from 32 to 3011) from 2008 to 2009, but the amount of 
assessed contributions rose by 2.33 per cent (from CHF 825,407 to CHF 844,650).12 
41. The amount of the contributions paid by Observers was CHF 606,307, as against 
CHF 506,027 in 2008 (+19.82 per cent). 
42. Arrears in contributions by Observers accounted for a total of CHF 1,036,708, a 15.38 per 
cent decrease in comparison with 2008 (CHF 1,255, 203).  The largest amounts concern the following 
countries: 
 - Sudan, whose arrears date from 1997 (CHF 279,951, as against CHF 251,796 in 
2008); 
  - Vanuatu, whose arrears date from 1995 (CHF 275,302, as against CHF 314,624, a 
14.28 per cent decrease); 
 
 - São Tome and Principe, whose arrears date from 2001 (CHF 219,409, as against 
CHF 191,254). 
 
- Seychelles, on the other hand, fully absorbed the accumulated arrears of 
CHF 247,644 recorded in 2008. 
                                                     
 
11 Ukraine and Cape Verde changed their status fr om that of Observer to that of Member on 
16 May 2008 and 23 July 2008, respectively. 
12 The amount of assessed contribu tions rose because the WTO asse sses not only the contributions 
owing for 2009 but, if there are arrears, also those owing for previous financial years. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 16  
 
   
43. In view of the volume of these arrears, last year it was recommended that negotiations be held 
with the countries concerned on plans to absorb their arrears and make provision for the risk of 
non-payment of these contributions, assessed realistica lly.  The WTO had replied that Observer States 
were candidates for accession and had to discharge their debts before they effectively acceded, in 
accordance with Regulation 15 of its Financial Re gulations, and that a special working group was 
addressing the issue.  An action plan should be adopted based on the working group's 
recommendations in order to absorb the debt of Observer States. 
Recommendation No. 9:  The WTO should adopt a plan to absorb contributions in arrears by 
Observer States. 
 
The working group on administrative measures is addressing the question and will report to the 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration. 
 
4. Voluntary contributions 
44. Total voluntary contributions received in 2009 (CHF 30,619,674) s howed a 19.42 per cent 
increase in comparison with 2008, which contributed  towards the aforementioned improvement in the 
WTO's cash situation.  The majority of these c ontributions (CHF 26,816,202 or 87.56 per cent) was 
recorded as income in the statement of financ ial performance because they financed trust fund 
activities in 2009;  the remainder (CHF 3,807,472) was recorded as deferred revenue in the statement 
of financial position under the heading " amounts due to donors "
13 because these voluntary 
contributions will finance subseque nt trust fund activities.  The total amount due to donors already 
mentioned (CHF 24,951,397) is t hus composed of both voluntary contributions received in 2009 and 
voluntary contributions recei ved in previous years. 
45. Schedule D to the financial statements, which shows the amount of voluntary contributions 
received in 2009 and their breakdown by donor country and by trust fund, does not show the figures 
for the previous financial year, which is prejudicial  to a proper understanding of the trend in trust fund 
financing. 
Recommendation No. 10:  The total amount of voluntary contributions received in the course of 
the preceding financial year and its breakdown by donor country and by trust fund should be 
shown in an annex to the financial statemen ts (confirmation of a recommendation for the 
previous financial year). 
 
The distribution of the balance remaining in each of the extra-budgetary funds to donors at the end of 
the year is determined by the agreements signed with  the donors.  In general, these specify that the 
remaining balance is distributed pro rata to the voluntary contributions received during the year plus 
the amount in the donor credit at the end of th e previous financial year and interest.  Additional 
information will be added to the 2010 financial statements.  
5. Refund of tax by the United States of America 
46. Staff members of the WTO are exempt from income tax.  In the case of the United States of 
America, whose residents are obliged to pay income  tax, the WTO pays it in their place, as do other 
international organizations, and is  then reimbursed by the Ameri can Government, pursuant to an 
agreement of 22 December 2000. 
                                                     
 
13 See the section on deferred revenue above.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 17 
 
 
  47. In 2009, receivables in relation to United St ates taxes amounted to CHF 2,994,063, an 
increase of 3.88 per cent in comparison with 2008, despite a refund of CHF 849,865 in 2009 
(although the United States Government made no ref und in 2008).  This increase is caused by the 
larger number of WTO staff members previously residing in the United States (27 in 2007 and 36 in 2008), but above all by the fiscal charge per st aff member, which rose by 29.94 per cent in 2009, 
notably because of the fall in the United States dollar/Swiss franc exchange rate.
14 
48. The United States refunds according to the " first income method ", even though this involves 
additional costs (CHF 135,802 in 2009), which cannot be recovered and are shared among all 
Member States, although this is contrary to the " last-income method " prescribed by the case law of the 
Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour  Organization (ILOAT).  The WTO has asked the 
United States to comply with this case law, without any result. 
49. Pursuant to our recommendation, the aforem entioned additional cost has indeed been 
mentioned in Note 6 to the financial statements among the receivables. 
50. Contrary to the indications given in 2009, th e Organization has not outsourced the handling of 
requests for refunds by the United States. 
Recommendation No. 11:  The WTO should pursu e its efforts to (i) accelerate refund by the 
United States of the taxes of WTO staff who resided there;  (ii) obtain this refund according to the method stipulated by the Administrative Tr ibunal of the International Labour Organization 
(partial confirmation of a recommendation  for the previous financial year). 
 
The WTO is pursuing its efforts, with the support of the United States Mission to the WTO. 
 
C. E
XCHANGE LOSSES  
51. The exchange losses listed under expenditure in  the statement of financial performance 
increased more than fourfold between 2008 (CHF 267 ,572) and 2009 (CHF 1,210,266).  For the most 
part they concern operations covered by the regular budget (CHF 1,174,425) and are mainly 
attributable to the translation of foreign currenc y in the WTO's bank accounts into Swiss francs.  
These translations are made each month and resu lted in a total accounting loss of CHF 1,160,350.03 
in 2009.  They chiefly concern accounts held in United States dollars. 
Monthly gains and losses (in Swiss francs) on dollar accounts  
 
Period Currency Debit Credit Balance 
January 2009 USD 1,602,506.84 1,024,791.55 577,715.29 
February 2009 USD 1,244,866.14 1,602,506.84 -357,640.70 
March 2009 USD 1,192,912.42 1,244,957.22 -52,044.80 
April 2009 USD 1,233,725.48 1,193,003.50 40,721.98 
May 2009 USD 1,171,062.07 1,233,634.40 -62,572.33 
June 2009 USD 1,385,931.08 1,170,970.99 214,960.09 
July 2009 USD 1,473,321.47 1,385,931.08 87,390.39 
August 2009 USD 1,483,860.24 1,473,321.47 10,538.77 
September 2009 USD 1,683,585.56 1,483,860.24 199,725.32 
                                                      
14 This fall in the exchange rate increases the dollar value of the salaries of WTO officials' who pay tax 
in the United States, of which an increasingly large number become taxable (income earned abroad only being 
taxed by the United States tax authorities above a certain ceiling). WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 18  
 
  Period Currency Debit Credit Balance 
October 2009 USD 3,557,187.65 3,462,135.42 95,052.23 
November 2009 USD 1,879,237.29 1,778,637.79 100,599.50 
December 2009 USD 1,990,125.64  1,879,237.29 110,888.35 
TOTAL 19,898,321.88 18,932,987.79 965,334.09 
 
52. The monthly gains, but above all the losses, thus re corded appear to be disproportionate to the 
account balances in the banks concerned a nd to exchange rate trends in 2010. 
53. Verification of a sample of exchange transac tions shows that the losses recorded could be 
caused by variations in the different exchange rates used by the Organization and not by actual 
exchange losses.  For example, one Member paid  US$4,736,629 of its c ontribution on 14 May 2009 
and the next day was refunded US$478,135.17 paid in  excess.  This refund led to recording of an 
"exchange loss " of CHF 11,342.40, the result of the diffe rence between the two exchange rates used, 
respectively, for recording the invoice issued by the Member on 15 May and for paying the invoice on the same day: 
 - The invoice for US$478,135.17 was recorded at the "manual" exchange rate 
furnished by the bank of CHF 1.112278/US$, giving a total of CHF 531,819.20; 
  - the payment was recorded at the United Nations exchange rate of CHF 1.136/US$, 
giving a total of CHF 543,161.60; 
  - difference between the aforementioned sums:  CHF 11,324.40 in " exchange losses ". 
 
54. In this transaction, the "loss" recorded obviously results from an incorrect method of 
calculating exchange rate variations and in no way corresponds to an actual exchange loss.  The error 
stems from the use of two different exchange rates:  the daily bank rate, called the "manual" rate, used 
by the accountants to convert contributions in fore ign currency on the day they are paid, in accordance 
with the Financial Regulations, and the monthly rate  of the United Nations, chosen by the WTO as its 
official rate for all other transactions and auto matically used by the Oracle accounting software. 
55. Another example concerns the payment of a tax on interest on the Organization's investment 
in pounds sterling, entered into the accounts at  the United Nations rate as CHF 19,524.46 and 
reimbursed by the Swiss tax authorities at the exchange  rate in effect on the day of the transaction as 
CHF 18,620.20 meaning an " exchange loss " of CHF 634.20, here again because of the difference 
between the two rates used and not because of an actual loss. 
56. It thus appears that in part the exchange  losses recorded by the WTO in its financial 
statements are not really exchange losses:  it is impossible to calculate the amount of the error made 
without verifying each transaction that resulted in an exchange loss or gain.  It is likely that the 
amount of this error is considerable and it is highly desirable that it be corrected. 
57. The Organization should revise its accounting met hods so as to avoid any repetition of this 
error, possibly by using a single exchange rate for its  transactions.  A priori using the rate applicable 
to inter-bank transactions would be the easiest solu tion.  This issue should be addressed rapidly and 
should lead to a revision of the accounting proce dures concerned and the necessary adjustment of the 
Oracle accounting software.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 19 
 
 
  Recommendation No. 12:  The WTO should (i) verify all accounting operations resulting in 
exchange rate variations;  and (ii) consider a method for calculating such differences, limiting 
the possibility of error as far as possible. 
 
Exchange gains and losses are recorded in conform ity with WTO's accounting procedures.  The 
WTO's Financial Rules specify that contributions paid in foreign currency are converted at the day's 
bank rate and that other transactions are converted  at the rate called the WTO exchange rate.  The 
Rules also refer to exchange gains and losses as  a result of revaluation of the foreign currency 
balances. 
 
The two examples cited by the external auditor c oncern an exchange loss on transactions.  They were 
recorded in conformity with the accounting procedures in effect. 
 
The Secretariat records all transactions in foreign currency other than contributions received at a 
rate which changes each month and is furnished by the United Nations.  Each month, the foreign 
currency positions are revalued using the new rat es to be applied.  The exchange gains and losses 
account covers gains and losses made on transactions  carried out in foreign  currency such as the 
two examples cited by the external auditor, but also  gains and losses on the monthly revaluations.  It 
is essentially the latter (accounting for 98.8 per cent) that are the origin of the exchange losses in 
2009. 
 
Gains and losses on the monthly revaluations are autom atically calculated by the Oracle accounting 
system on the basis of the monthly rates entere d manually.  The Secretariat has verified the rates 
entered and has not noted any difference.  The a ccounting method and the accounting system used for 
this calculation did not change in  2008 or 2009.  The Secretariat is currently revising the parameters 
for the complex calculations made by the acc ounting system and since its introduction has contacted 
the publisher of the Oracle software.  Consideratio n is being given to using an external expert to 
validate the methodology. 
 
The Secretariat awaits the outcome of this revi ew and its findings before making any changes in its 
accounting methods. 
 D. S
TAFF COSTS  
58. Verification of the salaries and allowances paid  to WTO staff in 2009, on the basis of 
samples, has not disclosed any irregular ities, with the exception of two cases. 
59. One staff member on a temporary contract received three months' salary as a termination 
indemnity at the end of the contract.  There is no provision for such a non-contractual indemnity in the 
Financial Regulations and it was given because of the delay in notifying the staff member (who had 
been given several successive temporary contracts over a number of years) that the contract would not be renewed, in accordance with a judgement of th e Administrative Tribunal of the International 
Labour Organization in a case in which there was a delay in deciding not to renew a contract after several successive temporary contracts had been given over a period of three years. 
60. This application of case law cannot be contested, but the letter notifying the staff member 
concerned, dated 13 January 2010, was signed by an  official who had not been given any delegation 
of authority to notify such a decision. 
61. A "post" allowance of CHF 2,500.20 was given to a staff member without justification.  It 
was orally indicated that it corresponded to reimburseme nt of the cost of petrol, which is not covered 
either by the Regulations or by the staff member's contract. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 20  
 
  Recommendation No. 13:  The WTO should (i) publish a list of delegations of authority given to 
its officials and keep this list up to date;  and (ii) ensure that supporting documents are submitted for the allowances it pays. 
 
The WTO is in the process of finalizing a document that provides a list of delegations of authority.  
This list will be updated so that staff members are aware of their resp ective responsibilities.  
Regarding the second point, the WTO requires the submission of supporting documents for the 
indemnities it pays and will pursue its efforts in this regard. 
 
E. A
SSETS  
1. Cash flow 
62. A discrepancy has been noted between the amount s of short-term investment and on-demand 
deposits shown, respectively, in Note 3 to the fi nancial statements and in  the overall balance at 
31 December 2009. 
Discrepancy between Note 3 and the overall balance  
 
Cash and cash equivalents 2009 Balance Note 3 to the financial 
statements 
Cash 10,000 10,000 
Cash at bank by currency   
CHF 33,467,074 43,342,074 
USD 50,980 50,980, 
EUR 71,239 71,239 
GBP 27,397 27,397 
Total cash 33,626,689 43,501,689 
CHF short-term investments 19,875,000 10,000,000 
UDS short-term investments 2,302,300 2,302,300 
EUR short-term investments 2,714,400 2,714,400 
GBP short-investments 167,100 167,100 
Total short-term investment 25,058,800 15,183,800 
Total cash and cash equivalents 58,685,489 58,685,489 
 
63. The discrepancy is in the balance in account  No. 14 030 000 in the overall balance concerning 
the Organization's Working Capital Fund's short-term  investment (CHF 19,875,000 at the close of the 
financial year), which was incorporated into on-demand deposits in Note 3. 
64. This discrepancy has no effect on the acc ounts line (the total amount of cash and cash 
equivalents shown in the statement of financial position), but Note 3 does not reflect the actual 
division of cash between on-demand deposits in th e current accounts and short-term investment.  
Accordingly, the Note should be corrected. 
Recommendation No. 14:  Note 3 to the financia l statements showing the breakdown of cash and 
cash equivalents should be brought into line wi th the overall balance as regards the amount of 
short-term investment and on-demand deposits. 
 
Note 3 to the 2009 financial statements was immediately amended accordingly. 
  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 21 
 
 
  65. Note 3 also gives information on the term of investment.  In order to comply fully with 
IPSAS 15 on financial instruments disclosure and presentation, it should be completed by comments 
concerning the financial targets set, the investment risk s, particularly future changes in interest rates 
(paragraph 64 of the Standard) and the controls carried out (paragraph 48).  The Organization has 
formalized its investment policy in a document that  has not yet been adopted officially, although its 
broad outlines should be indicated in Note 3. 
Recommendation No. 15:  Note 3 should in future be supplemented by comments concerning the 
financial targets, investment-related  risks and the supervision exercised. 
 
Note 3 will contain additional information on th e cash management policy in the 2010 financial 
statements.  
66. The term for the Organization's investments in foreign currency varied from ten to 116 days 
in 2009.  The interest earned on these investments is not recorded at the exchange rate for the month 
in which the investment matures but that of the month of investment, without taking into account 
either its term or its date of receipt. 
67. The WTO's Financial Rules do not specify any particular way of recording interest on 
investment in foreign currency, but Rule 7.7(c) does provide that " Contributions received in a 
currency other than the Swiss franc shall be convert ed and credited at the bank rate of exchange at 
the time of receipt indicated by the value date and recorded at the WTO rate of exchange ".  This Rule 
could be applied when recording the receipt of interest on foreign currency investments. 
68. Furthermore, IPSAS 4 (paragraph 17) specifies that " A foreign currency transaction should 
be recorded, on initial recognition in the repor ting currency, by applying to the foreign currency 
amount the exchange rate between the reporting cu rrency and the foreign currency at the date of the 
transaction. " 
Recommendation No. 16:  The WT O should record interest on its foreign currency investments 
at the exchange rate in effect on the day the interest is received.  
 The Secretariat currently  uses the monthly exchange rate fu rnished by the United Nations for 
all transactions other than contributions received.  The Secretariat will consider the change to the 
rate applicable to interest in foreign currency.  Since 1 January 2010, the Secretariat has changed 
how interest received in foreign curre ncy is recorded by using the exchange rate for the month of 
receipt.  
2. Property, plant and equipment 
69. In the transition to IPSAS, the Organization w ill have to record its tangible assets as property, 
plant and equipment (instead of costs at the time of their purchase), amortize them for the duration of 
their economic lifespan, and list them.  Th ese operations raise the following problems. 
(a) Selection of the threshold for capita lizing property, plant and equipment 
70. The WTO Secretariat is considering recordi ng its assets of a value exceeding CHF 5,000 as 
property, plant and equipment in order to lim it the cost of recordin g these assets following the 
necessary revisions of the accounts.  According to IPSAS 17, the elements to be taken into account 
when recording these are the purchase price, non-refunda ble taxes, the cost of bringing the asset to 
working condition, and any trade discounts and reba tes (deducted from the aforementioned elements), 
whereas the Oracle accounting system values purchases of assets at the invoice price and the database WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 22  
 
  of computer equipment and infrastructure values them according to the amounts on the purchase 
orders. 
71. The system envisaged is acceptable, particularly  as the Secretariat is considering lowering the 
CHF 5,000 threshold subsequently, but has the disadvantage of ignoring a large part of the computer equipment, which has to be amortized as its ec onomic lifespan exceeds one year, and its aggregate 
value is significant.  It would therefore be advisab le to combine elements whose individual value is 
low and record them globally as property, plant an d equipment, in accordance with paragraph 18 of 
IPSAS 17:  " This standard does not prescribe the unit of me asure for recognition, i.e. what constitutes 
an item of property, plant and equipment.  Thus , judgment is required in applying the recognition 
criteria to an entity's specific circumstances.  It  may be appropriate to aggregate individually 
insignificant items, such as library books, computer peripherals and small items of equipment, and to 
apply the criteria to the aggregate value ." 
Recommendation No. 17:  Computer equipment of a value not exceeding CHF 5,000 should be 
aggregated and recorded under property, plant and equipment, in accordance with paragraph 18 of IPSAS 17. 
 
The Secretariat will finalize its approach to monitori ng the property, plant and equipment accounts in 
2010 in order to record the opening position at the be ginning of 2011.  Consideration will be given to 
aggregating certain assets of a value not exceeding CHF 5,000. 
 
(b) Determining the term for amortizati on of property, plant and equipment 
72. The Secretariat is considering amortizing comput er equipment over a period of four years and 
infrastructure over a period of five years.  This sep aration into two categories appears too restrictive 
inasmuch as infrastructure encomp asses a wide variety of elements (photocopiers, office equipment).  
It would therefore be advisable to place the as sets in several categories with different economic 
lifespans. 
Recommendation No. 18:  Assets should be gr ouped into several categories for recording as 
fixed assets and each category's period of amorti zation should reflect its economic lifespan. 
 
The Secretariat will take into account the economic lif espan of assets in order to determine their term 
of amortization. 
 (c) Methods for monitoring property, plant and equipment 
73. Property, plant and equipment should be mon itored in the Organization's Oracle accounting 
software, whose data should be reconciled with those in the regular physical inventories.
15  T h i s  
procedure raises several problems. 
74. First of all, the data currently in the Oracle system do not correspond to those in the database 
of computer equipment and infrastructure in several  respects:  the prices recorded, already mentioned 
above, differ;  the provisions for outstanding commit ments in Oracle do not always correspond to the 
actual deliveries of equipment;  security e quipment comes under the heading "investment 
expenditure" in Oracle, but is not included in the infrastructure database.  Despite efforts by the 
                                                      
15 For the time being, only WTO publications an d computer equipment are the subject of regular 
physical inventories.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 23 
 
 
  Secretariat to reconcile these two categories of data, a difference of CHF 311,00 still remains.16  
Creating an interface between these different systems would facilitate procedures in the Organization. 
Recommendation No. 19:  An interface should  be created between the accounts management 
system and the databases for monitori ng property, plant and equipment. 
 
The Secretariat is evaluating the various options for monitoring the property, plant and equipment 
account.  In any event, the data will be reconc iled with those in the accounting systems. 
 
F. PLANNED EXTENSION TO WTO  HEADQUARTERS  
75. The project for the refurbishment and ex tension of WTO headquarters comprises 
three overlapping stages: 
 - Refurbishment of the headquarters (Centre William Rappard or CWR) already under 
way (from January 2009 to July 2012), co mmissioned by the Building Foundation for 
International Organisations (FIPOI); 
 
 - " intra-muros " extension of the headquarters (roof ing over and equipping two internal 
courtyards), from July 2010 to December 2012, for which the WTO is the commissioning organization;  and 
  - the " extra-muros " extension (construction of a new building and underground car 
park next to the CWR), from March 2011 to December 2012, also commissioned by 
the WTO. 
 76. The legal and political risks liable to jeopard ize the aforementioned timetables have been 
resolved:  the sponsors lost the municipal refe rendum on the public initiativ e of 25 September 2009 
for the purpose of opposing the change to the three security perimeters around the WTO site needed in 
order to construct a new building.  On 19 March 2010, the Grand Council of the Canton of Geneva 
unanimously adopted a law modifying the aforemen tioned perimeters.  The building permit for the 
intra-muros  extension was granted in June 2010.  The application for the permit for the extra-muros  
extension was submitted at the end of June 2010.  As the period required for granting building permits 
in Switzerland is six months, work should begin in early 2011. 
1. Project supervision arrangements 
77. The WTO has fully taken into account our previous recommendations and is taking the 
following measures to reinforce supervision of the project to extend its headquarters: 
 - A new architect-civil engineer with long e xperience in the construction industry in 
Switzerland was appointed as overall supervisor of the project;  he is responsible for 
supervising the projects for the intra-muros  and extra-muros  sites and oversees 
FIPOI's contribution to the refurbishmen t of the CWR;  he has one full-time 
collaborator for the project in the Budget and Finance Section; 
  - he participates in the committee monito ring the project, composed of representatives 
of all the Organization's senior management concerned and chaired by the Director-General's Deputy Chef de Cabinet;  the committee's role is to prepare for 
any arbitration that may be necessary if there are problems; 
 
                                                     
 
16 See the document "IPSAS Project.  Final assessment.  Tangible fixed assets" of 17 March 2010. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 24  
 
   - a project director, the Swiss company Pom+Consulting, was appointed in 
January 2010 following a call for bids, t hus outsourcing direct responsibility for the 
building sites, in accordance with our reco mmendation;  it has a three-member team; 
  - two general enterprises were select ed for the buildi ng work for the intra-muros  and 
extra-muros  extensions
17, following a call for bids in May 2010;  they are supervised 
by the director of the project, representing the commissioning organization; 
  - the WTO appointed FIPOI's architect, Groupe  8, responsible for the refurbishment of 
the building, for the intra-muros  extension, as both sites concern the same building;  
the firm Wittfoht Architekten of Stuttgart was selected for the extra-muros  extension 
following a competition. 
 
2. Financing of the project 
78. The overall cost of the project was set at CHF 130 million, to be financed by a grant of 
CHF 70 million from the Federal Government and an interest-free loan of CHF 60 million for 
50 years, granted by the Government through the FIPOI.  The table below shows the breakdown of 
this financing by operation.  The loan is dis bursed in tranches according to progress made in the 
project and following authorization from Parliamen t:  the first tranche, amounting to CHF 500,000 
was used to finance the arch itectural competition for the extra-muros  extension.
18  The loan will start 
to be reimbursed after the project has been complete d.  The grant will also be disbursed in tranches. 
Breakdown of costs and financing (in CHF millions ) 
 
Operation Financing by the 
grant Financing by the 
loan Total 
Refurbishment 45  45 
Intra-muros  extension   20 20 
Extra-muros  extension  10 
(for the car park) 40 
(for the building) 50 
Rental of the building in the 
chemin des Mines19 15  15 
Total 70 60 130 
 
79. In order to respect the ceiling of CHF 130 million for the project and the envelope of 
CHF 50 million allocated for the extra-muros  extension, the latter's scope has been diminished by 
reducing the width of the building, eliminating the fi fth floor originally envisaged, and making the car 
park 10 metres narrower.  Neverthe less, the capacity of the buildin g and its underground car park has 
not been reduced because the usable  floor area in comparison with th e area of the building has been 
increased and traffic flow improved. 
                                                      
17 Two Swiss companies were selected:  Implenia for the extra-muros  extension and HRS for the 
intra-muros  extension. 
18 This loan and its utilization appear, respectively,  in the liabilities and assets (under the heading 
"current work ") in the statement of financial position and are commented on in Note 8 to the financial 
statements. 
19 The rental of a building in the chemin des Mines, near WTO headquarters, enables some of the staff 
to be accommodated while th e project is completed.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 25 
 
 
  80. The auditors will follow up work on the project over the next few months, verifying in 
particular observance of the deadlines and budgets fixed and the capacity of the headquarters to 
accommodate 1,000 officials and outside partic ipants in meetings organized by the WTO.20 
G. LIABILITIES AND OTHER COSTS  
1. Provision for accrued liability 
81. The WTO records accrued liability when paying invoi ces.  At the end of the year, outstanding 
commitments (purchase orders or contracts not yet implemented) are reviewed to determine those which have to remain open because the service still h as to be provided and which are included in the 
provision for outstanding commitments. 
82. According to an interpretation of IPSAS 9, pa ragraphs 19 and 28, the Organization should 
record its charges when the goods are delivered or the service is provided.  The Secretariat does not, 
however, envisage changing its Oracle accounting system for the moment in order to comply with this 
element of the IPSAS:  charges will continue to be  recorded at the time the invoice is paid and an 
estimate of the services actually provided will be made at the end of the year. 
83. Changing the accounting system to record charges at the time of supply would do away with 
this end-of-year estimate. 
Recommendation No. 20:  The WTO should modi fy its accounting system so as to record 
charges when goods ordered are delivered or wh en services commissioned are provided in order 
to calculate automatically the charges to be  paid at the end of the financial year. 
 
The Secretariat will consider changing its accounti ng system in order to record charges when the 
goods are delivered or the service is provided.  
84. When the provision for outstanding commitments ma de at the end of the financial year is 
overestimated, the WTO corrects this by recording th e surplus in an income account, thereby applying 
Regulation 23 of the Organization's Financial Regula tions, which provide that reversal of provisions 
should be recorded as miscellaneous income and be included in the surplus distributed to 
Member States at the end of the financial year. 
85. This method does not comply with IPSAS 12, pa ragraph 44, concerning the reversal of any 
write-down, applicable by analogy, which provides th at reversal of provisions should be recognized as 
a reduction in commitments.  It would be advisable for the WTO to amend this aspect of its Financial 
Regulations to bring them into line with IPSAS. 
Recommendation No. 21:  The WTO should amen d Regulation 23 of its Financial Regulations 
in order to be able to record provisions carri ed over for charges payable by deducting them 
from the charges account. 
 
The Secretariat will consider the n ecessary changes to its Financial Regulations and submit them to 
Members in 2011.  
2. Travel expenses 
86. Travel management includes travel by officials, consultants, candidates for posts at the WTO 
and technical cooperation trainees when arriving at the WTO, or undertaking missions, as well as 
                                                     
 
20 There can be as many as 2,000 participants in one day (see our report for 2009). WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 26  
 
  travel for the families of officials going on leave a nd travel by children receiving the education grant 
going back to their place of study.  The WTO Trav el Unit, comprising three officials in 2010, is 
responsible for this travel with the exception of tr avel to seminars, which is  managed by the Technical 
Cooperation Unit (see the section on the Doha Fund). 
87. In any event, the travel regime is dete rmined in Administrative Memorandum No. 957 
OFFICE (05)/58 of 1 September 2005 on mission trav el.  Some parts of this document are not 
prescriptive (for example, paragraph 8 states that " A staff member should consult with the Travel 
Unit … ") and uses the conditional tense to an unusual degree, giving the impression that its regulatory 
nature is not fully affirmed.  It does not take  into account the new de centralized management 
procedures for travel authorizations recently im plemented, contrary to a recent recommendation from 
the Office of Internal Audit.  Since 1 January 20 10, travel by permanent staff members has been 
governed by the "e-travel" software, which has an  interface with the Oracle accounting system.  
Lastly, it is indicated that, " The normal mode of transportation shall be by air .", whereas rail should 
be the preferred mode for short distances, in  accordance with WTO's policy on sustainable 
development. 
88. WTO has joined 16 other international organizati ons to negotiate the best possible fares from 
some 30 airlines, but officials may choose a compan y proposing a fare higher than the maximum of 
CHF 250 for travel in Europe and CHF 500 for travel  outside Europe in comparison with the cheapest 
fare. 
89. Tickets are issued by the company Carlson Wagonlit Travel , the WTO's official travel 
agency.  The agreement with the latter covers the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2012 and is 
renewable.  The company is essentially remunerate d by a 0.80 per cent margin on the volume of 
tickets it issues.  Even though the agency undertakes to  give its client the benefit of the best possible 
tariff policy, this mode of remuneration is not directly based on the qu est for efficiency and 
optimization of costs.  The agency could be encour aged to negotiate lower prices for the WTO's most 
frequent destinations.  The efforts it makes to lowe r costs should be examined in the course of the 
systematic review of the agency's travel policy by  the Organization:  there has already been such a 
review but it only concerned an analysis of the qu ality of the service.  This could be taken into 
account in the agency's remuneration when its  agreement is modified in the future. 
90. In December 2009, payment of tickets was str eamlined by using a weekly summary of the 
invoices issued by Carlson Wagonlit Travel , which previously issued one invoice per ticket.  In 
addition, the co-contractor regularly provides a summary of "missavings", i.e. the excess cost 
authorized by the Organization for some tickets in  comparison with the cheapest offer proposed by the 
agency. 
91. A sample of 30 invoices for travel expenses in  2009 was examined.  It was noted that no 
supporting documents (boarding cards or train tickets) were attached to the majority of the requests 
for reimbursement.  On the other hand, the suppor ting documents for payment of other costs were 
usually provided.  In 2010, however, supporting do cuments for travel expenses were systematically 
required, pursuant to a recommendation by the Office of Internal Audit.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 27 
 
 
  Recommendation No. 22:  In order to use trave l costs as efficiently as possible and exercise 
better control over them, the WTO should (i ) update Administrative Memorandum No. 957 
OFFICE (05)/58 of 1 September 2005, notably by  requiring the systematic submission of 
supporting documents to substantiate any trave l expenditure;  and (ii) encourage its travel 
agency to obtain lower rates for certain destin ations and accordingly consider adjusting the 
agency's remuneration.  
The Secretariat has undertaken a review of its travel  policy, which it hopes to finalize by the end of 
2010.  It will also consider the possibility of apply ing a remuneration policy to encourage the lowest 
fares.  It is not yet aware of any system currently available on the market. 
 
3. Security costs 
92. Most of the Organization's security costs, incl uding those for surveillance of the headquarters, 
are outsourced to the company Protectas , in accordance with two consecutive contracts:  the first was 
for the period from 2005 to 31 August 2009;  the sec ond contract, signed after a new call for bids, 
started on 1 September 2009. 
93. This contract provides for fixed monthly ser vices in making personnel available (amounting 
to CHF 306,632.65 in December 2009)  and variable ancillary services, which represent a minimum of 
5 per cent of the aforementioned fixed services. 
94. Verification of all the security invoices paid to the company Protectas  in 2009 
(CHF 4,276,441.30) showed that they exactly matc h the payments for the financial year, but there 
were two problems: 
 - The lack of any official list of persons authorized to certify the service provided and 
the consistency of the invoices with the cont ract;  a list of authorized officials was 
prepared but never approved;  this omi ssion is contrary to Rule 7.1 of the 
WTO's Financial Rules, which states that supporting documents " must show that the 
payment has been approved by a du ly authorised Certifying Officer "; 
  - the absence of a final report at the end of  the first contract (31 August 2009) giving a 
full list of the costs paid under this contract. 
 95. There is no provision in the Organization's Fina ncial Regulations for such a report, but it 
would be good practice to verify in particular that the clauses and the amounts under each contract 
have been respected. 
Recommendation No. 23:  The WTO should (i) draw up a list of persons authorized to certify 
expenditure committed;  and (ii) at the end of each contract, draw up a list of all the costs 
incurred in connection with this contract. 
 
All expenditure committed and paid by the Secretar iat undergoes several chec ks at different levels, 
not only in the divisions but also in the Budget and Finance Section.  Only a limited number of persons are authorized to certify expenditure in th e divisions and they will be formally designated.  
The Procurement Section deals with all calls for bids and sends out orders and contracts.  
Expenditure on procurement is follo wed up annually as part of the budget monitoring process.  The 
introduction of a final report at the end of the contract will be made a formality for multi-year 
contracts. 
 WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 28  
 
  IV. PERFORMANCE AUDITS 
A. D
OHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA GLOBAL TRUST FUND (DDAGTF) 
1. The position of the Fund and of extra-budgetary expenditure as a whole in WTO's 
expenditure 
96. The DDAGTF is the largest of the WTO's extra-budgetary funds:  in 2009, its total 
expenditure was CHF 18.39 million, or 62.20 per cen t of all the Organization's extra-budgetary funds 
(CHF 29.57 million). 
97. The income available to the Fund is increasing (from CHF 22.90 to CHF 29.26 million from 
2005 to 2009) and exceeds actual annual expenditure;  the annual credit brought forward was some 
CHF 7.5 million from 2005 to 2007  and CHF 10.8 million in 2009. 
Annual income and expenditure of the DDAGTF Fund  
 
 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 
Brought forward from 
previous year 5,457,688 7,584,845 7,266,603 7,778,416 9.541,433 
Contributions 
received 17,528,283 18,187,859 18,701 ,871 18,575,868 19,676,895 
Transfers from/to 
other funds -150,000 -225,000 281,163 0 0 
Interest earned 65,172 107,327 212,821 221,935 46,180 
Total funds 22.901,143 22,655,031 26,462,458 26,576,219 29,264,508 
Total expenditure 15,316,298 18,388,428  18,684,042 17,034,786 18,395,512 
Balance carried 
forward 7,584,845 7,266,603 7,778,416 9,541,433 10,868,997 
Source : Audit Court and WTO (document WT/COMTD/W/168). 
98. Each year, some CHF 11.5 million are added to the Fund's resources from the WTO's regular 
budget, which also finances the Organization's technical assistance and training activities. 
Training and technical assistance expenditure financed through the  
Organization's regular budget (in Swiss francs ) 
 
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 
10,451,300 10,718,848 11,387 ,531 11,777,574 11,041,68921 
Source : WTO (Budget and Finance Section). 
99. The share of extra-budgetary expenditure in th e WTO's total expenditure, namely, 12.38 per 
cent in 2009, is much lower than that  in other international organizations. 
100. This situation is a priori more satisfactory th an that in other organizations, where programmes 
financed through voluntary contributions play a mu ch larger role and are constantly increasing, 
                                                      
21 In 2009, expenditure on training  and technical assistance in the re gular budget decreased because of 
the renovation work being carried out at WTO headquarters, which meant that certain rooms were not available 
for training.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 29 
 
 
  thereby making internal governance more complex, because donor countries are likely to have much 
greater influence on operations than senior management. 
101. The share of extra-budgetary expenditure in fact virtually corresponds to the rate of the levy 
(13 per cent) on such expenditure for the Organizat ion's overheads related to programmes financed 
through voluntary contributions.  It will be seen be low, however, that the actual retrocession to the 
regular budget by the Organization is very low. 
2. The role of the Fund 
102. The training and technical assistance policy for developing countries has been one of the 
WTO's statutory missions, since the Doha Declaration. 
103. The DDAGTF was set up in December 2001 pursuant to the commitments made in 
paragraphs 38 to 41 of the Doha Declaration, whic h called on the WTO to finance technical assistance 
programmes " to assist developing and least-developed countries and low-income countries in 
transition to adjust to WTO rules and disciplines, implement obligations and exercise the rights of 
membership, including drawing on the benefits of  an open, rules-based multilateral trading system ". 
104. It brings together several pre-existing extra-budge tary funds so as to give a straightforward 
and comprehensive picture of the Organization's tec hnical assistance efforts.  Its objective is also to 
streamline management and limit the numerous traditi onal specificities of each fund and donor.  This 
dual objective of clarity and comprehens iveness has not been fully attained. 
105. In practice, the Fund is managed by the In stitute for Training and Technical Cooperation 
(ITTC), fully integrated within the WTO's depart ment No. 2, under the responsibility of the Deputy 
Director-General responsible for cooperation.  Its new director was appointed in early 2008 and has 
initiated a policy to "realign" the Institute, as mentioned below. 
3. The Fund's activities 
106. In the biennial technical assistance and training plan for 2008-2009 (document 
WT/COMTD/W/160 of 2 November 2007) the Fund's activities are grouped into the five categories 
described in the annex: 
 (i) General technical assistance and training; 
  (ii) specialized and advanced technical assistance and training;   (iii) academic support for tr aining and capacity-building; 
 
 (iv) trainee programmes and internships; 
  (v) E-learning.  
4. "Realigning" the training and technical assistance policy 
107. This plethora of activities is the result of the Institution's history (the Geneva trade policy 
courses, the flagship of training activities, were created shortly after the adoption of the GATT in 
1948) and are intended to meet the numerous demands from Members.  In order to clarify this policy and make it more effective, the ITTC has recently proposed a new biennial technical assistance and training plan for 2010-2011 (see document WT/COMTD/W/170 of 29 September 2009). WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 30  
 
  108. This "realignment" plan has the following objectives: 
 (i) To clarify the goals of the WTO's many traditional training programmes, targeting 
each activity to a particular public (beginners or experts, officials from Member countries, officials in delegations in  Geneva or in the capitals, academics, 
parliamentarians and representatives of civil society). 
 
 (ii) To classify course levels by their degree of difficulty and specialization and to 
introduce a mandatory passage between various courses so that those taking part in more complex training courses would previously have participated in simpler programmes;  this concern responds to one of the criticisms most often made in the 
questionnaires on satisfaction given to partic ipants, who complained of the differing 
levels of participants, meaning that th e more competent among them were wasting 
time. 
  (iii) To make greater use of on-line learning through the Internet, which is not only less 
costly but can also reach a larger number of beneficiaries: 
 
- As part of this policy, attendance in a lecture room is henceforward subject to 
prior participation in an on-line c ourse (the on-line courses that should 
precede each type of face-to-face training are specified); 
- some specialized training modules are divided into two parts, an on-line 
course followed by a face-to-face course to complete it. 
 (iv) To develop the interactive nature of tr aining in order to teach beneficiaries, usually 
officials from developing countries, to fulfil their responsibilities related to international trade and multilateral negotiations  for their countries;  with this aim in 
view, case studies are the preferred method and face-to-face training is chiefly 
devoted to exercises based on the actual activ ities of the officials concerned, with the 
prior on-line training used for basic theoretical training. 
  (v) To improve the selection of "national" and "regional" activities, taking into account 
Members' demands, instead of proposing training on the same topics each year, given to the same groups of countries, the Orga nization's Technical Cooperation Audit Unit 
quite rightly complaining of the automatic and inflexible nature of the programming 
of training (see the annual report of this Unit, document WT/COMTD/W/169);  for this purpose, the role of the ITTC's "regional offices"
22 has been reinforced to ensure 
permanent contact with capital-based officials. 
 
 (vi) To raise the level of training, in particular by: 
 
- Systematically selecting participants  from the lists proposed by their 
countries of origin23; 
- recognition of individual training achievements; 
                                                      
22 These offices carry out their activities in Geneva. 
23 The training is intended not only for nationals of Member countries, but also those of Observer 
countries and countries candidates for accession.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 31 
 
 
  - subsequent evaluation of the quality of  each course and its impact on the 
officials concerned and the performance of their countries in relation to international trade and multilateral trade negotiations; 
- setting up a WTO "train-the-trainers" scheme. 
 (vii) To develop partnerships with universities and international and regional 
organizations
24 able to take responsibility for some of the training and part of its 
logistics, notably to reduce the Organizati on's costs and save time for its experts. 
 109. One of the most notable results of this policy h as been the creation of an  obligatory three step 
passage prior to participating in the advanced tr ade policy course organized in Geneva, to which 
access is subject to successful completion of an on-line course and then a trade policy course 
organized in a particular region. 
110. These measures not only make those in the previous biennial plan for 2008-2009 
(document WT/COMTD/W/160) more systematic  and more comprehensive, but are also 
indispensable.  Nevertheless, they call for two typ es of comment:  some of the measures in the plan 
could be made stronger and several of the prerequi sites for its success have yet to be put in place. 
5. It would be advisable to reinforce certain policy trends in the plan for reform of the 
training and technical assistance policy 
(a) Inadequacy of certain quantitative targets 
111. The policy approaches in the proposed biennial plan for 2010-2011 are in general quantified, 
with the number of each type of activity to be orga nized in 2010 and 2011 set out in detail in Annex 6.  
Nevertheless, in two particular cases there is no quantified target:  the organization of 
video-conferences and the reduction in the number of reference centres. 
112. The plan recalls that briefing sessions through video-conferences are "regularly" organized in 
Geneva to give beneficiary countries informa tion about specific issues and emphasizes that " Such 
conferences are very cost-effective (cost is  related to video/telephone connection) ".  The Technical 
Cooperation Audit Report for 2008 (docum ent WT/COMTD/W/169) underlines the " absence of 
precise statistics " in this regard and regrets that " The Secretariat has recour se to this medium only 
when all other alternatives ha ve been exhausted, since many trainers consider it a second best ", even 
though this method could neverthe less generate significant savings. 
113. The number of video-conferences organized annua lly for technical assistance and training 
purposes should be monitored and a policy for the sy stematic development of  this method should be 
implemented, setting quantified targets. 
Recommendation No. 24:  The WTO should keep  statistics on the number of videoconferences 
organized by the ITTC and introduce a policy to develop this particularly economic method of 
information and training. 
 
                                                     
 
24 The international organizations which cooperate mo st frequently in the WTO's training activities are 
the World Bank, UNCTAD, IMF, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and UNDP.  The regional organizations are the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), African Development Bank (ADB), Economic 
Community of West African States (ECOWAS), International Organisation of La Francophonie, Islamic 
Development Bank (IsDB), Arab Monetary Fund, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA), Joint Vienna Institute (JVI ), Inter-American Develo pment Bank (IDB) and its 
Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL), etc. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 32  
 
  114. Annex 2 to the plan proposes a " new strategy on reference centres ", which exist in some 
150 countries and where the WTO has installed co mputers giving access to its databases in those 
countries most in need, as well as to written and electronic documentation on the Organization in other countries.  The objective of this strategy is " to reduce the number of RCs … and concentrate the 
programme, focusing more specifically on those count ries that are most in need (LDCs, SubSaharan 
Africa, non-residents) ", to outsource the procurement and maintenance of the computers (heretofore 
entrusted to a WTO official, whose work consists  of going around the world maintaining computers 
made available by the Organization, without deali ng with the centres' operation), to appoint a person 
to be in charge of reference centres and running th em, and to endeavour to use the centres as sites for 
some of the Organization's training courses. 
115. This strategy follows on the comments by the Technical Cooperation Audit Unit, which noted 
the total absence of links (other than purely t echnical links through the aforementioned official) 
between the centres and the WTO:  half of the e-ma ils sent to the various centres in the initial stages 
came back to the WTO because th eir electronic addresses no longer existed, no WTO official ever 
contacted them and, after questionnaires had been sent out using other means, only 29 centres out of 
153 replied (according to the Technical C ooperation Audit Report for 2007, document 
WT/COMTD/W/166) so marginal were the links with the WTO. 
116. The proposed policy to reduce the number of re ference centres and to refocus the programme 
on those countries that are most in need appears wise .  It would be more prescriptive and more easily 
implemented if quantified targets were set. 
Recommendation No. 25:  The WTO should set a quantified target for the proposed policy to 
reduce the number of reference centres.  
(b) The inadequacy of selection of candidates for training 
117. Participants in training activities are selected by a committee, which screens the candidates 
and draws up a list.  The ITTC has, however, noted that many participants complained that the groups 
were not homogenous, which was prejudicial to the e ffectiveness of training sessions.  This situation 
is also criticized in back-to-office reports, for ex ample, the reports on the regional course for Asian 
and Pacific countries organized in Singapore from 3 March to 23 May 2008, and the training workshops held in Saudi Arabia and Oman, from 18  to 21 January 2009 and 2 to 4 February 2009, 
respectively.  Likewise, the report on the workshop organized in Maseru, Lesotho, from 8 to 11 June 2009 mentions that 37 of the 44 participants stated that they had very little prior knowledge of 
the topic to be covered, which had a negative impact on the course and the progress made by each 
participant. 
118. This situation can be explained by the failure  to evaluate the knowledge of candidates for 
training courses.  If their knowledge was tested when they were selected for training lasting several 
weeks, this would help to limit the diversity of le vels of knowledge in the gr oups.  Such tests could be 
taken on line, because candidates some times live a long way from Geneva. 
119. The ITTC has recently started to screen candidates for trade policy courses and for 20 per 
cent of the regional activities organized in 2009.  It intends gradually to make such screening a 
general feature.  The problem encountered could in  fact be automatically resolved if there was a 
gradual modular approach, making access to one cour se subject to successful completion of another 
training course.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 33 
 
 
  Recommendation No. 26:  The WTO should make  it a rule to undertake prior screening of 
candidates for each training course.  
 
(c) Imprecise methods for the individual and collective evaluation of the results of training 
courses 
120. The new proposal in the biennial plan rightly emphasizes the importance of a posteriori 
evaluation of individual and collective results of the training courses organized.  More details should 
be given concerning this approach. 
121. For each of the training courses organized, participants simply receive a certificate indicating 
that they have followed the course.  It would be mo re profitable to give the participants a systematic 
examination at the end of their course in a form  adapted to each case (multiple choice questions, 
exercises) and to award a real diploma, possibly with  merit points for the best performing participants.  
It would appear that the few initiatives taken in this  respect did not meet with success because of the 
concern that it might upset the senior officials a ttending the courses and because of the problems of 
principle raised by partner universities, accustomed to issuing national diplomas. 
122. The introduction of such diplomas would help to dissuade candidates with little motivation, 
make the training courses more effective and facilitate the selection of participants for training modules at a higher level. 
Recommendation No. 27:  The WTO should take  measures to monitor systematically the 
individual results of each training course and should award diplomas and not simply 
end-of-training certificates. 
 
123. Monitoring results at the end of training c ourses would help in drawing up a performance 
indicator for the average performance of participan ts.  Until now, the main indicator available has 
been the questionnaire on satisfaction completed by participants, which plays a useful role but does 
not provide an objective basis for judging how successful the training has been.  The various 
Technical Cooperation Audit reports have emphasized  in vain the importance of developing such 
indicators. 
Recommendation No. 28:  The WTO should dr aw up a performance indicator based on the 
results obtained by all the participants in ea ch training course after having undertaken the 
monitoring suggested in Recomm endation No. 27 in order to assess the effectiveness of the 
training courses given. 
 
The Secretariat explains that other indicators are also used for cert ain activities such as the courses 
in Geneva (results of quizzes) or on-line courses (examinations, number abandoning the course). 
 
124. It is important not only to assess the effectiveness of each course in the short term but also the 
longer-term impact of training on the performance of  the officials concerned and of the beneficiary 
countries because the purpose of this training, accordi ng to the Doha Declaration, is to help Members 
to "exercise the rights of membership" in the WTO, " drawing on the benefits of an open, rules-based 
multilateral trading system ". 
125. Accordingly, questionnaires are sent to partic ipants some six months after they have 
participated in activities.  The members of the Unit also asked officials responsible for relations with 
the WTO within foreign trade ministries, when th ey travelled abroad, about the progress made by 
beneficiaries of training (a list of whom is sent to th em in advance).  They note that sometimes a large 
number of such beneficiaries may no longer deal with foreign trade. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 34  
 
  126. These different methods should be placed on a formal basis and be the subject of a regular 
item in the annual reports on technical assistance and training. 
Recommendation No. 29:  The WTO should forma lize its methods for evaluating the long-term 
results of its training and technical assistance activities and report on the results of such evaluations in the annual reports on these activities. 
 
This recommendation has been implemented.  The methods for assessing the long-term results of 
training and technical assistance ac tivities were put on a formal bas is by the Technical Cooperation 
Audit Unit at the beginning of 2009.  The results of  the evaluations conducted in this respect in 2009 
are set out in the latest annual report of the Unit (WT/COMTD/W/174, section V). 
 
(d) The limited nature of the efforts made for certain regions of the world 
127. The 2008-2009 biennial plan announced initiatives
25 to create trade policy courses in the 
following two regions not yet covered:  "the Ar ab and Middle East" region and the "Central and 
Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus"  region.  The 2008 annual report on technical 
assistance and training (document WT/COMTD/W/168) does not make any mention of the 
organization of regional trade policy courses (RTPC) in these two regions and shows that they only 
play a very minor role in the WTO's technical assistance and training activities as a whole:  each of 
them only represents 5 per cent, s lightly more than the Caribbean. 
Technical assistance and training by region  
 
Region National 
activities Regional 
activities Global 
activities26 Other 
(conferences, 
meetings) Total 
Africa 111 47% 27 31% 0 0% 25 22% 163 33% 
Arab countries and 
the Middle East 11 5% 7 8% 0 0% 6 5% 24 5% 
Asia and the Pacific 60 26% 15 17% 0 0% 23 20% 98 20% 
Central and Eastern 
Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus 14 6% 7 8% 0 0% 2 2% 23 5% 
Caribbean 12 5% 10 12% 0 0% 0 0% 22 4% 
Latin America 26 11% 20 23% 0 0% 16 14% 62 13% 
Subtotal 234 100% 86 100% 0 0% 72 63% 392 79% 
Global 0 0% 0 0% 62 100% 42 37% 104 21% 
Total 234 100% 86 100% 62 100% 114 100% 496 100% 
Source : WTO (WT/COMTD/W/168). 
128. The proposed biennial plan for 2010-2011 explains that " Due to human and financial 
resource constraints, the Secretariat was not in a position to organize a three-month RTPC … " for 
countries in these two regions;  it is indicated th at the Eastern European countries group consulted 
highlighted " Several priority areas …, including, the n ecessity to organize a fully-fledged RTPC for 
                                                      
25 Paragraph 73 of the plan (document WT/C OMTD/W/160) states that "discussions with 
representatives from these regions will be undertaken with  the view to assessing the appropriate timing for the 
organization of a RTPC". 
26 Activities organized at the global level are those not targeted at a specific region and always take 
place in Geneva.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 35 
 
 
  the region " and recalled that " a significant number (29) of officials  from the region participated in 
several Geneva-based activities,  including the three-month TPCs ".  It reports on the short-term 
activities organized for these two regions, referring in particular to " 17 WTO regional seminars and 
training events " organized in the Middle East and stated that the WTO regional offices concerned had 
developed " a policy that is geared to a better and fuller integration " of Central and Eastern European 
countries into the WTO and that " The ITTC has developed since 2001 an Arab Strategy ".  Annex 6 to 
the document describes the activities proposed for 2010 and 2011, but does not mention RTPCs for 
these two regions. 
129. Several factors explain the relative neglect of these two regions in the WTO's training 
activities: 
 - The countries concerned are not developing countries or LDCs, which are the priority 
targets for the WTO's policy, pursuant to  the Doha Declaration, whereas Africa, 
which accounts for one third of the WTO's ac tivities in this respect, comprises 33 of 
the 49 LDCs; 
 
 - many of these countries (seven of the 19  countries in the Arab region and 11 of the 
22 countries in Central and Eastern Europe) are not yet Members, but are in the process of acceding to the WTO; 
  - several activities planned for the Middle East were deferred for security reasons, at 
the request of the countries concerned; 
 
 - in practice, those in the Middle East frequently benefit from the activities organized 
for French-speaking Africa (Maghreb count ries) and English-speaking Africa (Egypt, 
Sudan); 
 
 - in 2008, none of the European countries concerned which are not yet Members sent 
the WTO an evaluation of its national training needs. 
 130. A stronger role for regional offices should fac ilitate development of the WTO's activities in 
these two regions.  The Middle East also has a large number of regional organizations, mentioned above, accustomed to working with the WTO and able  to help it in financing the training courses 
concerned. 
Recommendation No. 30:  The WTO should adopt a strategy to intensify its training and 
technical assistance activities for the Arab, Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus regions. 
 
6. Prior conditions for the reform's success 
- Development of the WTO's educational role 
 131. One of the main axes of the proposed reform is  to classify the level of training courses and 
organize compulsory transitions between training co urses at different levels.  The training modules 
are, however, designed and given by officials fro m the various specialized divisions of the WTO 
(responsible for agriculture, intellectual property righ ts, settlement of disputes, for example) without 
any teaching experience.  There is therefore a risk that the training modules created will not all be at 
the same level. 
132. In addition, it would appear that those who develop face-to-face training have not always 
drawn the lessons from the on-line training whic h now obligatorily precedes the former:  some WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 36  
 
  theoretical developments, in principle included in the computerized courses, still form part of the 
face-to-face training courses and therefore duplicate the on-line courses. 
133. There therefore needs to be a systematic revi ew of the WTO's training modules by specialists 
who ensure that the various modules are harmonized and that the levels of training targeted are 
respected. 
Recommendation No. 31:  The WTO should rev ise its various ITTC training modules and 
harmonize their contents and levels so as to ensure that the mandatory passage between on-line 
and face-to-face training and between different levels of training functions properly. 
 
134. In practice, training is given both by WTO officials and by academics.  The former are 
experts who deal with highly specialized subjects in which they have expertise and some of the 
training in Geneva is given by officials who are "trained on the spot" and have become accustomed to giving certain courses (the least specialized), ir respective of their original position within the 
Organization.  Through their experience, they compensate for any shortcomings among certain experts, highly competent but not necessarily teachers. 
135. These officials wish to be recognized and asses sed according to their teaching performance, 
although they are currently evaluated on the basis of  their original responsibilities, which they are no 
longer carrying out.  This situation in our vi ew should be reviewed by the Organization. 
 - The need for regular monitoring of the new approaches by the Technical Cooperation 
Audit Unit 
 
136. Effective application of the approaches in th e biennial plan proposed for 2011-2012 for some 
500 activities depends on the goodwill of a large number of  actors.  It comes up against the problem 
of the habits adopted and pressure from Member States benefiting from training activities. 
137. It therefore appears essential for the Tec hnical Cooperation Audit Unit to incorporate 
monitoring of these approaches into its work progr amme, and the following points in particular: 
 - Actual participation in training on-line a nd its successful completion before receiving 
any face-to-face training; 
  - successful participation in RTPCs before  admittance to the advanced trade policy 
courses organized in Geneva; 
 
 - proper selection of candidates for all training; 
  - organization of individual evaluations of candidates after each training course for 
which such an evaluation has been decided. 
 
138. Taking into account the fact that the Audit Un it has little manpower (two officials), such 
verification cannot be exhaustive and sh ould be done by means of surveys. 
Recommendation No. 32:  In the annual progra mmes of the Technical Cooperation Audit Unit, 
the WTO should incorporate a follow-up to the new approaches in the biennial training and 
technical assistance plan as regards the sel ection and screening of participants and the 
arrangements for mandatory pass ages between training courses. 
  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 37 
 
 
  7. Ways of financing the activities 
- The complexity of the current system 
 139. Financing of technical assistance and training activities is shared, according to complex 
criteria, between the regular budget and extra-budgetary funds.  For example, the trade policy courses 
organized in Geneva are financed under the regular budget, but those organized in other regions are 
financed by the Doha Fund.  Th e latter also always finances regional activities.  National technical 
assistance activities, outreach activitie s for parliamentarians and civil society, activities organized 
under the Integrated Framework are financed bot h under the regular budget and by the Fund.  
Sometimes budgetary credits are called for to supple ment the financing of activities initially to be 
financed by the Fund.  The Netherlands course is the subject of a special extra-budgetary fund. 
140. These differences can be explained by historical reasons:  the courses in Geneva have always 
been financed under the budget since their creati on following the adoption of the GATT.  Regional 
activities, on the other hand, are financed by the Fund because they were created as a result of the 
Doha Declaration.  National activities already exis ted at the time of the GATT and were financed 
under the budget:  a system of sharing was intr oduced after the Doha Declaration to enable 
developing countries and LDCs  to benefit from activities financed by donor States. 
141. A sum of 13 per cent is levied not on the amount of voluntary contributions but on the annual 
amount of the expenditure they finance, in other words, the expenditure on each activity covered by 
extra-budgetary funds.  The amount of this levy (CHF 3,094,027.78 in 2009) is paid into the Programme Support Fund and finan ces the aforementioned expenditure. 
142. These methods are compliant with the WTO's Fi nancial Regulations a nd Financial Rules, 
which barely deal with extra-budgetary funds , but they call for the following comments: 
 - The sharing of financing between th e budget and extra-budgetary funds, which has 
simply been the practice, is not the subject of any rule; 
 
 - none of the expenditure earmarked for the training and technical assistance policy 
appears in any document; 
  - large sums (almost half a million Swi ss francs) are disbursed by the Programme 
Support Fund to other international and regiona l organizations that are partners of the 
WTO, whereas they could go towards the cost s of each activity paid directly by the 
Doha Fund; 
  - on the other hand, the "participation in certain Secretariat costs" (the former 
retrocession of 10 per cent from the Programme Support Fund to the regular budget) is very limited (CHF 243,384);  it is tr ue that it might be considered that the 
CHF 2.3 million staff costs and the CHF 110,572.09 of overheads paid by the 
Programme Support Fund avoid having to include these charges in the regular budget;  the various amounts (CHF 3,109,217. 41) account for 1.44 per cent of WTO's 
total expenditure, whereas all the activities financed through voluntary contributions 
represent 12.38 per cent of the Organization's costs.  Although the WTO levies 13 per cent on extra-budgetary activities, it only retrocedes a fraction of this amount (around 
one tenth) to its regular budget. 
 143. It would therefore appear advisable, in a not e to the financial statements, to show all 
expenditure on training and technical assistance a nd to develop clear rules for the division between 
the training and technical assistance activities financed under the regular budget and by WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 38  
 
  extra-budgetary funds.  One particularly interesting approach in this respect would be for the budget 
to cover all the staff costs concerned (which app ear to represent some CHF 5.5 million) and for the 
variable costs for each event to be financed by extra-budgetary funds.  Such a solution would also 
facilitate absorption of the situation of the 23  officials mentioned above, who cannot be given 
permanent contracts. 
144. The actual levy on extra-budgetary costs should be  increased in order to retrocede to the 
budget a higher percentage of the costs committed  for training and technical assistance activities.  
This policy in fact benefits from the services of all the Secretariat's officials.  The following solutions 
could be proposed: 
 - A 13 per cent levy on the amount of voluntary contributions and not on the annual 
costs financed through these contributions , because there is a disparity between the 
two amounts (voluntary contributions am ounted to CHF 30.61 million in 2009, as 
against CHF 26.63 million for extra-budgetary expenditure); 
  - in any event, retrocede the 13 per cent levy to the regular budget, by doing away with 
the Programme Support Fund and transferring its balance to the budget, with the staff 
costs currently paid by this Fund paid directly from the regular budget, as suggested above, with payments to partner organi zations being directly charged to the 
extra-budgetary funds for each activity. 
 
Recommendation No. 33:  The WTO should (i ) show all the expenditure on training and 
technical assistance costs financed under the bu dget and by extra-budgetary funds in a note 
attached to the specific financial statements;  (ii) determine rules for sharing of training and 
technical assistance costs between the budget a nd extra-budgetary funds;  and (iii) increase the 
amount of the levy on voluntary contributions paid into the Organization's regular budget. 
 
The forthcoming presentation of the budget by ac tivity and the consolida tion of budgetary and 
extra-budgetary financial statements will give a global  picture of the technical assistance expenditure 
of the WTO according to the different forms of financing. 
 
The Secretariat may also revise th e rules on the sharing of training and technical assistance costs and 
the method for the levy retroceded to the regul ar budget with a view to making a proposal to 
Members in connection with the 2012-2013 budget.  
 - The risk of wasteful expenditure    (i) The financial consequences of pa rticipants' non-attendance at training courses 
 
145. It would appear that the number of those who fail to attend technical assistance projects is 
relatively high, although it has never been calcula ted by the Organization, and it involves costs in 
cancelling air tickets and hotel reservations. 
146. An examination of back-to-office reports for a sa mple of ten projects shows that the section in 
these reports concerning the activity's efficiency is generally confined to describing the hotel 
accommodation conditions, the logistic s of organizing workshops, and ma tters relating to per diem or 
air transport problems for some participants, but ther e is no analysis of the rate of non-attendance.  
Such an analysis would, however, make it possi ble to establish any links between the rate of 
non-attendance and the date of the activity, the choice of host country or the assessment of the 
training needs of the beneficiary countries, which w ould enable future activities to be better targeted.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 39 
 
 
  147. The cost of cancelling air tickets when particip ants do not attend is not mentioned in the 
evaluation or follow-up reports for technical assistance projects.  In a sample of six projects, the percentage of tickets cancelled in comparison with the total number of tickets purchased varied from 
0.7 per cent to 42.1 per cent and therefore the cancellation costs also varied from CHF 506.70 to 
CHF 10,221.75. 
Losses sustained because of non-attendance at training sessions
 
 
Code Location Period Number 
of tickets 
purchased Number 
of tickets 
cancelled % of 
tickets 
cancelled Commission 
on 
cancellation 
of tickets 
(CHF) 
TDDA80008 Geneva 28-30 November 2007 13 1 0.7 No 
commission 
TDDA80020 Geneva 18-20 March 2008 101 21 20.8 10,221.75 
TDDA80230 Morocco 26-28 February 2008 53 8 15.1 2,935.50 
TDDA80502 Oman 26-30 July 2008 36 3 0.8 716.00 
TDDA80503 Trinidad 
and Tobago 10-14 March 2008 16 3 18.7 506.70 
TDDA80526 Montevideo 1-3 April 2008 19 8 42.1 2,426.00 
 
148. An examination of the supporting documents for costs relating to a sample of 14 technical 
assistance projects shows that there are sometimes high rates of non-attendance in comparison with the "final" attendance lists, without the Organizat ion having been informed in advance, which 
prevents it cancelling some of the hotel reservations. 
149. Agreements are generally conc luded with hotels for the amount of advance payment and 
reimbursement in case of cancellation.  These agreem ents, however, generally follow the criteria for 
reservation and reimbursement applicable to all th e hotel's clients and do not constitute preferential 
terms that allow the losses in ca se of non-attendance by participants to be limited.  The large number 
of training sessions organized by the WTO woul d, however, justify preferential terms. 
150. The following cases are cited by way of illustration to show the amount of the losses caused 
by such non-attendance. 
151. Project TDDA80502, concerning the organizatio n of an intensive regional course for 
countries in the Arab and Middle East region, held from 26 to 30 July 2008 in Oman:  12 participants 
out of the 38 who had confirmed their participation did not attend.  As the WTO was not informed of 
this, hotel reservations were not cancelled and US$2 0,079.12 in costs had to be paid, of which only 
US$5,177.13 were refunded. 
152. Project TDDA80503, concerning the organizatio n of an intensive regional course for 
Caribbean countries, held from 10 to 14 March 2008 in Trinidad and Tobago.  There was a low rate of 
participation (56.6 per cent):  only 17 participants  took part in this course, although the budget and 
hotel reservations had been based on 30 participants. 
153. Because the WTO was not informed in time, the amount paid out in connection with 
non-attendance was US$19,235.9, whereas the co rresponding refunds were  only US$6,032.99. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 40  
 
  Recommendation No. 34:  The WTO should (i ) take into account the non-attendance of 
participants when deciding where future similar tr aining sessions should be held;  (ii) require 
confirmation of participation in training courses  within strict deadlines so as to be able to 
obtain the best possible terms for the cancellati on of hotel reservations;  and (iii) negotiate 
agreements with hotels so as to limit any losses if reservations have to be cancelled. 
 
 (i) Cancellation of projects  154. In 2008, technical assistance projects in the bie nnial technical assistance and cooperation plan 
were cancelled or postponed until the following y ear.  Training workshops were cancelled for reasons 
of security or for substantive reasons.  For exampl e, the workshop planned in Geneva to prepare a 
training session in Jamaica in 20 09, programmed for 17 and 18 N ovember 2008, was postponed in 
early 2008 to the following year, then cancelled as a preparatory worksh op no longer appeared 
necessary. 
155. Other technical assistance activities were cance lled because not enough replies were received 
to the invitations sent out to the countries concer ned.  This was the case for the workshop on regional 
trade agreements for countries in the Arab and Middle East region, planned for 4 to 6 November 2008 
in Cairo, for which only 50 per cent participation was confirmed. 
156. The seminar that should have been held from 9 to 12 November 2008 in Riyadh was 
postponed to 2009 for the same reasons.  Another wo rkshop for countries in the Arab and Middle East 
region, programmed for 3 to 5 November 2008 in  Oman, was postponed to the following year. 
157. The three workshops mentioned above concerne d the same region and were planned for the 
first two weeks of November, two of them overlapping for one week. 
158. It would appear that the concentration of several  activities targeted at the same public affected 
the rate of participation.  Better planning in terms of time would help to ensure more participation.  
Moreover, the workshops postponed un til the following year were organized in February without any 
overlapping. 
Recommendation No. 35:  The WTO should avoid programming several training activities 
intended for the same public over the same period in order to take into account participants' 
availability. 
 
 (ii) The lack of any procedure for closing technical assistance projects 
 
159. Since 2008, technical assistance projects have been programmed on the basis of a biennial 
technical assistance and cooperation plan. 
160. Budgetary procedures have been introduced to ear mark a budget for each project.  The related 
costs are committed in accordance with the Organization's Financial Rules. 
161. There is, however, no procedure for closing pr ojects that have been completed or totally 
cancelled and the computer program concerned has no provision for this.  This shortcoming means 
that costs might be committed against credit left over from training sessions that have been completed 
but not closed.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 41 
 
 
  Recommendation No. 36:  A procedure for the clos ure of technical assistance projects should be 
introduced. 
 
Since the first quarter of 2010, technical assistance projects have been systematically closed in the 
accounting system. 
 
 (i) Lack of coordination among divisions  162. An analysis of a sample of ten activities cancelled highlighted lack of coordination among the 
WTO's divisions as regards the monitoring and impl ementation of training and technical assistance 
projects, thereby involving additional expense. 
163. For example, since May 2008, the Organization has paid out an advance of US$14,362.03, 
representing 75 per cent of the accommodation costs for the organization of a workshop that should have been held in Yemen from 6 to 8 July 2008 (TDDA80401). 
164. The agreement with the hotel provided that no tification of cancellation of reservations would 
involve costs of 25 per cent or 50 per cent of the total sum due, depending on whether the notification 
was made one or two weeks before the date of the stay.  The exchange of e-mails shows that the WTO 
was informed on 5 June 2008 of the postponement of the missions planned for Yemen in June and 
July 2008, but that the hotel was not notified:  the Organization was unable to recover 75 per cent of 
its advance, whereas it should have been  refunded 50 per cent, or US$9,574.69. 
165. Furthermore, a workshop on sanitary and phyto sanitary measures should have been held in 
Lesotho from 1 to 3 December 2008 but was postpone d during October 2008 after an exchange of 
e-mails on 12 October 2008.  As there was no coordination between the divisions concerned, 
however, the following costs for the organization of this workshop were subsequently paid: 
 - Reservation of an air ticket on 10 November 2008; 
 
 - dispatch of documents by the Agriculture Division on 14 November 2008; 
  - payment of an invoice dated 14 November 2008 for the rental of microphones and 
various equipment. 
 166. The costs paid for this seminar and committed after it had been cancelled therefore amounted 
to CHF 4,831.  The course was finally held in Ju ne 2009 and the documents previously sent were 
used. 
Recommendation No. 37:  There should be better coordination among the various divisions 
involved in technical assistance and training  if projects are postponed or cancelled. 
 B. T
HE WTO' S PUBLICATIONS POLICY  
1. The WTO's distribution network for publications 
167. The WTO's network27 currently includes some 2,000 dist ribution points around the world:  
international organizations, joint publishers, Bookshops … A limited number of these partners play a 
significant role.  An internal analysis is required to assess the efficiency of each of these distributors.  
The current approach is to seek fewer partners in each region, assessing their capacity to follow a 
proactive marketing policy and so provide the WTO with a more comprehensive service.  The 
                                                      
27 Annex B describes the main outlines of the WTO's publications policy. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 42  
 
  Organization would also like to know more about the final recipients of the publications sold, through 
regular feedback of information from its network, in  order to identify any shortcomings in coverage. 
Recommendation No. 38:  The WTO should analy se the performance of its distribution network 
with a view to streamlining it. 
 
2. Distribution of publications 
168. The WTO Bookshop is situated on the ground fl oor of the William Rappard building and is 
open to all persons allowed into WTO premises.  It chiefly sells works and publications on 
international trade, but also WTO souvenirs.  The B ookshop is part of the Publ ications Section, within 
the Information and External Relations Division, a nd is managed by a person in charge of relations 
with clients as well as the relevant administrative tasks.  If the person in charge is not there, an official 
from the Publications Section is authorized to replace her and if, exceptionally, both officials are 
absent, the Bookshop is closed.  It is also clo sed at the end of the year for the inventory. 
169. The publications sold include works publishe d by the WTO and available for sale, joint 
publications between the WTO and specialized external  partners, the foremost being the University of 
Cambridge, joint publications with other intern ational institutions, as well as works from various 
publishers.  In the latter case, the person in char ge of the Bookshop decides what books should be 
purchased based on her knowledge of the market and the information received from various 
publishers.  Publishers give the WTO a 30 to 40 per cent discount on the selling price. 
170. In addition to specialized reviews and newspape rs, the WTO Library, which is part of the 
Languages, Documentation and Information Manageme nt Division, also buys books on international 
trade without any coordination with the Bookshop.  It may buy books directly using a credit card, 
whereas the Bookshop must go through the Procurem ent Section.  It is recommended that these 
two structures collaborate more closely, at least as far as purchases are concerned, because at present 
the same book may be bought at two different prices. 
171. Each year, a catalogue of WTO publications is  drawn up and is the subject of a widely 
distributed brochure.  Between two editions of this  brochure, the list of publications is regularly 
updated by the Section.  In all, the Bookshop has some 500 books for sale, of which it keeps a few copies, but distribution is limited because these publi cations are of a technical  nature.  Of these 500, 
70 per cent are external publications and 30 per cent WTO publications. 
172. The Bookshop usually sells books at the retail se lling price, with or without the discount for 
the Organization's delegates, amounting to 20 per cent for joint publications and 30 per cent for 
WTO publications, which rises to 50 per cent for developing countries.  Twice a year, general 
discounts of 30 per cent are given so as to clear stocks of books and promote them among the wider 
public, for example, on the "open days".  Souvenirs are all for sale without any discount.  They are bought from various suppliers and the range is constantly renewed.  Af ter some had been stolen, they 
are now kept securely.  It has also been noted that there is no coordination between the various 
divisions and the Bookshop as far as the purchase of  promotional items is concerned, with the 
divisions obtaining their supplies directly from suppliers using their own financial resources, 
including products not distributed by the Books hop.  As is the case for the books bought by the 
Library, there should be one central point for purchasing items distributed or sold by the Organization.  This could be the Bookshop, if necessary giving it additional resources, in the context of a 
harmonized communications policy. 
173. The person responsible for the Bookshop and her alternate are responsible for receiving the 
proceeds from sales of books and souvenirs.  This  responsibility involving the handling of sums of 
money is not the result of any specific decision by senior management.  According to documents  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 43 
 
 
  provided by the Human Resources Division, it is not  explicitly mentioned in the Vacancy Notice for 
the post of "Bookshop Coordinator", the only document concerning this post.  The Notice mentions among the general functions (c) " maintain the accounts of the Boo kshop, including records of sales 
and of expenditures for renewal of stocks;   provide periodic reports on sales ".  This responsibility for 
sales at the Bookshop is, on the other hand, explicitly mentioned in a document entitled 
"Questionnaire on post description" for the alternat e, based on his own declarations endorsed by his 
superior.  This document mentions am ong the tasks of the person concerned " sale and advice to 
clients - governments, missions, institutions, the pub lic at large - of the Bookshop, invoicing and 
collecting payment, responsible for cash and credit card transactions ".  The post of Bookshop 
Coordinator is the only one in the WTO that allows  payment to be taken directly from the public and 
the persons responsible for this task, which i nvolves a high degree of personal liability, should be 
appointed by means of an explicit act or, if not, their responsibilities should be defined sufficiently precisely in the job description contained in the incu mbent's administrative file.  The Finance Section, 
responsible for overseeing the Bookshop's acc ounts, should also receive this document. 
174. Payments are in cash, only in Swiss francs, by means of cheques or by bank card.  The 
amount received in cash or in cheques is deposited in  a safe securely fixed to the ground and is paid 
into the bank situated in the WTO premises e ach week.  In 2008, the amount collected in the 
Bookshop was CHF 225,000 or 52.2 per cent of all the income received from the sale of WTO publications and souvenirs.  At 30 Sept ember 2009, the amount was CHF 118,500, accounting 
for 56.8 per cent of total income.  Compared to 30 September 2008, the amount received from January to September 2009 showed a decrease of  over 30 per cent.  Of the payments made, 
CHF 92,000 or 41 per cent were in cash and CHF 133,000 or 59 per cent by bank card. 
175. The auditors noted the securitized  management of the Bookshop. 
Recommendation No. 39:  The WTO should fo rmally appoint two persons responsible for 
collecting proceeds from the sale of publications  and souvenirs in the Bookshop, defining the 
scope of their personal liability for handling funds. 
 
Recommendation No. 40:  Purchases of works sep arately by the Bookshop and by the Library, 
as is presently the case, should be grouped. 
 
Recommendation No. 41:  The purchase of all prom otional items for sale or for free distribution 
should be centralized.  
 
3. Financial and accounts aspects 
176. The proceeds received from publications, record ed under miscellaneous income, are not 
attributed to the Publications Service from the budgetary point of view. 
177. While the costs, using the methods described be low, are charged to the publications budget, 
the proceeds from sales and royalties (in the case of joint publications) are not attributed to this 
budget:  allocating these proceeds to this budget would give a better understanding of the net cost of 
publications activities and would be a greater incentiv e for the Service, whose objective is to increase 
turnover. 
Recommendation No. 42:  Proceeds from the sale of publications should go to the service 
concerned. 
 
The Secretariat is currently reviewing the accounts and financial management of the distribution and 
sale of publications in order to obtain a better picture of the costs and benefits in the light of the service required. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 44  
 
   
178. The budget provision for expenditure is prepared  by the Publications Section based on the 
number of publications planned and an estimate of the unit cost of production per publication.  The 
amount in the accounts varies, notably according to  how much of the production is carried out 
internally or externally, shares which cannot be dete rmined in advance with any precision.  During the 
year, there is no written assessment of any diffe rences in comparison with this estimate. 
179. The print shop is considered to be a supplier of  the Publications Section and sends the latter 
an internal invoice.  The cost in voiced is not the full cost, howev er, because it only includes the cost 
of ink, paper, leasing and maintenance of equipment,  but not staff costs, whether the publication is to 
be sold or not. 
180. IPSAS 12 provides that inventories should be valued in two ways.  If the objective is 
distribution free of charge, the valuation should be ma de at the lower of the two following costs:  the 
"cost" defined by the IPSAS, which is the full cost, and the cost of current replacement, i.e. the cost 
incurred to acquire or produce the good.  If the obj ective is sale, the valuation should be made at the 
lower of the following two costs:  the aforemen tioned IPSAS "cost" and th e net realizable value 
(estimated selling price less the co sts necessary to make the sale).  Transition to IPSAS will therefore 
require valuation to take into account the full cost. 
Recommendation No. 43:  The WTO should intr oduce an accounting system for publications 
produced by the print shop that also includes personnel costs. 
 
During the transition to IPSAS, the Secreta riat will renew its policy for recording 
publications-related costs.  
181. Strenuous efforts have been made to reduce costs through: 
 - A larger number of joint publication agreements; 
 
 - increased use of the Internet to re duce the number of printed publications; 
  - initiation of a formal procedure for requests for publications by the divisions (using a 
form which explains the reasons for the request, the quantity and the type of publication required), which has allowe d better organization of requests and 
improved budgetary monitoring; 
 
 - signature of framework agreements with designers and printers where conditions so 
permit. 
 
Recommendation No. 44:  The WTO should make framework agreements a permanent and 
general feature and should systematically make  a comparison of the respective real costs of 
internal and external solutions. 
 
182. Publications and souvenirs are recorded in the accounts at their value when they are taken out 
of the various inventories, which is in principle the weighted average cost.  This weighted average 
cost is not calculated directly in the Oracle system on the basis of the cost of each entry and exit in the 
inventory.  The system does not at present give any "background" picture that would enable the 
weighted average cost of an item to be updated au tomatically for each transaction.  The accuracy of 
valuation using this method - which is correct in accounting - therefore depends on the reliability of 
the data entered into the catalogue.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 45 
 
 
  183. In practice, the calculation of the unit cost of production entered into the module comes from 
the Excel tables kept by the Publications Section.  The reliability of the system depends on the correct 
chronological recording of entries and exits in th e Publications Section, respect for the rules on 
rounding off the amounts determined for the unit cost, and updating of the "catalogue" module in the Oracle database as and when.  This updating is done each night by "batch".  Responsibility for the 
procedure does not appear to be clearly defined:  the Publications Section follows up the operations 
and manages the stock and appears to be the best ad apted for such updating, but it has too few staff.  
A part-time post has been created for managing the stock, but the incumbent has been reassigned to 
other functions within the division. 
Recommendation No. 45:  The WTO should put in place a detailed accounting procedure for 
updating inventories and evaluating the human resources needed to implement it. 
 
The Publications and Finance Sections are cu rrently reviewing the division of responsibilities 
concerning the accounts and the inventories. 
 184. The progress made in the accounts has been noti ceable since the end of the 2007 financial 
year;  this is the result of the joint work carri ed out by the accounts services, where the person in 
charge is responsible for reviewing the procedures,  the Publications Section, the Budget Section and 
the Informatics Division.  In April 2008, this wo rk led to a note identifying the improvements to be 
made, which are followed up: 
 - Rules for rounding off figures have been determined; 
 
 - the date of an invoice has been adopted as the date applicable for the exchange rate; 
  - all deliveries from the print shop are henceforward accompanied by an internal 
invoice; 
 
 - criteria for defining obsolescent stock have been made official;   - bar codes are being introduced to identify the actual inventories;   - a single point of entry has been adopted for recording external invoices. 
 
185. In addition, the problems faced by those res ponsible for stocks at the end of 2007 and 2008 - 
despite a noticeable improvement in terms of une xplained variations - led to the adoption of 
reconciliations every six months and at the end of th e third quarter, making th e exercise easier.  A lot 
of work still has to be done on the WTO publicati ons stock, as can be seen from the reconciliation 
dated 30 September 2009. 
Value of stocks (in Swiss francs
) 
 
Inventory WTO Non-WTO Souvenirs TOTAL 
Stocks in the accounts at 1 January 2009 363,525.87 147,838.92 49,005.27 560,370.06 
Stocks in the accounts at 
30 September 2009 (1) 260,386.47 126,053.38 66,741.19 453,181.04 
Publications Section stocks at 
30 September 2009 (2) 334,000.07 126,587.03 69,004.82 529,591.92 
Variation (2)-(1) in CHF 73,613.60 533.65 2,263.63 76,410.88 
Variation (2)-(1) in % 22.04% 0.42% 3.28% 14.43% 
 WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 46  
 
  Recommendation No. 46:  The WTO should follow up the reforms adopted in relation to 
management of inventories. 
 
In 2008, the Publications and Finance Sections in troduced a proposal on methods for managing and 
monitoring stocks.  After reviewing the findings in 2009, these methods will be confirmed at the end of 
2010 and early 2011.  
C. F
OLLOW -UP TO PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATIONS  
Follow-up to the recommendations of the extern al auditors on the 2008 financial statements  
(document WT/BFA/W/188 ) 
 
Recommendation Follow-up 
Recommendation No. 1:  We recommend the 
adoption of a plan for applying International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Recommendation implemented.  In May 2009, the 
WTO General Council adopted a plan for transition to IPSAS by the end of 2012 (the financial 
statements for the 2012 financial year will comply 
with these Standards). 
Recommendation No. 2:  We recommend that the list of leasing contracts in effect should be indicated in a note in the financial statements showing the amounts paid, those outstanding and the status of the services 
covered by these contracts in order to highlight, 
where applicable, the amount of the advances made to lessors. Recommendation implemented.  A note on leasing 
contracts in accordance with the recommendation 
was attached to the financial statements for 2008 and 2009.  The WTO terminated the leasing contracts 
effective in 2009 and has not concluded any others. 
Recommendation No. 3:  We recommend that 
negotiations be undertaken with lessors for remuneration of the advances they receive. This recommendation is no longer relevant because 
there are currently no leasing contracts. 
Recommendation No. 4:  We  recommend that the 
WTO follow closely the implementation of the 
contract to enhance the security of its premises in 
order to prevent any further delays. Recommendation implemented.  The contract for 
making the premises secure ended at the end of 2009 
and the corresponding leasing contract was 
terminated. 
Recommendation No. 5:  We  recommend that the 
WTO follow up leasing contracts more 
systematically and undertake regular reconciliation 
of the positions of the Organization and of the lessor. Recommendation implemented.  In the second half 
of 2009, the WTO undertook quarterly 
reconciliations with the leasing companies. 
Recommendation No. 6:  We recommend that 
operations financed through extra-budgetary funds be 
integrated in the financial statements covering WTO activities as a whole. Recommendation implemented.   The extra-budgetary 
operations financed through voluntary contributions 
are presented in the financial statements for the 2009 financial year. 
Recommendation No. 7:  We  recommend that the 
Office of Internal Audit be reinforced. Recommendation implemented in part:  credits have 
been earmarked to recruit a trainee each year to be responsible for following up the internal audit recommendations;  a first trainee was recruited from 
June to August 2009. 
Recommendation No. 8:  We recommend the 
negotiation of arrangements to settle Member States' arrears of contributions. Recommendation being implemented:  a plan to 
settle arrears was signed with Gabon in May 2009, a plan with Côte d'Ivoire was submitted to the General 
Council on 4 May 2010;  the Director-General has 
proposed negotiations on such plans with all States in arrears.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 47 
 
 
  Recommendation Follow-up 
Recommendation No. 9:  We  recommend that the 
provision for arrears of contributions be calculated taking into account the Organization's assessment of 
the risk of non-payment. Recommendation accepted but not yet implemented. 
Recommendation No. 10:  We recommend 
(i) negotiations with Observer States on 
arrangements for settlement of their arrears;  and 
(ii) that provision be made for contributions in arrears for Observers under the same terms as those 
recommended for Member States. Recommendation accepted but not yet implemented.  
A working group will propose solutions to absorb the 
contributions in arrears for Observers. 
Recommendation No. 11:  We recommend strict 
observance of the provisions of Regulation 15 of the Financial Regulations, which makes accession to the 
WTO by Observers contingent upon discharge of 
their financial obligations. Recommendation accepted but not relevant in 2009 
when no new State acceded to the WTO. 
Recommendation No. 12:  We recommend that efforts continue (i) to accelerate refund by the 
United States of the taxes of WTO staff who resided 
there;  (ii) to obtain refund according to the method stipulated by the Administrative Tribunal of the 
International Labour Organization;  and (iii) in 
addition, we recommend that a note be included in the financial statements showing the cost incurred by 
the reimbursement method currently applied by the 
United States. Recommendation implemented in part.  In 2009, the 
United States paid CHF 849,865, but its debt has 
increased (see the comments  above).  The method 
prescribed in the case law has still not been accepted by the United States.  A note to the 2009 financial 
statements clearly indicates  the cost incurred by the 
reimbursement method currently applied by the United States. 
Recommendation No. 13:  We recommend that post 
classification at the WTO be the subject of a 
systematic policy so that it is completed within a limited period of around one year. Recommendation accepted but not yet implemented.  
The WTO is considering proposals prepared by 
HRD, and plans to review post classification in the second half of 2010 or 2011.  This potentially 
involves a review of the relevant policy(ies), an 
Organization-wide classification exercise and a re-design of the classification system and standards.  
Recommendation No. 14:  We recommend that the 
minimum time for moving up from one grade to the next be extended. Recommendation not accepted for the time being:  
the WTO " is reviewing the relevant policies on 
promotion to ensure consistency with performance-based management ". 
Recommendation No. 15:  We recommend that 
professional mobility be given greater importance among the criteria taken into account for promotion, at least for those staff members whose expertise does 
not require that they remain in a particular post. Recommendation implemented:  see document 
OFFICE(10)/14 explaining the new policy on internal staff mobility. 
Recommendation No. 16:  We recommend the establishment of a database on the professional skills of each staff member, so as to facilitate the 
introduction of a forward-looking policy for 
managing jobs and skills. Recommendation accepted but not yet implemented, 
inter alia , because of its cost.  In light of the 
IT strategic plan, the Learning Management System 
(LMS), for which a business case was submitted in 
April 2009, and for which the possibility of 
incorporating Recommendation No. 16 as an 
extended feature has been considered, is on standby at the moment . WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 48  
 
  Recommendation Follow-up 
Recommendation No. 17:  We recommend that 
attention be paid to submission of all the supporting documents required by the Staff Rules for granting 
allowances for dependent spouses, dependent 
children or secondary dependants, particularly tax 
notifications (for allowances for dependent spouses), 
birth certificates (for allowances for dependent children) and medical certif icates (for disabled 
children).  Recommendation accepted and implemented.  tests 
conducted in 2010 detected virtually no anomalies in 
the granting of allowances. 
 
The Staff Administration Services (SAS) team verifies 
each request for dependency individually and follows 
up on supporting evidence as per the OFFICE(09)/19.  
 
A policy of allowances and education grants for disabled children has been notified to Personnel 
(OFFICE(10)/28).  It contains the definition of 
"disabled child", which also requires certification by the Occupational Health Service of the WTO.  
Recommendation No. 18:  We recommend that 
(i) documents attesting to the actual reinstallation of the persons concerned in their country of origin be submitted when payment of a separation from service 
grant is requested at the rate fixed for that country;  
and (ii) this scheme should be reviewed because its justification is not evident in the case of staff 
members who have worked for a long time outside 
their country of origin. Recommendation accepted and implemented as 
regards the first point:  tests conducted in 2010 detected virtually no anomalies in the granting of separation grants. 
 
Recommendation not accepted as regards the second point. 
 
(i) The SAS team requests the staff member to 
provide proof of relocation in order to justify 
payment of the separation grant under Staff 
Regulation 10.7(a).  This can also include verifying 
whether the staff member has requested permanent 
residence in Switzerland after retirement ("permis C") . 
 
HRD would like to make the following clarifications regarding this recommendation: 
 
-  Relocation does NOT necessarily have to be 
back to the home country ("leur pays d'origine") 
as indicated in the audit report but the maximum 
cost of travel and remova l expenses shall be to 
the recognized place of leave or to the place of 
recruitment, if different. 
 
-  The separation grant is not paid "at the rate for 
this country" ("au taux prévu pour ce pays").  Rather, it is expressed as a multiple of a specific figure calculated on the current salary scales 
and is not varied according to the country of 
relocation. 
 
(ii) The staff member has the choice of deciding 
whether to repatriate or to remain in Switzerland, 
regardless of whether he/she has a long carrier [sic] 
outside the home country.   WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 49 
 
 
  Recommendation Follow-up 
Recommendation No. 19:  We recommend the 
review of certain criteria for education grants that are very difficult to verify. Recommendation not accepted.  The Secretariat 
prefers to establish relations  with schools in order to 
verify application of the complex criteria defined in 
the current regulations. 
 
All schools where claims have been made for 
children from five years of age onwards do indeed certify this requireme nt. 
 
The HRD is in the process of establishing working relations with the schools concerned in order to 
speed up the process and obtain more precise 
information.  
Recommendation No. 20:  As regards the rental 
subsidy, we recommend that (i) the wording of the 
rules on the subsidy be clarified for short-term 
contracts;  and (ii) the rules on joint tenancy and graduated amounts be strictly observed. Recommendation eliminated because it is based on 
an error in interpretation of the text applicable. 
Recommendation No. 21:  We recommend that (i) the rule on prior authorization for overtime be observed;  (ii) a comprehensive note be sent to all staff members recalling the overtime regime;  
(iii) precise rules be set for compensating overtime;  
and (iv) compensation be encouraged. Recommendation accepted but not yet implemented. 
Recommendation No. 22:  We recommend that cash 
flow forecasts be systematically updated. Recommendation implemented.  The method for 
updating cash flow forecasts has changed since 
1 August 2009. 
Recommendation No. 23:  We recommend that bank 
reconciliations be accelerated, closed within a 
reasonable time, and that a staff member responsible 
for these be formally appointed. Recommendation implemented.  A directive issued 
on 29 June 2009 requires that bank reconciliations be 
made within seven working days of the end of each 
month and designates the officials responsible for them. 
Recommendation No. 24:  We recommend that agreements be negotiated with banks concerning 
remuneration of current accounts. Recommendation implemented.   In early 2010, the 
WTO Secretariat negotiated more favourable terms of remuneration from the UBS and the Crédit Suisse. 
Recommendation No. 25:  We recommend that bank interest and charges on current accounts be divided 
between the budgetary and extra-budgetary funds. Recommendation accepted but not yet implemented. 
Recommendation No. 26:  We recommend that an 
investment policy be defined, together with the relevant rules to be observed. Recommendation implemented.  The investment 
policy has been defined and will shortly be made official. 
Recommendation No. 27:  We recommend that an information system be introduced to allow all procurement procedures to be followed up (purchase requisitions, purchase orders, invoices, delivery 
notes, inventory numbers …), accessible to all the 
divisions concerned (Procurement and Finance 
Sections, operational services). Recommendation accepted but not yet implemented 
because of its cost (estimat ed to be CHF 150,000 at 
the end of 2008). 
Recommendation No. 28:  We recommend that it be totally prohibited to make any purchases without the prior agreement of the Procurement Section. Recommendation implemented:  the new 
procurement policy approved on 21 July 2009 provides for all procurement to be undertaken by the 
Procurement Section. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 50  
 
  Recommendation Follow-up 
Recommendation No. 29:  We recommend that the 
process under way for anal ysing and formalizing the 
follow up, inventory and accounting of stocks of 
publications and souvenirs be completed. Recommendation implemented.  At the end of 2009, 
the Secretariat introduced a procedure for reconciling the actual stocks and the accounting of purchases of 
publications and souvenirs. 
Recommendation No. 30:  We recommend the 
introduction of analy tical accounting in the 
Publications section so as to be able to value the 
stocks according to the methods laid down in IPSAS 12. Recommendation accepted but not yet implemented. 
Recommendation No. 31:  We recommend that some 
of the responsibilities for implementing this project be externalized.  If this solution is not adopted, it is highly desirable to recruit an expert in Swiss building 
law. Recommendation implemente d (see the comments 
above).  The Secretariat ha s recruited a director for 
the project and his team and has delegated the contracting of the work. 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
 
186. We sincerely thank the members of senior management and staff of the WTO for their 
welcome and for the precise information that they su pplied to us in the context of our enquiries. 
CONCLUSION 
 
187. On the basis of the audit conducted, the extern al auditors certify that, in their view, the 
accounts for the financial year 2009 present fairly the financial position of the WTO as at 31 December 2009. 
  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 51 
 
 
  ANNEXES  
 
 
Annex A:  Doha Fund Activities 
 1. The Fund's activities are grouped into five categorie s in the biennial technical assistance and 
training plan 2008-2009 (document WT/COMTD/W/160 of 2 November 2007): 
 (1) Nine different types of general technical assistance and training activities: 
 
- Four three-month "Trade Policy Courses", organized in Geneva each year; 
- five three-month "Regional Trade Policy Courses", organized in the field;  
the aforementioned nine courses are attended by a maximum of 25 participants and cover some 200 in all; 
- two "Introduction Courses" in Geneva each year lasting three weeks; 
- five "Thematic Courses" lasting one to two weeks each in Geneva; 
- three "Introduction Days" organized in Geneva each year, intended for new 
arrivals (new WTO officials and traine es, new members of delegations to the 
WTO); 
- two "Geneva Weeks" organized each year  for countries with no permanent 
mission to the WTO; 
- three-day topic-specific symposiums organized in Geneva on an irregular 
basis (nine in 2008 and 11 in 2009) , intended for capital-based or 
Geneva-based officials;  these symposiums are usually held back-to-back with events that require the presence of many of the officials concerned at the 
WTO; 
- briefing sessions through video-conferencing; 
- short trade policy courses (from five to ten days) given in the field on topics 
of regional interest
1, often in partnership with ot her international or regional 
organizations (five courses in 2008 and seven in 2009). 
 (2) Five types of specialized and advan ced technical assistance and training courses: 
 
- Three "specialized courses" lasting ten days each in Geneva organized by the 
WTO's operational divisions; 
- some 250 "national technical assistance activities" organized in 
Member States at their request on special topics;  some of these 250 national technical assistance activities are conduct ed within the Trade Policy Review 
Mechanism (TPRM) framework  for the countries concerned, in the form of 
two- to four-day seminars; 
                                                     
 
1 The word "regional" is used in this report (as in WTO documents) to mean a large region of the world 
grouping together several countries such as French -speaking Africa, the Caribbean or Latin America. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 52  
 
  - 12 missions each year to review and enhance the operation of the "reference 
centres" set up by the WTO in Member  countries;  these reference centres 
have three computers, in the least developed countries (LDCs), and local WTO documentation libraries in the form of publications, CD-ROMs, DVDs and external computer disks in each country; 
- "regional seminars" lasting two to five days for capital-based officials in the 
geographical areas concerned on the following issues regarding the trade negotiations being held, particularly in connection with the Doha Round:  
agriculture, settlement of disputes, gov ernment procurement, non-agricultural 
market access (NAMA), regional trade agreements, trade rules 
(anti-dumping, subsidies and count ervailing duties …), sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures (SPS), negotiations on services, technical barriers to trade, trade and development, trade and environment, trade facilitation and 
trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS);  74 seminars were planned for 2008 and 71 for 2009; 
- five "advanced training programmes" lasti ng five to ten days organized in the 
regions for capital-based senior government officials; 
- five-day "intensive courses on trade negotiation skills", organized in the 
regions (five in 2008 and four in 2009); 
- and "outreach activities for parliamentarians and civil society" organized in 
the form of national workshops lasting two to three days (eight in 2008 and 
eight in 2009). 
 (3) "Academic support for training and capac ity building" comprises four activities: 
 
- The "academic programme", which includes the creation of regular 
partnerships with universities in c onnection with RTPCs, "workshops for 
university professors on WTO matters" l asting three days (three each year) 
organized on a regional basis, "na tional workshops for academics" and a 
document dissemination programme for universities; 
- the "support programme for doctoral st udies", which allows doctoral students 
at the final stage of preparing their th esis to conduct research at the WTO for 
periods between three and six months; 
- the "programme for visiting academics", which gives them an opportunity to 
work at the WTO on a self-financed basis, for up to six months; 
- research collaboration, which consists of financing joint research 
programmes with academics from developing countries. 
 (4) There are three types of trainee progr ammes, in all of which trainees receive a 
monthly allowance of CHF 5,000 plus travel expenses: 
 
- The Netherlands Trainee Programme h as been financed since 2005 by a 
voluntary contribution from the Netherlands and is the subject of a special trust fund;  it allows junior public offi cials from LDCs to spend ten months at 
the WTO, where they carry out specific tasks of relevance for their country;  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 53 
 
 
  - the WTO Regional Coordinator Internship lasting six months in which a 
rotating coordinator designated by the Member countries of the nine groups identified worldwide acts as a link between the countries benefiting from the various WTO technical assistance activities in these regions; 
- the "WTO Mission Internship Progra mme" finances internships for young 
officials from LDCs attached to their countries' delegations to the WTO (in 
which they complete their internship). 
 The e-training programmes provide interactive courses for government officials from 
developing countries, with support from a tutor, a course administrator and an on-line help desk during the three-month courses.  The number of su ch courses has increased rapidly (24 in 2008, one 
third more than in 2007, and it was expected that there would be a similar increase in 2009).  These 
courses are called on to play an increasingly im portant role in the way described below. 
 WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 54  
 
  Annex B:  The main outlines of WTO's publications policy 
 
1. The Information and External Relations Divisi on (27 persons) is respons ible for managing the 
various aspects of WTO's external communications.  The Director of this Division is the WTO's official spokesperson and is in charge of disseminating information and explaining action by 
the Organization. 
2. The objective of the communication strategy is  currently to arrange increasingly frequent 
contacts, either in Geneva or in Member countries, with journalists or other persons in a position to 
convey the views of the Organization.  Recently, some of these messages have been transmitted by 
means of video-conferences or by video films on the Internet. 
3. Part of senior management is r esponsible for the quality of the st udies and the articles sent out 
by the Organization;  this involves two teams of fi ve officials responsible, on the one hand, for the 
editorial aspects and on-line dissemination and, on th e other, for the production and management of 
publications and sales. 
4. The WTO is seeking to enhance its publicati ons policy by making its messages clearer, 
selecting targets (above all using media that are the most appropriate for the wider public and for the 
most representative persons and organizations),  and by lowering costs.  The best possible 
communication means selecting articles and publications, irrespective of their medium.  Proposals on their selection are made to the Publications Committee, which adopts the decisions. 
5. This Committee is chaired by a Deputy Director-General and includes, inter alia , a 
representative of the divisions most closely involved,  often the Director in person (especially in the 
case of economic research), together with the persons  in charge of the two units mentioned above.  It 
meets once a year.  Its discussions concern the list of  publications for the coming year, deciding when 
they are to be published, trends in the way they are presented (choice of graphics, cover pages, format 
and how to underline the main messages).  The Co mmittee, with assistance from a consultant, decided 
to change the way in which the annual report was presented and its date of publication. 
6. For each proposed publication, the committee must be given information to enable it to assess 
the publication's interest, identify potential buyers a nd decide how it is to be launched (organization of 
press conferences, possible events, choice of newspapers likely to review it). 
7. In the light of these various elements, the Committee decides on the programme for the 
coming year and the mode of dissemination.  The 2009 programme comprised 61 titles, inter alia , 
"flagship" reports (the annual re port, the report on international tr ade and the report on international 
trade statistics).  The publications are prepared in English, nearly always translated into the 
Organization's other two official languages (Fre nch and Spanish) and printed according to the 
foreseeable demand for these two languages.  Taking  into account translations, the number of titles 
annually is 164.  The programme is flexible because priorities may change during the year, particularly in the light of current events - for exam ple, publications are added in the event of a crisis 
and others must imperatively be launched before certain events. 
8. The Committee chooses the method of publication (t he number of copies and reprints in the 
various languages, possible joint publication) and fixes the dates.  Consideration is given to the targets 
for the publication in order to decide whether a ha rd copy should be published or whether it is enough 
to put it on line (in any case, this is done systematic ally).  The Internet allows a wider public to be 
reached and tends to reduce the number of titles published. 
9. 
Some works are published jointly.  For example, the book " Opening markets for trade in 
services " was published jointly with the Cambridge Univer sity Press.  This joint publication provides  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 55 
 
 
  a good example of the benefits of this formula.  The University pays all the production costs and is 
responsible for distributing the publication to its correspondents.  The WTO receives royalties and 
buys the copies it wishes to distribute (sale or di stribution free-of-charge) at a preferential price, 
without having to commit itself to a specific number.  Using competent experts, the publication is finalized using means which the WTO does not alwa ys have available in-house (designers for the 
cover, binding …).  As is the case for all the Or ganization's publications, the University has agreed 
that the articles can be put on line.  This policy for joint publication of WTO works not only yields savings - it has been estimated that the agreem ent with Cambridge lowered the costs by some 
CHF 1 million - but also allows wider distribution because of the University's contacts (in certain 
cases it distributed ten times more books than the WT O).  The Organization is therefore seeking to 
make joint publication a general feature. 
10. The person responsible for overseeing the editorial aspects of publications monitors the 
quality of the text and, together with his co llaborators, seeks to enhance its understanding for 
non-specialist readers, if necessary rewriting part of it (the author is always given a copy for approval) 
and by using the best possible presentation (review ing the graphics, especially the cover page, and 
highlighting the main messages).  Each year , two senior management officials attend the 
Frankfurt Book Fair and the WTO is part of the PIAM Group (Publisher International Annual 
Meeting), which meets to consider publications by international organizations .  In order to promote 
the distribution of its studies and articles and make it better known, the WTO now distributes some 40 per cent of copies free-of-charge.  Overall, distri bution fell by one fifth in 2008 and is expected to 
remain at a similar level in 2009.  After falling sharply in 2008, there was a strong increase in the 
number of joint publications in 2009, when th ey accounted for almost one quarter of the 
Organization's publications for sale, compared to 13 per cent in 2007.  Increases or decreases in sales 
depend on the number of new titles proposed, the subj ects covered, WTO-related current events and, 
more generally, the overall publishing market. 
Distribution of WTO publications
 
 
Number of copies 
distributed 2007 2008 2009 
(at 30/9) 2009 
(estimated) 
Annual publications 19,900 14,200 6,800 9,067 
Regular publications 10,300 12,500 9,400 12,533 
Other WTO publications 16,100 13,600 11,900 15,867 
Subtotal:  WTO sales 46,300 40,300 28,100 37,467 
Trend  -13.0% n.a. -7.0% 
Joint publications 7,000 4,200 8,400 11,200 
  -40% n.a. 166.7% 
Non-WTO 1,800 1,900 1,250 1,567 
  5.6% n.a. -17.5% 
Souvenirs 2,000 2,300 1,300 1,733 
  5.6% n.a. -17.5% 
Free publications 50,000 35,600 25,600 34,133 
  15.0% n.a. -24.7% 
Total 107,100 84,300 64,650 86,100 
  -21.3% n.a. 2.1% 
of which percentage of free copies 46.70% 42.2% 39.60% 39.6% 
Source : WTO (Publications Section). 
* Estimates for 12 months based on the figures for the third quarter of 2009. 
** Souvenirs are always sold. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 56  
 
  Annex C:  Production and distribution of documents 
 
1. Documents control 
1. Final formatting of publications before they ar e reproduced is done by a specialized section of 
the Languages, Documentation and Information Ma nagement Division, the "Documents Control 
Section".  This is composed of one person in charge and eight officials, all interchangeable in order to 
ensure continuity.  It checks that the texts of 12,000 documents annually from different divisions are 
in conformity with the official format for the Orga nization's documents before they are translated and 
distributed.  The number of documents is now globa lly stable, but the development of information 
activities for the wider public such as the public foru m has heightened the importance of distribution. 
2. It should be noted that until December 2009 th e number of staff in this Section was 
supplemented by three temporary posts in order to  complete the conversion of all the WTO's texts 
published between 1995 and 2004 into PDF format. 
3. Most of the documents received in the Section are in English, with some 20 per cent in 
Spanish and 10 to 15 per cent in French.  The Secti on first of all checks the material appearance of the 
documents, through electronic exchanges with the divi sions and this can lead to several versions.  
With a view to transparency, most documents are now made public, but some, because they are 
preparatory documents, are for restricted distribut ion.  Documents bearing a "symbol" include a code 
in the heading that enables the s ection which submitted them to be identified and the extent to which 
they have been approved.  They are all put on line e ither on the Internet site, for public distribution, or 
for restricted distribution to Members alone. 
4. After this formatting, it is the Head of Secti on's role to reach agreement on the priorities for 
documents, in coordination with the divisions submitting documents and those responsible for their 
translation into the WTO's two other official langua ges.  The priorities take into account the political 
or legal imperatives or the timetable for distribution of these documents. 
5. After the timetable and order of distribution has been determined, the original text in 
Word format is converted into PDF format (and in to PDF image format by the Reproduction Section), 
which becomes the official digital version.  Th e DMS software (documents management system) 
enables the state of progress in the queue of documents to be followed and manages their 
prioritization before they are sent to the Reproductio n Section for printing.  The Documents Control, 
Reproduction and Publications Sections would like to  see this software upgraded to include certain 
tasks needed for the preparation of documents (for example, the graphics or the production of 
publications and CD and DVD media). 
2. Reproduction 
(a) Organization and human resources 
1. Printing is the responsibility of the Documents Reproduction and Distribution Section, part of 
the Languages, Documentation and Information Mana gement Division, as far as publications printed 
in-house are concerned.  This Section is headed  by a person in charge and currently comprises 
22 permanent posts and three temporary posts.  Th is is an essential activity for the Organization's 
general administration;  its role goes beyond simp ly publishing official reports on discussions in 
WTO bodies and it presently helps to distribute the majority of the information and written communications of the Organization.  WT/BFA/W/216 
 Page 57 
 
 
  2. In addition to the two assistants to the Head of the Section, there are currently three units, two 
of which are divided up into teams: 
 - The Documents Distribution Unit, is composed of four parts ("databases", 
"distribution and packaging", "registration and reproduction of CD/DVD" and "documents centre"); 
 
 - the Graphic Arts and Scanning Unit;   - the Documents Reproduction Unit, composed of two parts ("offset printing" and 
"digital printing"). 
 
3. In order to control staff costs, two posts in th e Section have been transferred to other services 
and four posts still appearing on the manning table are currently vacant.  This arrangement will 
possibly change as a result of a reduction in the number of specialized units , the non-replacement of 
officials retiring and combining certain posts so  as to increase the responsibilities of some staff 
members, who will be proposed for promotion. 
4. In addition, developments in technology have  an impact on the organization of the Service 
with a reduction in the number of documents for offset printing (but not publications) since the 
transition to digital printing in 2002.  Likewise, the Graphic Arts Unit is called on to an increasing extent, which will mean an additional post by redeploying one post from in the Offset Unit. 
5. In 2008, the Section's payroll amounted to CHF 3,150,071 and at 30 September 2009 to 
CHF 2,308,040. 
6. Because of the large number of special even ts (conferences, ministerial meetings, public 
forums, meetings, etc.) for which personnel in this Section work, there is a large amount of overtime 
(1,146.30 hours in 2008 and 664 hours by 30 September 2009).  Since 2008, there has been a certain trend in the print shop to encourage compensatory time off rather than payment of overtime, more 
than in other services which work overtime, with 17 per cent of the overtime taken off.  In 2009, at 
30 September, this percentage was 10 per cent, showi ng how difficult it is for staff members to plan to 
take days off when the workload is so heavy. 
(b) Material facilities 
7. Since November 2008, the printing shop has been  located on the ground floor of the building 
in the chemin des Mines, covering an area of just under 600 m².  It now has powerful and modern 
equipment, with the majority of the 12 machines le ased having being renewed in 2008.  The value of 
the equipment leased was estimated at CHF 6,127,229 in 2008.  To avoid any problems of incompatibility between machines provided by di fferent suppliers and taking into account the 
performance required from these ma chines (77 million pages printed in 2008), all the machines are 
leased from the same supplier, XEROX. 
8. Other equipment and accessories (dating fro m 1995 to 2008) required for the Service's 
operation are fully owned by the WTO and amount to CHF 1,867,545. 
9. In the future, the Section will continue to reorga nize its stock of equipment, particularly when 
renewing the four oldest large copiers, leased si nce 2002 and now at the end of their useful life. WT/BFA/W/216 
Page 58  
 
  (c) Activities 
10. The increasing amount of information distributed digitally has meant a sharp reduction in 
printing over the past 15 years, with 1,640 copies of each document printed in the three languages - 
English being predominant - in 1995, as against 852 in 2008.  In 2005, a survey was conducted among 
delegations from Member countries in order to asc ertain their documentation needs and limit the 
distribution of documents to those really required by Members. 
11. In addition to printing documents, the Secti on produces and distributes many documents in 
the form of CDs or DVDs (18,361 in 2008).  A ve rsion on digital media can be attached to the 
published version. 
12. Henceforward, with a view to transparency of  information and promoting its activities, the 
WTO is planning to make available on its site in  PDF format all the documents intended for the 
public, which is already done for p ublications.  This decision should al so lead to a noticeable decrease 
in the number of printed copies.  The area needed to store documents has been significantly reduced 
as the print shop can now print on demand at lower co st using digital procedures.  For publications, 
the policy of on-demand printing introduced in 2007 by the Reproduction and Publications Sections 
has already enabled the volume prin ted and the stocks to be reduced. 
13. Outsourcing or combining printing activities with other international organizations have been 
envisaged, but have turned out to be difficult to  implement in practice because the priorities and 
emergencies of each organizati on cannot easily be reconciled. 
14. The Head of the Documents Control Section, who also belongs to the Languages, 
Documentation and Information Management Di vision, defines the priorities for publishing 
documents.  A different colour is given to docu ments according to their level of priority, which 
sometimes means going back to the submitting divisi ons to explain why certain choices have been 
made.  As far as publications are c oncerned, priorities are defined jo intly with the person responsible 
for operations in the Publications Section and the person in charge of the Section. 
15. The DMS software, installed in the Reproduction Unit but also in the various divisions, 
manages printing.  Divisions may request distance printing for documents with symbols (on headed 
paper).  Currently, however, the ma terial distribution of the work among the printers is carried out 
manually by the Head of Section's assistant.  Dire ct programming of the various printers would be 
possible in the future if new and more efficient so ftware was introduced covering all the tasks because 
the production of CDs, DVDs and on-demand pr inting are not currently covered by the 
DMS software. 
16. The trend appears to be towards on-demand pr inting, which would mean global savings on 
printing costs, not only for financial but also for environmental reasons. 
__________