. /.  RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/BFA/W/141/Rev.1 
7 March 2006 
 (06-0991) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
 
 
ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES IN THE WTO 
 
Annex 2 Rev.1
 
 
Draft Resolution for Possible Revi sion to Administrative Measures 
 
 
The Committee recalls:  
a) that, in accordance with Article VII, 4 of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the 
WTO, Members have the obligation to contri bute promptly to the WTO their share in 
the expenses of the WTO;  
b) that, in an effort to assure that the asse ssment of contributions was based more closely 
on Members' share in trade, and to ease the financial burden on Members with lower 
trade shares, particularly for Least De veloped Country Members, the minimum 
contribution in the GATT and subsequently  in the WTO was reduced from 0.12 per 
cent to 0.03 per cent in 1988 and from 0.03 per cent to 0.015 per cent in 1999;  
c) that a scheme exists to fa cilitate the payment of pre-1 988 arrears (when the minimum 
contribution was fixed at 0.12 per cent) on favourable terms for Members which were 
assessed at the minimum in 1988;  and  
d) that the Administrative Measures are not applied to  pre-1988 arrears.  
 
The Committee, having reviewed the Administrative Me asures in effect in the WTO, and having noted 
that there continued to be a persistent problem of accumulation of arrears which had implications for all 
Members in the annual final account s of the Organization, recommends to the General Council that the 
following Revised Administrative M easures be implemented as fro m the first day of the month 
following approval by the General Council:  
 CATEGORY I  
After one full year's assessed c ontribution remains outstanding at the end of the financial year: 
- documentation would
 will not be posted to delegations in Geneva, 
- representatives would  will not be nominated to preside over WTO bodies. 
CATEGORY II  
After more than one but less than two full years' assessed contributions remain  outstanding at the end of 
WTO's financial year , in addition to the above measures:  
- participation in meetings of the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration would  will be 
reserved for Members whose contri butions are paid or who have not  more than one full year's 
assessment outstanding.  
- use of the WTO Members' Web site will not be available, 
- At the start of each meeting of the General Council, the Chairman of the Committee on 
Budget, Finance and Administration  will provide information with regard to which Members 
are under Administrative Measures in Categories II through IV. 
 WT/BFA/W/141/Rev.1 
Page 2  
 
  CATEGORY III  
After two but less than three full years' asse ssed contributions remain outstanding  at the end of 
WTO's financial year, in addition to the above measures : 
- documentation would
 will not be posted to members,  
- recommendations by the Committee on Budget, Fi nance and Administration to the General Council 
on financial matters would  will be acted on only by Members whos e contributions are paid or who 
have less than two full year s' assessments outstanding, 
- At each meeting of the General Council, the Chairman will request Members in Categories III 
and IV to inform him/her before the next meeting of the General Council as to when the payment of arrears may be expected.  The Chairm an will report on Members' replies at each 
subsequent meeting. 
- Each year the Director General will contact directly the minister of the Member responsible 
for the WTO emphasizing the question of arrear s and report on his results to the General 
Council. 
 
- CATEGORY IV:  INACTIVE  
After three full years' assessed c ontributions remain outstanding at the end of the financial year, in 
addition to the above measures : 
- a Member would
 will be designated as an Inactive Member, 
- the list of Inactive Members would  will be notified to the General Council by the Committee on 
Budget, Finance and Administration at the beginning  of each calendar year with a recommendation 
that these members be urged to liquidate their arrears, 
- Inactive Members would  will be denied access to training or te chnical assistance other than that 
necessary to meet their WTO Article XIV-2 obligations.1 
- As soon as an appropriate payment is made by an Inactive Member, the Ge neral Council would  will 
be notified immediately of the consequential deletion fr om the list of Inactive Members.  
- Inactive Members taking the floor in the General Council  will be identified as such.  
 
 The Committee further recommends that the General Council authoriz e it to suspend the application 
of Administrative Measures for Members in Catego ry IV which agree to, and abide by, a defined 
schedule of instalment payments aimed at liquidating all arrears.  
 The CBFA will review the application of admini strative measures by 31 March 2008.  If, by that 
date, the situation has not improved, the CBFA will  consider introducing ot her measures, such as 
the right to take the floor, the right to attend meetings and the eligibility of Members to participate in regular budget te chnical assistan ce programmes. 
 
 
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1  Not applied to least developed countries