RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/BFA/91 
30 October 2006 
 (06-5221) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON  29 SEPTEMBER AND 6 OCTOBER 2006 
  
1. The WTO Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration met on 29 September and 
6 October 2006 under the chairmanship of Ambassador  Juan Antonio March of Spain.  The terms of 
reference and composition of the Committee are set out in document WT/L/44/Rev.1.  The agenda 
contained in document WTO/AIR/2890 and WTO/AIR/2890/Add.1/Rev.1 was adopted  
2. This report should be read in conjunction with documents WT/BFA/89 and WT/BFA/90 
which contain the relevant recommendations of the Committee to the General Council. 
I. ADMINISTRATIVE UP-DATES AND PROGRESS REPORTS AS AT 
31 AUGUST 2006 
A. C
ASH SITUATION AND STATEMENT OF OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS  
B. CONTRIBUTIONS OF OBSERVER COUNTRIES TOWARDS THE COST OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY 
THE SECRETARIAT – PROGRESS REPORT  
3. A member of the Secretariat presented the cash  situation, the statement of outstanding 
contributions from Members as at 31 August 2006, a nd a statement regarding the contributions of 
Observer countries towards the cost of services provide d by the Secretariat.  As at the reporting date, 
the total of funds available stood at CHF 56 milli on.  Contributions received from Members amounted 
to CHF 134 million for the current year and CHF 15 million for prior years, while those from Observers amounted to CHF 569,000 for the current year and CHF 135,000 for prior years.  Since the date of the report six Members (Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Haiti, Iceland and Pakistan) and one 
Observer (Andorra) had made payments.  The Work ing Capital Fund stood at CHF 9.3 million at 
31 August 2006.  The Secretariat pointed out that si x Members (Chad, the Demo cratic Republic of the 
Congo, Djibouti, Guinea, Guinea- Bissau and Niger) still had outst anding advances to the Working 
Capital Fund amounting to CHF 177,000 as at 31 August 2006. 
C. H
UMAN RESOURCES MATTERS  
4. A member of the Secretariat introduced document CRP(06)23 and informed the Committee 
about the various training programmes.  An agre ement has been signed with Bell Language School 
representing an alternative to the UN language classe s and management training for all directors was 
being pursued.  Another manageme nt training course for high level staff would take place in 2007. 
5. It was also pointed out that the report containe d updated information with regard to temporary 
positions funded from Temporary Assistance, Tem porary Assistance – Vacant Posts, and Extra-
Budgetary Funds (Programme Support Fund).  WT/BFA/91 
Page 2  
 
  D. WTO
 PENSION PLAN 
6. A progress report document CRP(06)24 was presented by a Member of the Secretariat who 
informed the Members that the Management Board had agreed that same-sex marriages should be 
treated in the same way as heterosexua l marriages under the Plan Regulations. 
7. It was further explained that the staffing of th e Pension Plan Secretariat was under review and 
that a document setting out possible future staffi ng requirements together with a draft budget would 
be presented at the next meeting. 
8. Members were also informed that the WTO Administration had been asked that the 
Management Board be consulted on the possibl e impact on the Plan of any staff separation 
programme. 
9. The Committee took note of the various reports. 
E. STATUS OF EXTRA -BUDGETARY ACTIVITIES : 
ii). Technical Assistance Activity as at 15 September. 
iii). Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund. 
10. Another member of the Secretariat presen ted documents WT/BFA /SPEC/153 and CRP(06)25 
and informed the Committee that as at 15 Septem ber 2006, total expenses and commitments recorded 
in the DDAGTF amounted to CHF 19.1 million (of which CHF 0.3 million were earmarked).  The 
uncommitted balance in the DDAGTF was CHF 2. 8 million, (including earmarked funds of 
CHF 1.8 million).   
11. The Secretariat expressed the hope that donors would make un-earmarke d contributions for 
2007 in order to preserve the global nature of the pl an and facilitate the mana gement and reporting.  
Assuming the target amount of CHF 24 million for 2007, the Secretariat would need CHF 6 million, 
which represent 25 per cent of the target, to be in the bank by the end of the year. 
12. It was further pointed out that pledges for 2007 amounted to 2.6 million Swiss Francs and 
that, if the low level of contributions and slow conversion of the pledges into actual contributions 
persisted, the Secretariat's cap acity to implement the 2007 Plan would be undoubtedly limited.  
Members were therefore urged to provide the necessary resources in order to enable the 
implementation of the 2007 Plan without delay. 
13. The Committee took note of the report. 
II. PROPOSED PLAN OF ACTION TO MEET THE FUTURE BUILDING NEEDS OF 
THE WTO 
14. At the meeting of 29 September, the Secretariat distributed document WT/BFA/W/146: 
Proposed Plan of Action to Meet the Future Build ing Needs of the WTO.  The Director-General 
addressed the Committee on the issue, recalling his assessment that the WTO needed to be housed 
under one single roof.  Therefore, the Director-Gen eral asked the Committee to  agree to his proposal 
to start discussions with the Swiss authorities on the identification of a suitable site for a new 
permanent headquarters. 
15. Furthermore, the Director-General outlined that  an immediate solution had to be found until 
the WTO was housed under one roof and made a second request to the Committee in order to 
authorize him to enter into discussions with the Swi ss authorities with a view to finding an adequate 
immediate solution to the housing needs of the WTO.   WT/BFA/91 
 Page 3 
 
 
  16. In addition, the Director-General explained th at the decision on the Avenue de France Project 
had made it difficult to obtain more information on  possible, more cost-effective alternatives for the 
intermediary period. 
17. The Director-General further pointed out that hi s concern was to be able to house the WTO in 
an efficient way under an immediate approach and at  the same time to choose the most cost-efficient 
alternative.  As he was convinced that the Avenue  de France project was not adequate for the WTO, 
since it meant a permanent division into two sites, and furthermore it was not the most cost-effective solution, he stressed that different alternatives had to be explored including alternatives that would 
include the WTO recovering the area of the IUHEI Library (an unfulfilled obligation contained in the 
Headquarters and Infrastructure Agreement) or the Serono buildings.  On the recovery of the IUHEI 
Library, there was great urgency taking also into account the security dimensions. 
18. The Director General thanked the Swiss author ities for their readiness to address the housing 
needs of the WTO and for their cooperation in th is matter.  He furthermore referred to the 
Infrastructure Agreement which states that "If th e facilities of the Centre William Rappard are no 
longer sufficient to meet the infr astructure needs of the WTO, th e latter expects that the Swiss 
Confederation will place at its disposal, free of charge, use of other premises". 
19. After long discussion, the Committee recommended to the General Council that the Director-
General be authorized to commence discussions with the Swiss authorities with respect to a 
comprehensive examination of all aspects concerning th e identification of a suitable site and all other 
relevant issues regarding a po ssible new permanent headquarters for the WTO and without prejudice 
to the final outcome.  (WT/BFA/89:  recommendation of the CBFA from its meeting on 
29 September 2006). 
20. The meeting of 6 October focused discussi on on the immediate housing problem of the 
organization.  The Director-General introduced document WT/BFA/W/149, Next Steps to Meet the 
Immediate Building Needs of the WTO.  He also informed the Committee th at the Secretariat had 
contacted the contractors who had submitted bids for the avenue de France project with regard to 
extending the validity of their bids to 30 June 2007.  Their responses indicated that the construction of 
the building could still be completed within the e nvelope foreseen of CHF 60 million.  Furthermore, 
the Director-General proposed to hold intensive discu ssions with the Swiss authorities in order to find 
a solution for the immediate housing needs of the WT O and also suggested to the Committee that the 
Swiss authorities be urged to liberate the area of the IUHEI Library as soon as possible in order to deal with the problem of space as well as to e nhance the security of the Centre William Rappard. 
21. Several Members requested more information about the different options and urged the 
Director-General to work closely with the Swiss au thorities in order to get mo re information about the 
different options.  Some Members also expressed the view that the space occupied by the IUHEI 
library should be returned to the WTO.  Furt hermore, Members expressed the need for a quick 
decision on the immediate solution to be found and some other Members requested a comprehensive 
examination of all options, including the Avenue de France project, without prejudging the 
conclusion. 
22. After discussion, see WT/BFA/90, recommendation of the CBFA from its meeting on 
6 October 2006. 
III. PROGRAMMES FOR INTERNS AND TRAINEES IN THE WTO 
23. A member of the Secretariat presented document WT/BFA/W/148 and informed the 
Committee that the Secretariat wa s undertaking a review of the existing programmes for interns and 
trainees at the WTO such as the WTO Internship Programme, the Ph D Intern Programme, Internships 
for Selected Missions in Geneva and the Netherla nds Trainee Programme.  With respect to the JPO WT/BFA/91 
Page 4  
 
  (Junior Professional Officer) Programme, it was ou tlined that this programme might place demands 
on the Secretariat in areas where its resources were already stretched and might compromise the expansion of existing programmes.  Therefore, th e Secretariat was actually examining whether the 
existing programmes were meeting the evolving needs of Members and whether they should be 
modified, expanded or added to. 
24. Several Members supported the decision of th e Secretariat to undertake a comprehensive 
review of the existing programmes. 
IV. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SECURITY ENHANCEMENT 
PROGRAMME 
25. A member of the Secretariat introduced document WT/BFA/W/147 and recalled that the 
Security Enhancement Project contained three compone nts:  (i) the outsourcing of the functions and 
services of the Security and Safety Section to an external provider;  (ii) the renovation and 
modification of the infrastructure of the premises to accommodate the new project and (iii) the procurement of the necessary equipment to ensure an effective security system at the WTO.  It was 
further 77explained that the implementation of the project was spread over five years and that it was 
partly financed by the regular budget, partly by  the Security Enhancement Operating Fund (SEOF). 
26. With respect to Human Resources, severance packages were offered in 2005 to six of the 
regular security staff, and the 17 temporary staff were granted one month of pay in lieu of notice for each year of service.  Since some of the sev erance packages included pension and insurance 
contributions to retirement, the overall budgetary  impact was spread over the number of years 
necessary for the individual to reach retirement age. 
27. Expenditure for the SEOF had slightly exceeded the allotment for 2005, as infrastructure costs 
had exceeded the expected works.  The over-spendi ng had been carried forward to 2006 and offset 
against the second instalment for 2006. 
28. With regard to the overall progress, the Committee was informed that the Central Security and 
Safety Post was operational, fire protection equipm ent had been purchased and the entire security staff 
had received the appropriate training.  Furthermor e, some progress had been made on the introduction 
of video surveillance cameras and the work on the 'Accreditation and Registration Database'.  Items 
that remained pending were the modification of the entrances to the WTO premises with x-ray 
equipment at the Visitor's entrance and the modifi cation of the access areas to the CWR, which had to 
be carried out in conjunction with the Swiss Author ities.  With regard to the access to the CWR, the 
Management Group had discussed 13 different options with the Swiss Authorities, but no workable 
solution had yet been identified. 
V. OTHER BUSINESS 
29. A member of the Secretariat addressed the Committee with respect to the progress of the 
Restructuring Programme.  It was explained that th e Director-General had been briefed by the Joint 
Advisory Committee on its views and that the Di rector-General intended to undertake numerous 
consultations on this issue in the following weeks.  The member of the Secretariat pointed out that a 
report on the organizational changes would be  presented before the end of the year. 
30. The Committee took note of the information. 
__________