WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/BFA/W/150 
4 December 2006 
 
 (06-5815) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
FUTURE BUILDING NEEDS OF THE WTO 
 
Report by the Director-General
 
 
1. In October 2006, the General Council adopted a series of recommendations by the Committee 
on Budget, Finance and Administration concerning th e future building needs of the WTO.  These 
recommendations were essentially in three parts: 
 ¾ first, that the Director-General hold inte nsive discussions with the Swiss authorities 
concerning an appropriate solution to the immediate housing needs of the WTO; 
 ¾ secondly, that the Director-General be invited to urge the Swiss authorities to vacate 
the premises occupied by the IUHEI Library in the CWR at the earliest possible date, 
in view of the pressing space and security concerns facing the WTO; and 
 ¾ thirdly, that the Director-General be authorized to commence discussions with the 
Swiss authorities with respect to a comprehensive examination of all aspects concerning the identification of a suitable site  and all other relevant issues regarding a 
possible new permanent headquarters for the WTO and without prejudice to the final outcome. 
2. Immediately following the adoption of the above recommendations, the Secretariat 
commenced intensive discussions with  the Swiss authorities with respect  to all three issues, namely 
the search for an appropriate so lution to immediate housing needs, the vacating of the premises 
occupied by the IUHEI Library and the comprehens ive examination of all relevant issues concerning 
a new permanent headquarters.  In the course of these discussions, the question of enhanced security 
and access control on the CWR site was also examined.  So far, the Secretariat has met with the Swiss 
authorities on nine occasions, and the outcome of those meetings is summarized below. 
I. IMMEDIATE HOUSING NEEDS OF THE WTO 
3. As previously explained in documents WT /BFA/W/145 and WT/BFA/W/146, the Centre 
William Rappard (CWR) and rue Rothschild annexe ar e full to capacity, making it urgently necessary 
to find additional office space.  Furthermore, the rue Rothschild annexe presents not only safety but 
constantly recurring structural weaknesses.  Notw ithstanding the efforts made by the Swiss authorities 
to improve that accommodation, the rue Rothschild  annexe is not the most adequate temporary 
solution for the immediate housing needs of the WTO. 
4. In the course of the discussions to date with the Swiss authorities, two possible alternatives 
for meeting these immediate housing needs have b een considered, namely the so-called Serono 
building at chemin des Mines 15 and 15 bis and the premises currently occupied by the IUHEI Library 
in the CWR.  The second of these alternatives is disc ussed in further detail in a subsequent section of 
this report.  WT/BFA/W/150 
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  5. Concerning the Serono building, the Swiss author ities have confirmed that the waiver granted 
to Serono to use the building for office purposes, a lthough it is located in an industrial area, would 
remain valid for the WTO.  The Swiss authorities have also informed the Secretariat that the 
necessary action has been taken to ensure that the bu ilding is neither sold nor rented to a third party 
without prior consultation with the Swiss authorities (the so-called "right of first refusal").  The 
Secretariat understands that the Swiss authoriti es are continuing to explore the possibility of 
purchasing or renting the building, upon the expiry of the current lease to Serono on 
31 December 2006. 
6. Apart from the above two options, no other alte rnatives have been identified to meet the 
immediate housing needs of the Organization. 
II. VACATING THE CWR PREMISES CURRENTLY OCCUPIED BY THE IUHEI 
LIBRARY 
7. The Swiss authorities have informed the Secret ariat that an alternative location has been 
found for the IUHEI Library and that it is expected that the Library will move to its new premises by the middle of 2007.  The premises in the CWR would then be handed over to the WTO. 
8. Work has already begun on design options for th e use of the premises once they are returned 
to the WTO.  It is expected that approximately 120 additional work spaces will thus be made available 
by the end of 2007. 
9. Although the recovery of the premises hitherto occupied by the IUHEI Library will generate 
some extra work space by the end of next year, th ere will still remain a need to find a solution to 
house both additional staff hired in the future and those WTO services and staff which will have to 
vacate temporarily the CWR building during the majo r renovation work which has to be undertaken in 
the coming years.   
III. EXAMINATION OF ISSUES REGARDING A POSSIBLE NEW PERMANENT 
HEADQUARTERS FOR THE WTO 
10. At the outset of the discussions, it was recognized that it would be important first of all to 
identify more than one site which could potentiall y accommodate the new headquarters.  If only one 
possible site were identified, the project would be placed in jeopardy if planning permission were 
ultimately refused for that site. 
11. The Swiss authorities indicated two possible options: 
 ¾ construction of a new building, 
 ¾ densification of the CWR. 
12. On option one, three sites have been examined so  far.  One was not retained since it did not 
meet the required standards. 
13. The remaining two alternatives still require a dditional information from the Swiss authorities 
before they can be considered. 
14. On option two, the Swiss authorities have indicat ed that the densification of the CWR site 
could contribute to difficulties of access and security , details of which are discussed further below.  WT/BFA/W/150 
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  15. The projected space needs for a new permanent headquarters have also been examined in 
detail.  The Secretariat has provided estimates of the evolving office and conference space requirements over the next 30 years, based on con servative assumptions regarding growth in staff 
numbers.  These projections have confirmed that th e site should be sufficiently large to accommodate 
a headquarters building of modest and realistic desi gn, covering a total gross area of approximately 
50 000 m2, excluding car parks. 
IV. SECURITY AND ACCESS CONTROL ON THE CWR SITE 
16. The Swiss authorities have continued to examin e possible ways of strengthening security and 
access control on the CWR site.  As reported to the Committee at its last meeting (document CRP(06)34, paragraph 4), the main difficulty hamper ing a solution is the presence on the site of the 
Crèche and Montessori schools which share the sa me entrance as the WTO and account for a non-
negligible traffic flow in the course of the day.  The Swiss authorities have sought to find a solution which could reconcile the demands of the WTO with  the needs of the two schools, but a satisfactory 
solution is not yet in sight.  The Director-General  has advised the Swiss authorities that, given the 
security risks of the WTO site, urgent considerati on should be given to whether such close proximity 
to the WTO is in the best interest of these two schools.  
 
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17. In conclusion, the Secretariat wishes to underlin e to the constructive and cooperative spirit in 
which the above intensive consultations with the Swiss authorities have been conducted.  Obviously, 
these contacts should continue over the coming weeks so that a rapid solution to the three points 
mentioned above can be found. 
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