WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/BFA/W/275 
16 July 2012   
 
(12-3845) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
  
 
UTILIZATION OF THE MEMBERS' TRANSITION OPERATING FUND 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION  
1. In conformance with the guidelines establishing the Members' Transition Operating Fund
1 
(the Fund), this document presents: 
a) a financial situation of the Fund with details for each project; and    
b) a request for approval of the Committee to finance two projects. 
 
2. It is to be recalled that the Fund was created to set aside funding for the specific expenditures 
of  the building project, that is, costs pertaining to  the installation and equipment of these facilities 
with furniture and technical equipment. 
II. FINANCIAL SITUATION OF THE FUND 
3. The current financial situation of the Fund as at 30 June 2012 is provided below: 
 
Source of Funding  Amount in Swiss francs   
2007 Surplus 8,051,716 
2009 Surplus 1,036,988 2010 Surplus 10,527,319 
Total Fund  19,616,023  
 
 
 Projects authorized  
 South Courtyard Conference Centre (partial financing) (2,509,445) 
 Common Area & ITTC Furniture (900,000)  Archive Rooms (900,000) 
 Signage (200,000) 
 Catering Facilities in CWR (400,000)  Renovation and Equipping North Wing Conference Rooms (6,200,000)  Data Centre (700,000)  Catering Facilities for the New Building (1,700,000) 
 Furniture and Furnishings fo r the New Building (2,200,000) 
 Total projects authorized as at 30 June 2012 (15,709,445)   
 
 Balance of the Fund as at 30 June 2012 
 Total Fund 19,616,023  Projects authorized   (15,709,445) 
 Remaining balance of the Fund 3,906,578 
 
                                                      
1  WT/BFA/W/178/Rev.1. WT/BFA/W/275 
Page 2  
 
4. The following table provides further details on the financial situation for each of the 
authorized projects as at 30 June 2012. It disti nguishes the amount authorized by the Committee, the 
amount currently committed (signed c ontracts with suppliers) and the amount already invoiced. It also 
provides a comparison with the preliminary cost estimates communicated to the Committee in June 
2011.  
 
Common Facilities Projects  
(in CHF) Preliminary 
Cost 
Estimates 
2011
2 Amounts 
Authorized 
by CBFA Actual 
Commitment  
30/06/2012 Actual 
Expenditure 
30/06/2012 
South Courtyard Conference Centre 4,400,000 2,509,44532,424,445 2,025,858
Common Area & ITTC Furniture 1,400,000 900,000 886,822 755,129
Archive Rooms 900,000 900,000 0 0
Signage 200,000 200,000 75,400 16,633
Catering Facilities in CWR   400,000 400,000 340,625 332,932
Renovation and Equipping of North Wing Conference Rooms 8,000,000 6,200,000 5,385,000 1,496,588
Data Centre  500,000 700,000 594,000 0
Catering Facilities in New Building 2,100,000 1,700,000 1,523,500 0
New Building Furniture & 
Furnishings 1,800,000 2,200,000 0 0
Security Facilities  1,100,000 Pending  
Project Director  and Architectural  
Fees  500,000 Pending  
Total 21,300,000 15,709,445 11,229,792 4,627,140
 
5. Projects remain on schedule and budget. No commi tments with suppliers have been recorded 
on two projects:   the equipping of the archive r ooms and the furniture and furnishings for the new 
building. In both cases, solutions and suppliers have  been identified and negotiations are taking place. 
6. The competitive bidding process and the selec tion of the general contractors currently 
working on the Building Project have helped to ensu re that the actual project costs are usually below 
the Secretariat's preliminary estimated project cost s. The Secretariat has also rescaled some of the 
projects to ensure that sufficient funds are availa ble to cover for two additional projects not foreseen 
at the start of the Building Project, namely, the construction of the Accreditation Facility and the 
renovation of the former Crèche. 
7. In addition, the remaining planned projects in clude the Security Facilities and the Project 
Director and Architectural Fees. 
 
III. PROJECTS WHERE FUNDING IS REQUIRED 
A. SECURITY  FACILITIES    
8. The Building Project combined with the implem entation of a new security perimeter and the 
construction of a new parking in the Sécheron area are inducing significant changes in the existing WTO security arrangements.  
                                                      
2 Preliminary estimates provided to the Committee on 10 June 2011 - WT/BFA/W/239. 
3 Additional financing of the South Courtyard Conference Centre from the 2010 budgetary savings in 
the amount of CHF 1,990,555 - WT/BFA/W/261.  WT/BFA/W/275 
 Page 3 
 
 
9. The Swiss Authorities are financing the establishment of a compliant security perimeter 
around the Centre William Rappard. This project w ill be managed by the Fondation des Immeubles 
pour les Organisations Internationales (FIPOI).    
10. The WTO is responsible for the financing and the installation of the security equipment for 
the perimeter, the new building and its underground  car park, and the Sécheron car park.    These 
areas will need to be equipped with  various security installations, in cluding video surveillance, access 
control readers, guard stations and other security cont rol features.  It will also require changes to the 
main control room that will have to integrate the ne w security equipment installed in those new areas.    
11. A security engineer has been engaged to do a stud y and supervise the project that is estimated 
to cost CHF 800,000.  The installation of the new security equipment will take until the end of 2013. 
The breakdown of the project costs is provided below. 
 Security equipment for the new building and underground car park 320,000 
 Security equipment for the security perimeter 120,000  Security equipment for new Sécheron parking 140,000  Engineering & consulting 100,000 
 Installation, technical assistance and maintenance 120,000 
 Total 800,000 
 
B. ACCREDITATION  FACILITY    (BCI)      
12. The current WTO accreditation facility is temporar ily housed in a container type structure 
behind the main gate. This structure will have to be moved to give space for the construction of the 
security perimeter. A new and permanent accreditation facility has to be erected within the security 
perimeter and not far from the current temporary lo cation. The project will be coordinated by the 
existing Building Project Director, the consulting firm POM+. The Secretariat will select the architects and general contractor currently working on the new administrative building.  This set-up 
will allow savings on costs, respect of scheduled de livery dates, and consistent architectural quality 
control.  
13. The organization's project for an accreditation facility is in line with the global security 
concept following a security risk assessment carried out  by the Geneva international organizations.  
The building will be a simple and single level pavilio n that will welcome all visitors and delegates. 
14. A design-to-cost strategy will be coordinated with  the architects and the general contractor to 
ensure that the project costs are contained within a ceiling amount of CHF 2,100,000. A request for 
the permit was submitted on 4 July 2012 and authori zation is expected in 6 months.  The facility's 
scheduled delivered date is in summer 2013. The project  is challenging as it will affect the traffic flow 
at the main entrance of the Organization. Plans a nd drawings will be presented during the meeting of 
the Committee.  
C. RECOMMENDATION
    
15. The Secretariat therefore proposes that the Co mmittee adopts the following decision in order 
to allow the Secretariat to move forw ard on the two projects described above: 
The Committee agrees that the following projects may be funded from the Members' Transition 
Operating Fund for a total amount of CHF 2,900,000:   
 The equipping of the Security Facilities for an amount of up to CHF 800,000; and  WT/BFA/W/275 
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 The Accreditation Facility for an amount of up to CHF 2,100,000 
16.      With the approval of the financing fo r the one planned  and one  additional Common Facilities 
projects, the Fund situation will be: 
Balance of the Fund as at 30 June 2012               3,906,578 Security Facilities            (800,000) 
Accreditation Facility                  (2,100,000) 
Balance of the Fund            1,006,578 
17. The Secretariat believes that the Fund balance would be sufficient to cover any remaining 
needs. In addition, the Secretariat would also fi rst seek to first use any available funding from the 
Building Project to finance the projects approved within the Fund.  It is to be pointed out that under the set guidelines for the Fund, this account will be cl osed at the end of the project on 31 December 
2013 and any unused funds will be re turned to the WTO accounts.    
 
 
 
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