RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/BFA/104 
23 July 2008 
 (08-3539) 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration  
 
 
 
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 9 JULY 2008 
  
1. The WTO Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration met on 9 July 2008 under the 
chairmanship of Mr. Tony Lynch of New Zealand.  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/3217 was adopted.  
I. ADMINISTRATIVE UP-DATES AND PROG RESS REPORTS AS AT 30 JUNE 2008 
A. C
ASH SITUATION AND STATEMENT OF OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS – PROGRESS REPORT  
B. CONTRIBUTIONS OF OBSERVER COUNTRIES TOWARDS THE COST OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY 
THE SECRETARIAT – PROGRESS REPORT  
2. A member of the Secretariat presented the cash  situation, the statement of outstanding 
contributions from Members as at 30 June 2008 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 (WTO and Extr a-budgetary Funds) stood at CHF 96 million.  
Contributions received from Members amounted to CHF 131 million for the current year and 
CHF 6.5 million for prior years, while those fro m Observers amounted to CHF 344,000 for the current 
year and CHF 80,000 for prior years.  The Working Capital Fund stood at CHF 9.7 million as at 30 June 2008.  The Secretariat pointed out that sev en Members (Chad, the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Tonga and Ukraine) still had outstanding advances to the 
Working Capital Fund amounting to CHF 205,000 as at 30 June 2008.  Five of the seven Members 
belong to Category IV (Inactive Members).  
C. H
UMAN RESOURCES MATTERS  
3. A member of the Secretariat presented the progress report CRP(08)15 and informed the 
Members that the new WTO Integrated Training Plan  had been approved by the Director-General and 
that the pilot evaluation project aimed at measuri ng the impact on performance of four learning 
programmes identified at organizational, divisional and individual levels, had also been finalized.  
The final report would be presented to the CBFA during the last quarter of 2008. 
4. It was further reported that the performance bonu ses for the year 2007 had been paid to staff 
in June 2008 and that the changes made to th e process in 2006 of de-li nking bonus recommendation 
from the top-rating in Performance Evaluation Re ports, as well as the reduction of maximum number 
of staff who could be awarded a bonus in each Division from 25 per cent to 15 per cent, had been 
maintained.  A total of 81 staff members had b een awarded a bonus, corresponding to 15 per cent of 
the total eligible staff, with an average bonus amount of CHF 5,000. 
5. An up-date on temporary assistance positions financed from regular budget as well as from 
extra-budgetary funds was provided. WT/BFA/104 
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6. One Member requested a breakdown of performance ra tings for the 3 levels of staff ratings as 
it had been provided in previous years.  The member of the Secretariat replied that 1.7 per cent (11 people) had received an unde r-performance rating for 2007 and added that a full breakdown of 
ratings would be provided to Members. 
D. WTO
 PENSION PLAN 
7. A progress report (document CRP(08)16) was presented by the Chairman of the WTOPP 
Management Board who informed the Members that the consulting actuary had been asked to carry 
out the regular actuarial valuation as at 31 December 2007 by using revised assumptions regarding mortality improvement and general salary inflation.   The preliminary results of the valuation had 
shown that the contribution rate required to maintain the long-term  actuarial balance of the Plan 
increased from its present level of 22.5 per cent to 26.7 per cent on the basis of those revised 
assumptions. 
8. Consequently, several options for maintaining the actuarial balance of the Plan had been 
discussed including an adjustment of contribution ra tes, an adjustment of benefit levels or a 
combination of the two.  The Management Board had noted that increasing the normal retirement age 
to 65 for new staff could reduce the required c ontribution rate by as much as 3.5 per cent. 
9. With respect to the review of the investment strategy of the Plan, it was reported that the 
Management Board agreed to explore the possibilit y of calling upon the services of two candidates for 
the investment committee on an ad  hoc basis later in the year. 
E. S
TATUS OF EXTRA -BUDGETARY ACTIVITIES : 
i) Technical Assistance Activity as at 30 June 2008; 
ii) Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF). 
10. Another member of the Secretariat presented documents CRP(08)17 and CRP(08)18 and 
informed the Committee that Switzerland had ann ounced a contribution of CHF 800,000 for the years 
2008-2009 and that an agreement for Korea's 2008 cont ribution of USD 350,000 had just been signed.  
Furthermore, Australia had doubled its contribu tion to the DDAGTF (AUD 1 million), which had 
been received in June in addition to two more voluntary contributions, (i) USD 900,000 from the 
United States and (ii) CHF 50,000 from Turkey. 
11. The Members were also informed that, as at  end of June, funds in the DDAGTF totalled 
CHF 16.4 million and that, taking into account Sw itzerland's pledge, the fund was CHF 2.4 million 
short of the target amount of CHF 24 million agreed for 2008.   
12. With respect to other technical assistance progr ammes, it was highlighted that the Netherlands 
Trainee Programme would continue beyond the en d of 2008 as the Netherlands had announced its 
intention to provide a further EUR 2 million over the ne xt four years.  With annual instalments of half 
a million Euros, approximately 10 trainees could be fi nanced per year.  It was also explained that 
under the technical assistance programme on trade f acilitation launched at the end of September 2007, 
so far 26 National Needs Assessment Workshops had been conducted and that another 60 to 
90 workshops were expected to be held until the end of the programme in September 2009. 
13. The Committee took note of the various reports.  WT/BFA/104 
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  II. REPORT ON THE FUTURE BUILDING NEEDS OF THE WTO 
14. A member of the Secretariat reported that thi ngs were going on according to the schedule and 
that progress had been made with respect to the de tails of the renovation project.  Members were also 
informed that several meetings w ith the architects to begin the more specific design considerations on 
the intra-muros works in the north and south courty ards had taken place and that the Secretariat was 
working on a tight timetable to prepar e the competition for the new building. 
15. With respect to the budget 2008, the member of  the Secretariat indicated that he was 
confident that the 2008 cost could be absorbed by the existing overall budget.  He further pointed out 
that the collaboration between the Steering Committe e, FIPOI and the Swiss authorities worked very 
well, which was confirmed by the Swiss representative. 
16. With respect to the timetable of the renovation, it was explained that in fall 2008, works on 
the technical columns for the cabling and wiring of th e IT system would start, and that the move of 
staff would start in October.  By the end of the y ear, Rue Rothschild was exp ected to be vacated as 
well as the south west sector of the CWR in order to start the renovation.  It was further reported that 
the planning approval for the basic renovation had been submitted to the Swiss authorities and that 
later on, additional planning authorization requests fo r the intra-muros works needed to be submitted.  
It was pointed out that the planning for the new building represented a completely separate authorisation.  
17. Regarding the timeline for the competition of the new building, another member of the 
Secretariat explained that a two-month open in ternational competition would be launched on 
20 August and that the jury should be in a position to make a recommendation before mid-
December 2008.  By mid-February 2009, architects we re expected to start the design of the project 
and by autumn 2009, an international call for tend er for the construction would be launched.  The 
member of the Secretariat highlighted that by that time, the land – actually public park land - had to be re-zoned into building land and that for that pu rpose, a new Swiss law had to be voted on at the 
cantonal level.  If authorizations were granted as foreseen, the construction could start in 2010 and the 
new building could be finished in 2012. 
18. In response to a question from a Member with re spect to the negative impact of local press 
articles on the authorisation process, the Secretaria t pointed out that there was a joint commitment 
between the Secretariat and the Swiss authorities to r ealise the project and that there had already been 
some initiatives taken on local issues such as an interv iew with the Director-Gener al in the local press.  
It was also added that the new building was a building of modest proportions that would fit 
harmoniously into the public park  and lake-front setting and that the respective authorities would 
make every effort to apply the most efficien t environmental principles to the entire project. 
III. FOLLOW-UP ON AUDITOR'S COMME NTS ON THE ACCOUNTS FOR 2006 
19. A member of the Secretariat presented document WT/BFA/W/173 and explained that, at the 
request of Members, the Secretariat had prepared a follow-up of the points raised by the external 
auditor in his report on the 2006 accounts.  It was further pointed out that a complete follow-up of all 
the points raised by the external auditor during his 5 year mandate was included in the Director 
General's Report for 2007, which would be exam ined by the Committee in a future meeting. 
20. With respect to the issue of unused air ticke ts, in which Members expressed particular 
interest, the Secretariat indicated that discussions  with the auditors on accounting issues had taken 
place, and several measures had been discussed such  as the purchase of refundable tickets and making 
a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis.  A final deci sion with respect to that issue was pending a final 
review by the auditors. WT/BFA/104 
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21. Several Members considered the follow-up on a ll the recommendations very useful.  With 
respect to the issue of un-used air tickets, several  Members encouraged the Secretariat to examine 
possibilities  for more solutions in  addition to tho se presented.   
22. Members were pleased to hear that the post of internal auditor had been filled and looked 
forward to examining her interface with the Committ ee.  In this context, the Chair mentioned that 
copies in English of the WTO Internal Audit Charte r and the 2008 Internal Audit Plan were available 
in the room.  He indicated that, once the documents  in all official languages had been issued, they 
would be included on the agenda of a future meeting of the Committee. 
23. Members of the Committee expressed the wish to review progress made on audit 
recommendations on a more regular basis in the future. 
IV. ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES 
24. The Chairman referred to the compendium of the history with respect to administrative 
measures prepared by the Secretariat and highlight ed that in the last document issued in 2006 
(WT/BFA/W/141/Rev.1), there had been included a ma ndate to review the administrative measures 
by March 2008.  He also explained that he had sent faxes to Members from category II to IV alerting 
them to the sums they were owing, to the inten tion of the CBFA to hold consultations to consider 
possible measures to extend and/or intensify the existing administrative measures and to encourage 
their participation in the proceedings of the CBFA.   The Chairman indicated that he had received 
some positive responses from some Members subsequent to sending the faxes. 
25. The Chairman then explained that there were a number of other possibilities examined but not 
put in place in 2006 (document WT/BFA/W/141/Rev.1) such as the right to take the floor, the right to 
attend meetings and the eligibility of Members to participate in regular budget technical assistance 
programmes.  He expressed the opinion that it was important to have a mix of administrative 
measures and the possibility for Members to make arrangements with the Secretariat in order to 
reduce the outstanding amounts. 
26. In summary, the Chairman suggested two options to pursue: either form a working group on 
arrears (as established in 1994), or take up the qu estion in informal meetings of the Committee. He 
also indicated that he would consult with interest ed Members with the aim of finding the best means 
to address the concerns raised by Members. 
27. The issue will be re-considered at the following meeting. 
V. ACCESSION OF CAPE VERDE 
28. The Chairman introduced document WT/B FA/W/174 concerning the assessment of 
contribution on the Republic of Cape Verde. 
29. Consequent to the accession to the WTO of the Republic of Cape Verde on 23 July 2008, the 
Committee decided to make the following recommendation to the General Council:  The Committee 
recommends to the General Council that a pro ra ta contribution to the 2008 budget amounting 
to CHF 11,844 be assessed on the Republic of Cape Verde.  This assessment, calculated as from 
23 July 2008, is based on an annual contributio n of 0.015 per cent, taking into account the 
international trade figures (imports plus expo rts in goods, services and intellectual property 
rights) of Cape Verde for the years 2001-2005.  Furthermore, on the basis of the level of the 
Working Capital Fund of CHF 9,709,330, the Committ ee recommends to the General Council to 
assess an amount of CHF 48,547 on the Republic of Cape Verde as an advance to the Fund .  WT/BFA/104 
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  VI. OTHER BUSINESS 
30. The Chairman noted that the long-serving Secretary of the Budget, Finance and 
Administration Committee, Mr. Larry Emler, would be retiring at the end of the month and consequently, this would be his last meeting in this  role.  On behalf of the Members of the Committee, 
past and present, the Chairman expressed heartfe lt appreciation and gratitude for all the work and 
dedication shown over the years.  He also registered his own thanks for the support, guidance and 
professionalism displayed by Mr. Emler in his role as Secretary.  These remarks were strongly endorsed by Members of the Committee.  The Chairman also acknowledged the presence of 
Mr. Emler's successor, Mr. Tristan Bauswein, whom he welcomed to the meeting. 
 
 
POINTS FOR DECISION:  Paragraph 29 
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