RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/BFA/21
26March 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-1234)
Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration
REPORT OFTHE MEETING HELD ON29FEBRUARY 1996
INTRODUCTION
1. TheWTO Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration meton29February 1996under
thechairmanship ofMr.J.Yokota ofJapan. Theterms ofreference andcomposition ofthe
Committee aresetoutindocument WT/L/44/Rev.1. TheAgenda contained indocument
WTO/AIR/274 wasadopted.
A.ADMINISTRATIVE UP-DATES AND PROGRESS REPORTS
CASH SITUATION AND STATEMENT OFOUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS
ASAT31JANUARY 1996
CRP(96)01 AND WT/BFA/CONT/13
INSTALMENT PAYMENTS FOR COUNTRIES INARREARS
(CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 1987 AND EARLIER YEARS) -
PROGRESS REPORT ASAT31JANUARY 1996
CRP(96)02
CONTRIBUTION OFOBSERVER COUNTRIES TOWARDS THE COST OF
SERVICES PROVIDED BYTHE SECRETARIAT -
PROGRESS REPORT ASAT31JANUARY 1996
CRP(96)03
2. TheCommittee heard thereports presented bytheSecretariat onthecashsituation and
statement ofoutstanding contributions asat31January 1996, theinstalments payments forcountries
inarrears, andthecontributions ofObserver countries towards thecostofdocumentation services
provided bytheSecretariat. Thetotalcontributions received amounted toSwF17,858,937, andthe
Working Capital Fund stood atSwF6,476,891. Asofendof1995, there were seventeen former
Contracting Parties toGATT 1947 which were notWTO Members. Since then, sixhadbecome
Members oftheWTO. Inaddition, onecountry which wasnotaformer Contracting Party to
GATT 1947, alsojoined theWTO inJanuary 1996. Asindicated indocument WT/BFA/CONT/13,
asof31January 1996, there werefiveMembers listed inCategory I,fourMembers inCategory II,
sixMembers inCategory IIIandeighteen Members inCategory IVoftheadministrative measures
applicable toMembers withoutstanding contributions. Noadditional contribution hadbeenreceived
inJanuary 1996 from countries inarrears. OneObserver country, Estonia, hadmade contribution
inJanuary towards thecostofservices provided bytheSecretariat, andtwoothers, Latvia and
Lithuania inFebruary 1996.
3. TheCommittee tooknoteofthereports.WT/BFA/21
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B.OVERHEAD COSTS ONTRUST FUNDS
CRP(95)57
4. TheChairman recalled thattheCommittee hadfirstexamined thequestion ofoverhead costs
ontrustfunds during itsmeeting on30November 1995 andthendecided torevert totheissue in
future meeting.
5. Amember oftheSecretariat recalled thebasis fortheneedofoverhead costs. Heindicated
thatastandard overhead rateof13percentofthetrustfundexpenditures isgenerally charged by
other international organisations. Members oftheCommittee agreed totheprinciple ofcharging
overhead costs fortrustfunds thatWTO administered aswellasusing arateof13percentoftrust
fundexpenditures.
6. AMember oftheCommittee, furthermore, pointed outthattheoverhead costwasonlyone
aspect ofthemanagement oftrustfunds. Since thetrustfunds forextra-budgetary activities have
other implications onthenormal function oftheorganisation activities financed bytheregular budget,
thedelegate proposed thatwithin theframework oftheforthcoming discussion onthepolicy
objectives oftheWTO, thequestion oftrustfunds forextra-budgetary activities inthecontext of
technical co-operation anddevelopment aidincluding, interalia,themodalities concerning theiruse
andmanagement, beexamined.
7. TheCommittee tooknoteofthecomments andconsidered thattheissue oftrustfunds,
including, interalia,themodalities concerning theiruseandmanagement, inthecontext oftechnical
cooperation anddevelopment aid,beexamined, intheappropriate forum, assoonaspossible.
8. Furthermore, withregard tothecharging ofoverhead costs ontrustfund, inaccordance to
theproposal made indocument CRP(95)57, theCommittee recommends totheGeneral Council that:
(i) IfWTO isthesoleimplementing organisation foratrustfund, astandard overhead
rateof13percentonthetrustfundexpenditures willbecharged.
(ii) Ifimplementing partners areinvolved, WTO willcharge astandard overhead rate
of13percentoftheexpenditures ofthepartofthetrust fund thatWTO itself
implements. Theoverhead costfortheremaining amount ofthetrustfundwillbe
charged bytheother implementing partner(s) attheratethatisnormally applied in
its/their accounting system(s) withregard totrustfunds.
C.EXTERNAL AUDIT OFTHE WTO ACCOUNTS: TERMS OF
REFERENCE FOR THE WORKING GROUP
TOEXAMINE THE CANDIDATURES
CRP(96)04
9. TheChairman recalled thatinthemeeting of29January 1996, theCommittee decided that
aworking group composed offivemembers oftheCommittee which hadnotsubmitted candidatures,
anduptofiverepresentatives oftheSecretariat should beformed toexamine thevarious tenders.
TheSecretariat distributed on8February 1996, original copies oftenders received toalltheMembers
andtranslations wereprovided subsequently. Following consultations thattheChairman hadwiththe
Members oftheCommittee onthecomposition oftheWorking Group, thefollowing fivedelegates
agreed toserve asmember ofthegroup: (i)Mr.Wetz fromGermany, (ii)Mr.Suboh fromMalaysia,
(iii)Mr.Tagma from Morocco, (iv)Mr.Stoler from theUnited States, and(v)Mr.Thielen fromWT/BFA/21
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Venezuela. With regard totheterms ofreference fortheWorking Group, theChairman suggested
thattheletter calling forthecompetitive tenders could serve asabasis fordiscussion.
10. After extensive discussion ontheterms ofreference fortheworking group, themaximum
period ofappointment oftheexternal auditors andtheperiod required forcompleting theprocess of
selection, theCommittee agreed that,pending further written comments from anyMembers which
might liketomake them, theWorking Group should begin theselection process. Itwould baseits
work ontheterms contained intheletter calling forcompetitive tenders aswellasthecomments
made bytheMembers during theCommittee meeting, andwould make aninterim progress report at
thenextmeeting oftheCommittee. Inthereport mentioning itsrecommendation, theWorking Group
should givereasons forthechoice made. Thetarget forcompleting theselection process would be
theendofApril.
11. TheSecretariat informed theCommittee oftheofferreceived fromMalawi afterthedeadline
setoutintheletter calling forcompetitive tenders. TheCommittee feltthattheoffer from Malawi
could notbetaken intoconsideration asdeadline hadtoberespected andcopies ofthetenders had
beenalready distributed.
D.OTHER BUSINESS
12. Inreply toaquery fromaMember ontheprogress ontherecruitment of37newprofessional
stafffor1996, theSecretariat indicated thatithadreceived alarge number ofapplications andthe
recruitment process wasintheinterview stage. With regard tothequestion concerning theDeputy
Directors-General, theCommittee wasinformed thattheDirector-General intended tobring thematter
before theGeneral Council atitsmeeting on16April 1996.
13. TheCommittee wasalsoinformed thatAmbassador Geyger 'sresponse toMr.Metzger 'sletter
regarding theValue Added Tax exemption was circulated totheWTO Members on
29February 1996.
14. Inreply toaquery ontheelectronic access bythedelegations totheDocument DataBase,
theSecretariat explained that:(i)access bydelegations totheDocument DataBasewould beavailable
bythethird trimester oftheyear; and(ii)newdocuments issued would beavailable inelectronic
letter boxes (oneperlanguage) forfivedaysaftertheirpublication; thisservice would beavailable
during thesecond trimester of1996. TheSecretariat would provide, induecourse, further
information regarding thetypeofhardandsoftware which would berequired foraccess tothe
Document DataBase.
POINT FOR DECISION Paragraph 8