WORLD TRADE WT/BFA/29
4November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4640)
Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration
ANNUAL REPORT (1996)
1. Inaccordance withtheprocedures foranannual overview ofWTO activities andforreporting
under theWTO adopted bytheGeneral Council on15November 1995, areport ontheactivities of
theWTO Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration in1996 ishereby submitted.
2. Itwillberecalled thattheCommittee metonanumber ofoccasions andhaspresented reports
totheGeneral Council onaregular basis.1Thisreport willthencover themajor areas theCommittee
hasdealtwithinthecourse oftheyeartodate.
I. ON-GOING RESPONSIBILITIES
3. TheCommittee monitored onaregular basis thefinancial andbudgetary situation ofthe
Organization, thereceipt ofcontributions including theimplementation oftherelated schemes and
measures pertaining toreceipt ofcontributions, andexamined theFinal Position ofthe1995 Budget
andtheDirector-General 'sFinancial Report onthe1995Accounts andReport oftheExternal Auditor.
ItalsodealtwiththeDirector-General 'sbudget proposals for1997.
II. MAJOR AREAS OFACTIVITIES
A. External Auditors
4. TheJointWTO/GATT Committee recommended thatacallforcompetitive tenders forthe
external audit oftheaccounts oftheOrganization bemade in1995. After approval oftheterms of
reference forthecompetitive bids, theSecretariat sentoutacallfortenders thesame year. The
Committee formed aworking group in1996 withtheSecretariat toexamine thecandidatures ofnine
national courts ofaudit. Onthebasis ofareport presented bytheworking group, theCommittee
recommended totheGeneral Council toextend theon-going contract withtheAustrian Court ofAudit
foroneyeartoinclude theauditofthe1996accounts andtonominate theNetherlands Court ofAudit
forauditing theWTO accounts effective asfromtheauditofthe1997accounts forathreeyearterm.
B. General management of,andoverhead costs on,Trust Funds
5. TheWTOCommitteehad,onseveraloccasions,examinedthequestionofgeneralmanagement
andoverhead costsofTrust Funds. In1996, indocument WT/BFA/21, itrecommended totheGeneral
Council thatastandard overhead rateof13percentontrustfundexpenditures becharged. The
recommendations onthegeneral management ofTrust Funds werecontained indocument WT/BFA/26.
./.
1Repor ts:WT/BFA/20 coveringthemeetingof29Januar y1996; WT/BFA/21 coveringthemeetingof29February1996;
WT/BFA/22 covering themeeting of26March 1996; WT/BFA/24 covering themeeting of2May 1996; andWT/BFA/26
covering themeeting of27June1996. Inaddition, theCommittee sentaspecific recommendation totheGeneral Council
indocument WT/BFA/19.WT/BFA/29
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C. Relationship between theInternational Trade Centre (ITC) andtheWTO
6. TheCommittee monitored theimplementation ofthedecision taken in1995 toconsult with
United Nations Headquarters onanewarrangement onbudgetary issues related tothefunctioning of
theITC. In1996, theCommittee examined theproposed 1997budget fortheITCwhich forthefirst
timewasexpressed inSwiss francs andfollowed thepresentation oftheWTO budget.
D. NewWTO Members
7. Inthecourse of1996, theCommittee formulated recommendations totheGeneral Council
onassessments tothebudget andadvances totheWorking Capital Fund upontheaccession totheWTO
ofthefollowing newMembers: (i)Angola, (ii)Benin, (iii)Chad, (iv)Ecuador, (v)Fiji,(vi)Gambia,
(vii)Grenada, (viii)Haiti, (ix)Papua NewGuinea, (x)Qatar, (xi)Rwanda, (xii)SaintKittsandNevis,
(xiii) Solomon Islands, and(xiv)theUnited Arab Emirates.
E. Conditions ofservice ofWTO staff
8. While notintheformal framework oftheCommittee, twoworking groups under theGeneral
Council chaired bythepresent andformer Chairmen oftheCommittee tookupthematter ofconditions
ofservice again in1996. Onedealt withsalaries andtheother withpensions. Theresult ofthese
discussions andconsultations provided thebasisforthedraftdecision providing fortheestablishment
ofWTO -specific conditions ofservice tabled bytheChairman oftheGeneral Council in
September 1996.