WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/510
21 January 2003
(03-0336)
GUIDELINES FOR APPOINTMENT OF
OFFICERS TO WTO BODIES
Adopted by the General Council on 11 December 2002
The following guidelines should be applied in the process of consultations on appointment of
officers to the WTO bodies.
For this purpose the bodies under the WTO have been separated into eight groups in
accordance with the Annex to this paper.
Given its particular nature, these guidelines do not apply to the Textiles Monitoring Body
(Group 3 in the Annex).  Reference to "Groups" in  the guidelines below is done in accordance with
the Annex.
Similarly, these guidelines cannot be applied to the appointment of officers of bodies
established by the Plurilateral Trade Agreements (Group 7), as their chairpersons should be selected
from amongst signatories of the respective agreements and the criteria of selection, the terms of office
and other conditions will be decided by the bodies concerned.
The guidelines below may be reviewed in light of experience as necessary.
1. General
1.1 Members should regard the appointments exercise as a relatively routine annual
"housekeeping'' function, with the principle of rotati on as its norm (guideline 6.1 refers).  The purpose
of the exercise is to ensure that the Organization continues to be able to handle its business in a
smooth and seamless way.  It should therefore be approached in a way conducive to the smooth
conduct of ongoing business.  Members should also give due regard to the sensitive nature of the
views expressed during the consultative process.
2. Qualifications and requirements for appointment to posts
2.1 Chairpersons must be representatives of Members.  Representatives of Members in financial
arrears for over one full year cannot be considered for appointment.
2.2 Chairpersons should continue the tradition of being impartial and objective;  ensuring
transparency and inclusiveness in decision-making and consultative processes;  and aiming to
facilitate consensus.
2.3 The choice of a chairperson should primarily reflect the capacity and the availability of that
person to undertake the special responsibilities required of such posts in the WTO system.WT/L/510
Page 2
2.4 Appointments must be acceptable to the membership as a whole and not only to regions or
groupings that may have proposed them.
3. Overall balance of representation
3.1 A balance which reflects the overall membership of the WTO should be achieved in the
appointment of officers.
3.2 Such overall balance should be sought in particular for posts under Groups 1, 2, 4 and 5 taken
as a whole.
3.3 Separately a similar balance should be sought in the appointment of chairpersons under
Group 6.
3.4 Chairpersons to Group 8 should be appointed on an ad hoc basis, and in the light of
qualifications and availability.
4. Distribution of chairs
4.1 Each body should have a separate chairperson.  Each body may also provide for a vice-
chairperson or vice-chairpersons as appropriate, and the guidelines set out herein should be applied to
their appointment.
5. Level of representation
5.1 For bodies under Group 1 and 2 chairpersons should be appointed from among Geneva-based
Heads of Delegations.  In the case of Groups 4, 5, 6 and 8, chairpersons should be Heads ofDelegations or officials of delegations of Members of the WTO in Geneva.  Non-residents may be
appointed in exceptional circumstances where the necessary expertise can only be found in capitals.
6. Term of office
6.1 Rotation should be the general rule;  the term of office for chairing a body should therefore be
one year.  Nevertheless, in bodies under Groups 4, 5 and 6 the incumbent chairperson may beconsidered for reappointment whenever this is found to be in the interest of the efficient functioning
of the body.
6.2 Chairpersons of bodies in Group 8 should normally retain their posts until such bodies have
concluded their work.
6.3 If a chairperson is transferred from Geneva to another post, either the vice-chairperson would
assume the responsibilities of the chairperson, or a new chairperson would be appointed.  The original
chairperson may be retained only in exceptional circumstances, providing this person is able to come
to Geneva whenever necessary and the travel and other related costs are paid by the respectivegovernment.  The same should apply in the event that a non-Geneva-based person is appointed for
exceptional reasons to chair a body.
7. Procedures for appointment of officers
7.1 The outgoing chairperson of the General Council will normally conduct consultations on the
appointment of the chairpersons for the bodies in Groups 1, 2, 4 and 5, having regard to the following
procedures:WT/L/510
Page 3
(a) In order to promote transparency, the selection process should be started with an
announcement by the Chair at the General Council meeting held in December each
year.
(b) The process itself should be carried out by the serving General Council Chair with the
assistance of the serving Dispute Settlement Body Chair, both ex officio, and anyformer GC Chairs still serving as Representatives to the WTO in Geneva, in order to
enhance continuity.
(c) At the December General Council meeting, the Chair should distribute a list of past
Chairs of major bodies in order to provide some structure for Members' subsequent
deliberations on the possible distribution of chairs based on past practice and the need
for balance.
(d) The General Council Chair and colleagues (guideline 7.1(b) refers) should make time
available to hear the views and suggestions, if any, of Members, individually and/or
in groups.  They should communicate a specified time-period for this purpose to
Members as early as possible.
(e) Having received inputs from delegations, which should include indications of persons
who are not available to serve, the Chair and colleagues would carefully consider theviews and suggestions made, bearing in mind the availability of individuals and
financial arrears (guideline 2.1 refers).  Following any further consultations as may be
necessary, the Chair and colleagues would then devise a balanced slate in accordance
with the guidelines and based on the comments they have received.
(f) The Chair would arrange an open-ended informal Heads of Delegation meeting in
late January or early February.  This meeting would provide the opportunity for
general dissemination and discussion of the slate.
(g) The slate would be proposed and agreed at the February regular General Council
meeting.
7.2 There should be no automaticity in succession to posts.
7.3 The outgoing chairpersons in Group 2 will normally conduct consultations on the
appointment of the chairpersons of bodies in Gr oup 6(A), (B) and (C) under the respective authority
of the Council they chair.  They should announce the start of their respective consultation processes at
the February General Council, and work in close coor dination in order to ensure the efficiency of the
process and the balance mentioned in guideline 3.3.  An open-ended informal meeting should
subsequently be organized by each of these chairpersons in order to provide the opportunity forgeneral dissemination and discussion of each slate.  Each slate would then be proposed and agreed at
formal meetings of their respective bodies.
7.4 The Chairperson of the body which is establishing a subordinate body in Group 8 will hold
ad-hoc consultations on the appointment of a chairperson for the latter.
7.5 The same procedures are applicable whenever a chair becomes vacant in the course of a term.WT/L/510
Page 4
ANNEX
STRUCTURE OF BODIES UNDER THE WTO
Group 1 General Council
General Council meeting as Dispute Settlement Body
General Council meeting as Trade Policy Review Body
Group 2 Council for Trade in Goods
Council for Trade in Services
Council for TRIPS
(Group 3 Textiles Monitoring Body)
Group 4 Committee on Trade and Development
Committee on Balance-of-Payments Restrictions
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration
Group 5 Committee on Trade and Environment
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements
Trade Negotiations Committee1
Working Group on the Relationship between Trade and InvestmentWorking Group on the Interaction between Trade and Competition PolicyWorking Group on Transparency in Government ProcurementWorking Group on Trade, Debt and Finance
Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology
(Any other body established by the Ministerial Conference or the GeneralCouncil)
Group 6(A) Committee on Market Access
Committee on Agriculture
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary MeasuresCommittee on Technical Barriers to Trade
                                                     
1 The agreement reached by the TNC (established by the Doha Ministerial Conference) at its first
meeting on 28 January and 1 February 2002 regarding the appointment of chairpersons of the TNC and of the
bodies established by it (TN/C/M/1), shall continue to apply to such appointments.WT/L/510
Page 5
Committee on TRIMS
Committee on Anti-Dumping PracticesCommittee on Customs ValuationCommittee on Rules of Origin
Committee on Import Licensing
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing MeasuresCommittee on SafeguardsWorking Party on State Trading Enterprises(Any other body established by the Council for Trade in Goods 
2)
Group 6(B) Working Party on Domestic Regulation
Committee on Trade in Financial Services
Committee on Specific Commitments
Working Party on GATS Rules
(Any other body established by the Council for Trade in Services)
Group 6(C) (Any subsidiary bodies under the Council for TRIPS)
Group 7 Committee on Trade in Civil Aircraft
Committee on Government Procurement
(Committees established pursuant to the Plurilateral Trade Agreements -
Annex 4 Agreements )
Group 8 Other Working Groups and Working Parties (accession;  Article XXIV etc.)
__________
                                                     
2 Although the plurilateral Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in Information
Technology Products is not a body established by the Council for Trade in Goods, its chair is in practiceselected as a result of the broader consultations carried out by the Goods Council Chair on chairpersons for
Group 6(A).