. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/BFA/57
11 April 2002
(02-1963)
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD ON 18 MARCH 2002
1. The WTO Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration met on 18 March 2002 under
the successive chairmanship of Ambassador Mr. A. Supperamaniam and Mr. Neil McMillan.  The
terms of reference and composition of the Committee are set out in document WT/L/44/Rev.1.  The
agenda contained in docume nt WTO/AIR/1737 was adopted.
I. INACTIVE MEMBERS
2. Following the recommendation of the Preparatory Committee of the World Trade
Organization on the issue of Members in Category IV of the administrative measures, the Secretariat
prepared a list of Members which have accumulated, as at 5 March 2002, three or more years of
arrears up to and including the financial year of 2002 (document WT/BFA/W/67).
3. Consequently, in accordance with paragraph 7(b) of document PC/7, L/7578, the Committee
recommends to the General Council that the following Members be urged to liquidate their
arrears:
Antigua and Barbuda
Burundi
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
GambiaGuineaGuinea-Bissau
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Niger
Rwanda
Sierra Leone
TogoZambia
II. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON
4. The Chairperson recalled that the Chairman of the General Council had carried out informal
consultations on the appointment of Chairpersons to the different WTO standing bodies in accordance
with the established guidelines for such office rs.  On the basis of the understanding reached,
Ambassador Mr. Supperamaniam proposed that the Committee on Budget, Finance andAdministration formally elect Mr. Neil McMilla n, of the United Kingdom, as chairperson of the
Committee by acclamation.  The Committee so agreed.
5. The elected Chairman assumed the Chair and thanked the Committee for its confidence.
Members expressed appreciation to Ambassador Mr. Supperamaniam for the work he had undertaken
for the Committee in 2002 and looked forward to a fruitful year.WT/BFA/57
Page 2
III. WORKPLAN FOR 2002
6. The Chairman introduced document CRP(02)01, which provided a tentative schedule for the
meetings of the Committee in 2002.  He indicated that the dates of the meetings were arranged to fit
in with the General Council meetings and the overa ll schedule of meetings according to the guidelines
agreed in the General Council.  The items indicated were those identified to date; additional issues
which may necessitate discussion would be added to the proposed schedule as they arose.  With
regard to the presentation of documents, the Secretariat would undertake to make available as many
documents as possible in the three official languages at the same time.  The document CRP(02)01 was
an example.  Referring to document CRP(02)02, the Chairman requested Members who would like to
receive Committee documents in electronic form to submit their electronic addresses to the
Secretariat.  It was noted that documents in hard  form would continue to be distributed in the
mailboxes of the WTO.
7. One Member recalled his request for discussion of personnel and staffing policy more
generally (including the paper entitled Personnel Management and Career Development Policies in
the WTO Secretariat (Administrative Memorandum 934) which was originally provided to the
Committee as Annex 3 of document CRP((01)20 dated 10 October 2001), he further requested thatthe relevant paper on staffing of the WTO Secretariat be distributed in good time so that the delegates
would have time to examine the document prior to discussion in the Committee.  Another Member
requested that information be provided on the Performance Award System during the course of the
year.  With regard to a query on the situation of the proposed new WTO annexe (see WT/BFA/56,
paragraphs 61-65), the Secretariat stated that it would keep the Committee informed on the matter.
8. The Committee took note of the tentative schedule of the Committee and the comments from
Members.
POINTS FOR DECISION: Paragraph 3.
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