. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/GC/M/38
30 March 1999
(99-1283)
General Council
26 March 1999
MINUTES OF MEETING
Held in the Centre William Rappard
on 26 March 1999
Chairman:  Mr. Ali Mchumo (Tanzania)
1. Election of the Chairman, members and alternates of the Management Board of the
WTO Pension Plan  (WT/GC/W/155)
The Chairman said that this special meeting had been convened in order for the General
Council to take an urgent decision on the election of the Chairman, members and alternates of the
Management Board for the WTO Pension Plan, since any delay would adversely affect the
functioning of that Plan.  Article 4 of the Regulations of the WTO Pension Plan provided for the
establishment of  a Management Board comprising, inter alia , a Chairman, four members and four
alternates elected by the General Council.  Following consultations on this matter, he proposed for
election to the above positions the following  candidates on which delegations had been
informed through document WT/GC/W/155:
Chairman: Ambassador Kamel Morjane (Tunisia)
Members: Ambassador Anthony Hill (Jamaica)
Mr. Mark Linscott (USA)
Mr. Michael Stone (Hong Kong, China)
Mr. Peter Van der Gaast (Netherlands)
Alternates: Mr. Hakki Akil (Turkey)
Mr. Andrew Johnston (United Kingdom)
Mr. Patrick Krappie (South Africa)
Ms. Laurence Wiedmer (Switzerland)
The representative of Turkey said that his delegation had expressed an interest in taking part
in this Board, and had understood that it was to no tify this to Mr. Lavorel, Deputy Director-General,
who would in turn notify the Chairman.  He said  that there had been some misunderstanding between
his delegation and Mr. Lavorel, and regretted that Turkey's candidate had not been chosen to be a
member.
The representative of Bulgaria said that his delegation had never been included in the
consultations to which the Chairman had referred.  Any such consultations should involve more
transparency, and the airgrams convening formal meetings should clearly indicate the documents
under consideration.
The Chairman said that the airgram in WTO/AIR/1049 made clear reference to document
WT/GC/W/155 to which he had referred.  He said th at where there were reservations concerning theWT/GC/M/38
Page 2
consultations held, delegations should approach him directly.  He asked for Turkey's understanding
and said that while alternate members on the Board did not vote, decisions were taken by consensus
and thus members and alternates participated equally.
The General Council took note of the statements and agreed  on the election of the above
individuals to the Management Board of the WTO Pension Plan1.
__________
                                                     
1 WT/L/297