RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/BFA/20
21February 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0649)
Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration
REPORT OFTHE MEETING HELD ON29JANUARY 1996
INTRODUCTION
1. TheWTO Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration meton29January 1996 under
theinitial chairmanship ofMr.J.-M. Metzger ofFrance andthesubsequent chairmanship of
Mr.J.Yokota ofJapan. Theterms ofreference andcomposition oftheCommittee aresetoutin
document WT/L/44/Rev.1. TheAgenda contained indocument WTO/AIR/249 wasadopted.
A.HANDOVER OFTHE CHAIRMANSHIP OFTHE COMMITTEE
2. TheChairman, Mr.Metzger, opened thefirstmeeting oftheCommittee in1996andinformed
theCommittee thattheGeneral Council on13December 1995hadapproved theproposed nomination
ofMr.Yokota ofJapan asChairman oftheCommittee onBudget, Finance andAdministration. He
congratulated Mr.Yokota onhisnomination andindicated thattheCommittee unanimously looked
forward toaccomplishing itstasksin1996under hisleadership. Hethenhanded overthechairmanship
toMr.Yokota.
3. Theappointed Chairman, Mr.Yokota, tookoverthechairmanship andthanked Mr.Metzger
forhiskindwords and,inthename oftheCommittee, expressed gratitude forhisleadership, devotion
andtireless energy shown during thepastyearofhischairmanship. Mr.Yokota believed that,with
collective effort, theCommittee could achieve progress onsome ofthemore difficult problems and
helooked forward toafruitful yearwithfrank andconstructive consultations onvarious topics.
4. Members oftheCommittee expressed theirgratitude toMr.Metzger forhischairmanship of
theCommittee in1995 andcongratulated Mr.Yokota onhisnomination.
B.PROCEDURE FOR SELECTION OFEXTERNAL AUDITOR
5. TheChairman recalled thattheCommittee recommended totheGeneral Council in1995that
acallforcompetitive tenders fortheexternal auditoftheaccounts oftheWTO bemade. TheCommittee
noted thatthenomination would beeffective asfromtheauditoftheaccounts for1996. TheSecretariat
sentoutletters toallWTO members inviting bidsinOctober 1995andindicated adeadline oftheend
oftheyearforsubmission.WT/BFA/20
Page2
6. TheSecretariat informed theCommittee thatninetenders havebeenreceived from various
countries, namely: Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, France, Italy, Netherlands, Philippines, Sweden,
andtheUnited Kingdom. TheChairman thenrecalled thatthelastselection ofexternal auditors was
made inJuly1986. Atthattimesixgovernmental auditors andtwocommercial auditing firms submitted
tenders. After examining theproposals, theCommittee hadthenrecommended thattheaudit office
which submitted thelowest costbeselected.
7. TheChairman further indicated thatthere werethree possible procedures fortheselection of
thenewexternal auditor. Thecandidatures could beexamined by:(i)theCommittee atlarge; (ii)a
working group made upexclusively ofmembers oftheCommittee; (iii)aworking group composed
ofmembers oftheCommittee andrepresentatives oftheSecretariat. Hethought thatitwould seem
logical thatifaworking group approach wasadopted, themembers oftheCommittee involved should
notbefrom among those WTO Members which submitted candidatures.
8. Members expressed preference fortheworking group approach which included representatives
oftheSecretariat. OneMember indicated that,asinthepast,thelowest bidshould berecommended.
Others expressed theviewthatcostshould notconstitute theonlydetermining factor intheselection
process asthere wereother criteria andtheexternal auditor 'sfunctions should gobeyond thesimple
verification ofaccounts andinvolve other aspects ofgood management offunds. Another Member
suggested thatdelegations ofcountries from where audit firms hadsubmitted tenders could make
presentations onthecandidatures. However, other members oftheCommittee considered thatitwould
bedifficult fordelegations tomake presentations forauditfirms which wereoftenindependent entities
intheirGovernments. Itwasalsomentioned thatpresentations bythenational auditoffices themselves
might beproblematic forthecandidates from countries furthest away from Geneva. Theterms of
reference fortheworking group should bedrawn upfromtheletter calling forthecompetitive tenders.
9. TheCommittee decided thataworking group composed offivemembers oftheCommittee
which hadnotsubmitted candidatures, anduptofiverepresentatives oftheSecretariat should beformed
toexamine thevarious tenders. TheSecretariat would distribute copies oftenders received toallthe
Members. Finally, theChairman would consult withtheMembers onthecomposition oftheworking
group.
C.INACTIVE MEMBERS
(WT/BFA/19)
10. Following therecommendation ofthePreparatory Committee oftheWorld Trade Organisation
ontheissueofInactive Members, theSecretariat prepared alistofMembers which haveaccumulated
more thanthree years ofarrears uptoandincluding thefinancial year1995 asat23January 1996
(WT/BFA/19). TheSecretariat further recalled that,under theterms ofthearrangement withregard
totheformer Contracting Parties which hadnotbecome WTO Members, theoutstanding obligations
ofthose countries vis-à-vis WTO remained ineffect. Should oneofthose countries become WTO
member, itwould beinthiscategory. Countries classified inthiscategory are:Chad, Congo, Gambia,
Niger, Rwanda andZaire.
11. Inreply toaquery fromoneMember, theSecretariat indicated thatregular contacts weremade
withthose countries inquestion drawing theirattention tothematter.WT/BFA/20
Page3
12. Therefore, inaccordance withparagraph 7(b)ofdocument PC/7, L/7578, theCommittee
recommends totheGeneral Council thatthefollowing Members classified inCategory IVof
Administrative Measures (Inactive Members) beurged toliquidate theirarrears:
Antigua andBarbuda Ghana
Bolivia Madagascar
Burkina Faso Mauritania
Burundi Nicaragua
Cameroon St.Vincent andtheGrenadines
Central African Republic Sierra Leone
Dominica Suriname
Dominican Republic Togo
Gabon Uganda
D.ACCESSION OFCAMEROON
(WT/L/109)
13. TheChairman recalled that,inOctober 1995, theCommittee made arecommendation tothe
General Council withregard tothe1996WTO budget andascaleofcontributions assessed onWTO
Members.Atthattime,theCommitteetooknoteofthefactthatsomeContractingPartiestoGATT1947
hadnotyetbecome WTO Members. TheCommittee alsotooknoteoftheprocedures applicable to
Contracting Parties which become WTO Members afterapproval ofthe1996Scale ofContributions.
Cameroon wasthefirstcountry inthatsituation.
14. Consequent totheaccession totheWTO oftheGovernment ofCameroon on13December 1995
(document WT/Let/41), theCommittee recommends thatacontribution tothe1996budget amounting
toSwF56,650 beassessed onthisGovernment. Thisassessment isbased onanannual contribution
of0.05percent, taking intoaccount theinternational trade figures (imports plusexports ingoods,
services andintellectual property rights) ofCameroon fortheyears 1992-1994.
E.OTHER BUSINESS
15. Mr.Metzger informed theCommittee that,inhiscapacity astheChairman oftheCommittee
in1995, hewrote totheHostGovernment ontheapplication oftheHeadquarters Agreement andon
theissue ofValue Added Taxexemption. TheSecretariat would circulate copies oftheletter toall
theMembers.
16. Amember oftheSecretariat recalled thathehadindicated totheCommittee inlate1995that,
onthebasis ofprobable budgetary savings aswellasreceipt ofcontributions ofasimilar magnitude
asinprevious years, there would likely beapositive balance intheSurplus Account attheendofthe
year. Inup-dating thatinformation, hesaidthatifbudgetary savings weregreater thanhehadpreviously
expected, therateofcontributions wassignificantly lessthanforeseen. Consequently, while waiting
forthefinalaccounts tobeprepared, nopositive balance intheSurplus Account should beexpected
andevenrecourse totheWorking Capital Fund would beneeded.
17. Further toaquestion fromaMember oftheCommittee, amember oftheSecretariat informed
theCommittee thattheDirector-General would address theUnited Nations salary andpension issue
atthenextmeeting oftheGeneral Council.
POINTS FOR DECISION: Paragraphs 12and14