RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/BFA/22
2April 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-1280)
Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration
REPORT OFTHE MEETING HELD ON26MARCH 1996
INTRODUCTION
1. TheWTO Committee onBudget, Finance andAdministration meton26March 1996 under
thechairmanship ofMr.J.Yokota ofJapan. Theterms ofreference andcomposition oftheCommittee
aresetoutindocument WT/L/44/Rev.1. TheAgenda contained indocument WTO/AIR/300 was
adopted.
A.ADMINISTRATIVE UP-DATES AND PROGRESS REPORTS
CASH SITUATION AND STATEMENT OFOUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS
ASAT29FEBRUARY 1996
(CRP(96)05 AND WT/BFA/CONT/14)
INSTALMENT PAYMENTS FOR COUNTRIES INARREARS
(CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 1987 AND EARLIER YEARS) -
PROGRESS REPORT ASAT29FEBRUARY 1996
(CRP(96)06)
CONTRIBUTION OFOBSERVER COUNTRIES TOWARDS THE COST OF
SERVICES PROVIDED BYTHE SECRETARIAT -
PROGRESS REPORT ASAT29FEBRUARY 1996
(CRP(96)07)
2. TheCommittee heard thereports presented bytheSecretariat onthecashsituation andstatement
ofoutstanding contributions asat29February 1996, theinstalments payments forcountries inarrears,
andthecontributions ofObserver countries towards thecostofservices provided bytheSecretariat.
Asof29February1996,thetotalcontributionsreceivedamountedtoSwF37,460,551,andtheWorking
Capital Fundstood atSwF6,476,891. Inaddition, contributions hadbeenreceived fromthefollowing
Members inMarch 1996: Bangladesh, Brazil, Cuba, Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico,
Nigeria, Philippines, Spain andUnited ArabEmirates. Asindicated indocument WT/BFA/CONT/14,
asof29February 1996, therewerefiveMembers listed inCategory I,threeMembers inCategory II,
seven Members inCategory IIIandseventeen Members inCategory IVoftheadministrative measures
applicable toMembers withoutstanding contributions. AsCuba hadmade payments against its
outstanding contributions inMarch, itwasnolonger listed inCategory I.Reminder letters onthe
outstanding contributions weresentouttotheContracting Parties/Members concerned. Furthermore,
reminder letters ontheoutstanding contributions ofobserver countries totheWTO towards thecosts
ofservices provided bytheSecretariat would besentoutshortly.WT/BFA/22
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3. OneMemberstressedtheimportanceofapplyingthedecisionregardingthesettlementoffinancial
obligations ofobserver countries priortotheiraccession. Another Member suggested thatthesituation
ofWTO Observer countries withcontributions inarrears beexamined inthenearfuture.
4. TheCommittee tooknoteofthereports.
B.ASSESSMENT OFCONTRIBUTIONS TOTHE 1996 BUDGET
AND ADVANCES TOTHE WORKING CAPITAL FUND
ONNEW WTO MEMBERS
(WT/L/133 to139)
5. Consequent totheaccession totheWTO oftheGovernment ofBenin (document WT/L/133),
theCommittee recommends totheGeneral Council thataproratacontribution tothe1996 budget
amounting toSwF29,148 beassessed onthisGovernment. Thisassessment, calculated asfrom
22February 1996, isbased onanannual contribution of0.03 percent, taking intoaccount the
international trade figures (imports plusexports ingoods, services andintellectual property rights)
ofBenin fortheyears 1991-1993. Furthermore, onthebasisoftheleveloftheWorking Capital Fund
ofSwF6,476,892 on22February 1996, theCommittee recommends totheGeneral Council toassess
anamount ofSwF32,384 ontheGovernment ofBenin asanadvance totheFund.
6. Consequent totheaccession totheWTO oftheGovernment ofEcuador (document WT/L/134),
theCommittee recommends thataproratacontribution tothe1996budget amounting toSwF85,673
beassessed onthisGovernment. Thisassessment, calculated asfrom 21January 1996, isbased on
anannual contribution of0.08percent, taking intoaccount theinternational trade figures (imports
plusexports ingoods, services andintellectual property rights) ofEcuador fortheyears 1992-1994.
Furthermore, onthebasis ofthelevel oftheWorking Capital Fund ofSwF6,476,892 on
21January1996,theCommitteerecommendstotheGeneralCounciltoassessanamountofSwF32,384
ontheGovernment ofEcuador asanadvance totheFund.
7. Consequent totheaccession totheWTO oftheGovernment ofFiji(document WT/L/135),
theCommittee recommends thataproratacontribution tothe1996budget amounting toSwF32,779
beassessed onthisGovernment. Thisassessment, calculated asfrom 14January 1996, isbased on
anannual contribution of0.03percent, taking intoaccount theinternational trade figures (imports
plusexports ingoods, services andintellectual property rights) ofFijifortheyears 1991-1993.
Furthermore, onthebasis ofthelevel oftheWorking Capital Fund ofSwF6,476,892 on
14January1996,theCommitteerecommendstotheGeneralCounciltoassessanamountofSwF32,384
ontheGovernment ofFijiasanadvance totheFund.
8. Consequent totheaccession totheWTO oftheGovernment ofGrenada (document WT/L/136),
theCommittee recommends thataproratacontribution tothe1996budget amounting toSwF29,148
beassessed onthisGovernment. Thisassessment, calculated asfrom22February 1996, isbased on
anannual contribution of0.03percent, taking intoaccount theinternational trade figures (imports
plusexports ingoods, services andintellectual property rights) ofGrenada fortheyears 1991-1993.
Furthermore, onthebasis ofthelevel oftheWorking Capital Fund ofSWF6,476,892 on22
February 1996, theCommittee recommends totheGeneral Council toassess anamount ofSwF32,384
ontheGovernment ofGrenada asanadvance totheFund.
9. Consequent totheaccession totheWTO oftheGovernment ofHaiti (document WT/L/137),
theCommittee recommends thataproratacontribution tothe1996budget amounting toSwF31,289
beassessed onthisGovernment. Thisassessment, calculated asfrom 30January 1996, isbased on
anannual contribution of0.03percent, taking intoaccount theinternational trade figures (importsWT/BFA/22
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plusexports ingoods, services andintellectual property rights) ofHaiti fortheyears 1991-1993.
Furthermore, onthebasisoftheleveloftheWorking Capital Fund ofSwF6,476,892 on30January
1996, theCommittee recommends totheGeneral Council toassess anamount ofSwF32,384 onthe
Government ofHaiti asanadvance totheFund.
10. Consequent totheaccession totheWTO oftheGovernment ofQatar (document WT/L/138),
theCommittee recommends thataproratacontribution tothe1996budget amounting toSwF76,703
beassessed onthisGovernment. Thisassessment, calculated asfrom 13January 1996, isbased on
anannual contribution of0.07percent, taking intoaccount theinternational trade figures (imports
plusexports ingoods, services andintellectual property rights) ofQatar fortheyears 1989-1991.
Furthermore, onthebasis ofthelevel oftheWorking Capital Fund ofSwF6,476,892 on
13January1996,theCommitteerecommendstotheGeneralCounciltoassessanamountofSwF32,384
ontheGovernment ofQatar asanadvance totheFund.
11. Consequent totheaccession totheWTO oftheGovernment ofSaintKittsandNevis (document
WT/L/139), theCommittee recommends thataproratacontribution tothe1996 budget amounting
toSwF29,241beassessedonthisGovernment.Thisassessment,calculatedasfrom21February1996,
isbased onanannual contribution of0.03percent,taking intoaccount theinternational trade figures
(imports plusexports ingoods, services andintellectual property rights) ofSaint KittsandNevis for
theyears 1991-1993. Furthermore, onthebasis ofthelevel oftheWorking Capital Fund of
SwF6,476,892 on21February 1996, theCommittee recommends totheGeneral Council toassess
anamount ofSwF32,384 ontheGovernment ofSaint KittsandNevis asanadvance totheFund.
C.EXTERNAL AUDIT OFTHE WTO ACCOUNTS:
ORAL PROGRESS REPORT OFTHE
WORKING GROUP
12. TheChairman informed theCommittee thattheWorking Group ontheselection ofexternal
auditoftheWTO account meton1and22March 1996toexamine thevarious tenders received. The
Permanent Mission oftheArgentine Republic totheInternational Organisations atGeneva hadsent
aletter totheChairman on6March 1996, suggesting, interalia,thatincomparing thevarious tenders,
consideration should begiven tothepossibility ofestablishing aclearfocus onvalue-for-money auditing.
TheOffice oftheAuditor General oftheArgentine Republic hadalsosentexplanatory information
ontheproposedworkofevaluatingtheeconomyandefficiencywithwhichbudgetarycreditsareallocated
andactivities undertaken.
13. Inthecourse ofitstwosessions, theWorking Group examined thevarious tenders based on
theterms contained intheletter calling forcompetitive tenders aswellasinthelightofthecomments
made bytheMembers oftheCommittee during themeeting of29February 1996. Thetenders were
examined considering thefollowing terms: (i)audit costs including travel expenses, subsistence
allowances, preparation andpresentation ofauditreports, andcertification ofaccounts; (ii)availability
ofsupplementary auditmeasures andcosts; (iii)minimum period ofappointment; (iv)familiarity with
international organizations 'practices; (v)knowledge oflanguages; (vi)availability foradvice and
consultation andcosts; (vii)ability tooperate using avalue-for-money approach auditing; and(viii)
readiness toundertake auditmissions twice ayear. Assome offers werenotdetailed enough toallow
comparison withothers, andinorder tofacilitate thecosts comparison, theSecretariat hadcontacted
andhadobtained fromsome bidders, additional information ontheirsubmissions. Withregard tothe
period ofappointment, theWorking Group feltthatitmight beadvisable tosetaminimum period
ofthree years coupled withamandatory callfortenders every fiveyears.WT/BFA/22
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14. Forreference, theWorking Group hadobtained acopyoftheGuidelines onValue-for-Money
Auditing ofinternational organizations adopted bythePanel ofExternal Auditors oftheUnited Nations.
Inorder toavoid discussing onlythetheoretical aspect oftheissue, theSecretariat would request the
bidders tosubmit asummary ofoneortworecent concrete examples oftheirrespective value-for-money
auditing results, without revealing theidentity oftheaudited institution. Upon receipt ofallthis
additional information, theWorking Group would examine indepth thevarious bidsandsubmit its
draftrecommendation fortheCommittee 'smeeting inMay1996.
15. TheSecretariat would distribute, forinformation, copies oftheadditional information received
fromthevarious bidders andtheletterfromtheMission ofArgentina totheMembers oftheCommittee.
16. TheCommittee tooknoteoftheoralprogress report.
D.OTHER BUSINESS
17. AMember oftheICITO/GATT Committee, readastatement hehaddelivered totheUNJSPF
Standing Committee inearly March 1996. Henoted thattheChairman oftheGeneral Council was
conducting informal consultations withaviewtoascertaining theposition ofthedelegations withrespect
tothesalary andpension questions. Depending ontheoutcome ofthose informal consultations, the
matter would bediscussed inthenextsession ofthePension Board inJuly.
18. While thequestion oftrustfunds forextra-budgetary activities, inthecontext oftechnical co-
operation anddevelopment aid,would beexamined within theframework oftheforthcoming discussion
onthepolicy objectives oftheWTO, oneMember would liketohavediscussion onthemanagement,
ingeneral, ofTrust Funds inafuture meeting oftheCommittee. Copies ofa"Non-Paper" onthe
subject, prepared bytheMember, were distributed totheMembers oftheCommittee.
19. Responding toaquestion posed byaMember, theSecretariat informed theCommittee that
thegranting ofpermanent contracts tostaffmembers wasnotautomatic. Initial recommendations had
tobemade bytherespective Directors. Then theAppointments andPromotions Board examined the
recommendations andmade itsrecommendation totheDirector-General, whohadthefinalsay.While
thereview hadnotyetbeencompleted, 70staffmembers outof75eligible forpermanent contracts
were already approved.
20. Following arequest made byaMember, theCommittee wasinformed thattheSecretariat would
provide information ontherecruitment process fortheposts approved for1996. Furthermore, the
Secretariat would ensure thatdelegations receive theadministrative memoranda reporting onthe
movements ofWTO staffmembers, usually issued onaquarterly basis.
21. Further toaproposal putforward byaMember, theSecretariat would provide information
totheChairmen ofthevarious Committees onthecosts ofmeetings anddocumentation.
POINTS FOR DECISION: Paragraph 5
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 9
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Paragraph 11