WTO | Secretariat and budget overview

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> WTO Secretariat chart
> Work of Divisions
> Budget

WTO Secretariat back to top

The WTO Secretariat, with offices only in Geneva, has 629 regular staff and is headed by a Director-General. Since decisions are taken by Members only, the Secretariat has no decision-making powers. Its main duties are to supply technical and professional support for the various councils and committees, to provide technical assistance for developing countries, to monitor and analyze developments in world trade, to provide information to the public and the media and to organize the ministerial conferences. The Secretariat also provides some forms of legal assistance in the dispute settlement process and advises governments wishing to become Members of the WTO.

The Secretariat staff of includes individuals representing about 70 nationalities. The professional staff is composed mostly of economists, lawyers and others with a specialization in international trade policy. There is also a substantial number of personnel working in support services, including informatics, finance, human resources and language services. The total staff complement is composed almost equally of men and women. The working languages of the WTO are English, French and Spanish.

The Appellate Body was established by the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes to consider appeals to decisions by Dispute Settlement panels. The Appellate Body has its own Secretariat. The seven-member Appellate Body consists of individuals with recognized standing in the fields of law and international trade. They are appointed to a four-year term, and may be reappointed once

Table of regular staff by nationality back to top

Country	Women	Men	Total
Argentina	3	5	8
Australia	3	5	8
Austria	2	3	5
Belgium	4	1	5
Benin		1	1
Bolivia	2	2	4
Brazil	3	5	8
Bulgaria		1	1
Canada	8	15	23
Chile	3	2	5
China	3	2	5
Colombia	2	5	7
Congo , the Democratic Republic of the		1	1
Costa Rica	2	1	3
Côte d'Ivoire		1	1
Cuba		1	1
Denmark	1	1	2
Ecuador		1	1
Egypt	2	3	5
Estonia	1		1
Finland	2	3	5
France	103	78	181
Germany	5	11	16
Ghana		1	1
Greece	3	2	5
Guatemala	1		1
Honduras	1		1
Hong Kong , China	1		1
Hungary		1	1
India	3	9	12
Ireland	9	2	11
Italy	6	7	13
Japan	1	2	3
Korea , Republic of	3	1	4
Lesotho		1	1
Malawi		1	1
Malaysia	1	2	3
Mauritius		2	2
Mexico	2	4	6
Morocco	1	1	2
Netherlands	2	4	6
New Zealand	1	3	4
Nigeria		1	1
Norway		2	2
Pakistan		1	1
Peru	2	3	5
Philippines	4	5	9
Poland	2	3	5
Romania	2		2
Rwanda	1	1	2
Saint Lucia	1		1
Senegal		1	1
South Africa		1	1
Spain	30	16	46
Sri Lanka	2	2	4
Sweden	2	2	4
Switzerland	27	17	44
Tanzania	1		1
Thailand		1	1
Trinidad and Tobago	1		1
Tunisia	2	4	6
Turkey	2	1	3
Uganda	1		1
United Kingdom	54	18	72
United States of America	21	9	30
Uruguay	1	5	6
Venezuela	1	3	4
Zimbabwe	1		1
Total	342	287	629

Notes:
1. Regular budget posts include posts not yet filled. back to text

Distribution of staff positions within the WTO’s various divisions back to top

Division	Regular Staff	Directors	Senior Management	Grand Total
Director-General			1.00	1.00
Office of the Director General	13.00	1.00		14.00
Offices of the Deputy Directors-General	5.20		4.00	9.20
Accessions Division	7.80	1.00		8.80
Administration and General Services Division	78.00	1.00		79.00
Agriculture & Commodities Division	14.00	2.00		16.00
Council and TNC Division	12.30	1.00		13.30
Development Division	11.00	1.00		12.00
Doha Development Agenda (DDA) Special Duties Division	2.00	1.00		3.00
Economic Research and Statistics Division	48.00	2.00		50.00
External Relations Division	8.80	1.00		9.80
Human Resources Division	17.60	1.00		18.60
Informatics Division	38.00	1.00		39.00
Information & Media Relations Division	20.80	1.00		21.80
Institute for Training and Technical Co-operation	28.50	1.00		29.50
Intellectual Property Division	12.00	1.00		13.00
Language Services & Documentation Division	157.00	1.00		158.00
Legal Affairs Division	15.80	1.00		16.80
Market Access Division	10.80	1.00		11.80
Medical Unit	2.50			2.50
Office of Internal Audit	1.00	1.00		2.00
Rules Division	20.00	1.00		21.00
Technical Cooperation Audit	1.50			1.50
Trade & Environment Division	6.80	1.00		7.80
Trade and Finance Trade Facilitation Division	8.40	1.00		9.40
Trade in Services Division	15.80	1.00		16.80
Trade Policies Review Division	37.90	1.00		38.90
Appellate Body	14.00	1.00		15.00
Grand Total	608.50	26.00	5.00	639.50(1 )

WTO staff on regular budget by grade and gender within each division back to top

Division Gender
Grades

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DDG DG
Total

Director-General

Appellate Body Women 1 1 3 1 6

Men 2 2 3 1 8

Council and TNC Division Women 1 2 1 1 2 7

Men 4 1 5

DDA Special Duties Division Men 1 1

Human Resources Division Women 3 1 4 5 1 1 1 16

Men
1
1 1 3

Information and Media Relations Division Women 2 3 3 1 3 12

Men 1 2 1 1 2 3 1 11

Medical Unit Women 1 1 1 3

Office of the Director-General Women 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 9

Men 1 3 1 1 6

Deputy Director-General 1

Office of Deputy Director-General 1 Women 1 1

Men 1 1

Accessions Division Women 2 1 1 4

Men 1 1 2 1 5

Economic Research and Statistics Division Women 3 2 1 2 3 3 3 17

Men 2 2 2 4 10 5 6 1 1 33

Legal Affairs Division Women 1 2 1 2 1 1 8

Men 1 1 2 3 1 8

Rules Division Women 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 9

Men 3 2 4 1 10

Deputy Director-General 2

Office of Deputy Director-General 2 Women 1 1 2

Development Division Women 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7

Men 1 1 1 1 1 4

External Relations Division Women 2 1 1 1 1 1 7

Men 1 1 1 3

Institute for Training and Technical Co-operation Women 3 4 2 2 2 1 2 16

Men 1 5 7 1 14

Technical Cooperation Audit Division Women 1 1

Men 1 1

Trade and Finance and Trade Facilitation Division Women 1 1 1 2 2 7

Men 1 1 1 3

Deputy Director-General 3

Office of Deputy Director-General 3 Women 1 1

Men 1 1

Agriculture and Commodities Division Women 2 2 1 2 4 2 13

Men 1 1