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Secretariat common purpose
The responsibility of the WTO Secretariat is to provide
top-quality, independent support to WTO member governments on all of
the activities that are carried out by the Organization, and to serve
the WTO with professionalism, impartiality and integrity.
The Secretariat is a multicultural team of highly-qualified
individuals who possess the wide range of skills, knowledge and
experience required to handle the Secretariat's responsibilities and
to work together as an efficient and diligent international civil
service.
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Role of the Secretariat
The WTO Secretariat, with offices only in Geneva, has 625 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 83 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
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WTO staff on regular budget by gender and nationality, as of 31 December 2020
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Allocation of staff by division, as of 31 December 2020 (number of posts)*
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WTO staff on regular budget by grade and gender, as of 31 December 2020
