SENIOR OFFICIALS MEETING

LOGISTICAL NOTE

23-24 OCTOBER 2023 – Centre William Rappard (WTO Premises)

1  access

1.1.  Delegates will be able to access the WTO Premises through the WTO Welcome Pavilion by showing their regular WTO badge or their SOM Event Badge. Delegations are urged to allow sufficient time for delays due to road traffic and badge access control at the WTO entrance.

1.1  WTO Premises Access

1.2.  Delegations are requested to register their Senior Official, together with the delegates that they would like to be accredited for the SOM to seniorofficials-oct@wto.org. Only those registered will have access to meeting rooms and be provided a SOM event badge. Delegates with a regular WTO badge will only have access to the WTO premises. They will not be able to access the Plenary and the Breakout Sessions.

1.3.  To access the plenary and breakout rooms, the Senior Official/Head of Delegation only needs a SOM event badge that will be distinctly marked "HOD". Other delegates accompanying the Head of Delegation to a plenary and or breakout session room will in addition to the SOM event badge, need to show their floating badge. Two floating badges will be provided per delegation. All badges will be distributed at the WTO Welcome Pavilion – Centre William Rappard and can be collected by a Member of the delegation only, on 19 (Thursday) and 20 October (Friday) from 09h00 to 18h00.

1.4.  Should any delegate misplace his/her badge during the Senior Officials Meeting, the Delegation Coordinator must contact:

Michael dos Santos

Security Coordinator

Telephone: +41 (0)79 541 49 35

E-mail: michael.dossantos@wto.org

1.5.  In the general interest and in accordance with the security procedures in force, badges must be worn visibly at all times. Instructions to that effect will be given to staff in the Security and Safety Section.

1.2  Vehicle Access

1.6.  Senior Officials/HODs will be able to be dropped off/on within the WTO campus and their car can be parked in the underground car park. Other delegates accompanying the Head of Delegation are kindly requested to park at the Kazem Radjavi car park (see Annex).

1.7.  Drivers of Senior Officials/HODs will be able to drop off and pick up delegates from WTO campus with their regular WTO badge but they are not permitted access to the WTO building during the SOM days.

1.8.  To avoid traffic disruptions and in view of the very restricted number of parking spaces, participants are strongly encouraged to make car sharing arrangements and to use Mission vehicles. Parking at the Centre William Rappard will only be available for Senior Officials/HODs. For further information or clarification regarding access, please contact the Security and Safety Section by email only at security@wto.org.

2  meeting rooms

2.1  Plenary and Breakout Sessions

2.1.  Given the room capacity, attendance to plenary and breakout sessions will be as follows:

2.2.  There will be listening-in rooms. Given room capacity constraints and to ensure that every delegation has an equal opportunity, access will be limited to one delegate per delegation for each of the listening-in rooms subject to room capacity on a first come, first serve basis. We count on Members' understanding.

2.3.  Access into meeting rooms for Plenaries, Breakout sessions and Listening-in will be controlled and delegations shall at all times wear their badges visibly.

Day 1

i._     Morning and Afternoon Plenaries

ii._    Breakout Sessions

Day 2

i._     Morning and Afternoon Plenaries

ii._    Breakout Sessions

2.2  Meeting Room Reservation for Self-Organized Bilateral, Regional or Other Configuration Meetings

2.4.  Meeting rooms for self-organized bilateral, regional, or other configuration meetings will be available from 07h00–20h00 on 23-24 October 2023 and the Conference Office will assign the rooms based on availability. 

2.5.  In order to allocate the most appropriate room, the Conference Office will require the following details: date, start and end time of the meeting, number of participants and the parties who will be meeting, and any other special requirements (PowerPoint, nameplates etc.).  

2.6.  Block-bookings will not be accepted. To ensure equitable use of rooms by all delegations, slots will be limited to a maximum of 45 minutes during coffee/lunch breaks, and slots allocated in the programme for bilateral, regional and other configuration meetings. Outside these periods, use of the reserved rooms will be limited to a maximum of one hour. If no rooms are available during the requested time slot and if requested, the Conference Office may propose alternative slots.

2.7.  Delegations wishing to reserve a meeting room should complete a form through this link: [WTO | How to book a meeting] and in the event of technical problems with the online form, email the Conference Office at conference.office@wto.org providing the details mentioned in Paragraph 2.5 above. The Conference Office is located on the ground floor (Office 0060) in the Centre William Rappard and can be contacted by telephone +41 22 739 5241 for enquiries only and open 08:00 – 18:00.

2.8.   The consumption of food and beverages in meeting rooms is prohibited.

3  food and beverage

3.1.  During the lunch breaks, delegations have the option to go to the WTO Cafeteria or to the Atrium Café. The WTO Cafeteria will be open from 12h00 to 14h30, and the Café at the Atrium will be open from 07h00 to 17h30. Coffee will be provided outside each breakout room during the designated coffee breaks. There are also vending machines in front of Room W.

4  medical service

4.1.  During the Senior Officials Meeting, the Medical Service Team will be available from 08h00 to 19h30 in the WTO Clinic located in the CWR-0106 Basement. Please contact Dr:  Tetiana Nechyporenko, tetiana.nechyporenko@wto.org, +41 22 739 56 67 / +41 79 358 73 13, Nurse: Mr. Romuald Faramin-le-Baron, romuald.faramin@wto.org, +41 22 739 56 65, Medical Secretary: Ms. Frédérique Vigogne, frederique.vigogne@wto.org, +41 22 739 56 66 . In case of emergency outside these hours, please contact Security Service 2323 /+41 22 739 63 23 (from mobile).

5  lost and found

5.1.  The Lost and Found (Office 0064) is located on the Ground Floor near the main entrance of the Centre William Rappard.  They can also be reached by telephone +41 22 739 6040 (08h30 – 18h00).

6  arrangements for the reception and fish ratification ceremony

6.1.  The Director-General and General Council Chairperson will host a Reception and Fish Ratification Ceremony on 23 October 2023 at 19h30 in the Atrium for all Members.

6.2.  The event will commence with a Ceremony where each Member depositing their Instruments of Acceptance will be invited to handover their instrument to the Director-General followed by a group photo of all those Members who deposited at that occasion.

6.3.  Given the limited capacity of the atrium area, attendance will be limited to Senior Official/Head of Delegation plus two.

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ANNEX

Kazem Radjavi car park