Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration - Procedural Improvements for the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration - Communication from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the European Union - Revision

Procedural Improvements for the Committee on Budget,

Finance and Administration

Communication from Australia, Brazil, Canada, israel, JAPAN, Mexico, norway, the united kingdom, the united states, AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, BULGARIA, CROATIA, CYPRUS, CZECHIA, DENMARK, ESTONIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, HUNGARY, IRELAND, ITALY, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, LUXEMBOURG, MALTA, THE NETHERLANDS, POLAND, PORTUGAL, ROMANIA, SLOVAKIA, SLOVENIA, SPAIN, SWEDEN, the european union

Revision

The above cosponsors would like to propose for Member's discussion and possible adoption, the following suggested procedural improvements in the operation of the CBFA meetings.

1  Reminder notice issued five days before the agenda closes

1.1.  A notice be issued, in the form of an airgram or email, five days prior to the closing date of any meeting agenda (ten days prior to a formal meeting). This reminder would ensure that all Members are aware of the closing date of the meeting agenda and have sufficient time to request inclusion of any additional items on the agenda.

2  Inclusion of a specific item for Adoption of the Agenda

2.1.  A specific item appearing on the agenda would provide a clear and predicable marker for where and when any suggested changes to the agenda would be raised with Members and agreed upon. If the Chair or Secretariat would like to seek Member's approval to combine items that appear separately on the agenda, the addition of a specific item for adoption of the agenda would prompt this discussion at the beginning of the meeting.

3  Inclusion of Agenda Item for Chair reports on ongoing work

3.1.  The establishment of a clear work plan for the CBFA in 2020 was a welcomed improvement and many Members found the structure to be helpful in guiding work on particular issues over the course of the year. One enhancement to the annual work plan could be to include a general item on the agenda where the Chair could provide updates or reports, as necessary and appropriate, on work stream issues that do not appear on the agenda for that particular meeting. The new agenda item could include a report on a range of issues, thus informing Members of any work in progress or consultation activity that has or will be taking place.

4  Additional time provided to Members to review longer reports

4.1.  Extending Members time for review for any Secretariat report over 10 pages to a recommended circulation date of 15 days prior to the meeting where the document is to be discussed, rather than the current 10 days unless there are exceptional or urgent circumstances that make earlier distribution impractical. In instances where several reports are placed on an agenda for review at the same meeting, this would allow Members sufficient time to review and comment on detailed reports.

5  Continued use of revision documents to clarify changes and modifications made to Secretariat documents

5.1.  A continuation of the practice established in 2020 by the Secretariat to produce comparison charts to supplement Committee documents undergoing revisions. Members found the summary or comparison charts, which clearly showed the before and after text versions, useful in tracking and understanding changes made to Committee documents.

6  Flexible approaches to capturing CBFA discussions – Reports and Minutes format

6.1.  Review the procedures for reporting on meetings of the CBFA. While summarized and anonymized "reports" may be preferable in most instances for routine Committee business, the increase in substantive discussions among Members on discrete topics that span across several meetings requires some re-evaluation in how the Committee keeps and reports on Member's discussions. For certain discussions, a "minutes" format, similar to most other Committee records may be more helpful in establishing a useful record of Members' comments and discussions on particular topics. While "minutes" (verbatim remarks that are attributed to individual Members) may be more resource intensive, they may be more appropriate for certain discussions among Members. There should be some flexibility in how meetings are reported on, with certain topics covered differently than others. Reports of the CBFA could be adapted to reflect a hybrid approach.

7  Issuance of Meeting Reports or Minutes prior to subsequent meetings

7.1.  The CBFA meets more frequently than other WTO Committees, and the short turnaround time can pose challenges to getting meeting reports and/or minutes issued rapidly. Nevertheless, many Members rely heavily on the formal reports and/or minutes as part of their engagement with their capitals and in the preparation for guidance and instructions on a range of issues. To the extent possible, reports and/or minutes should be issued at least 10 days prior to the subsequent CBFA meeting to enable all Members to review the official record of CBFA discussions.

__________