RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/BFA/W/40
11 May 2000
(00-1892)
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration
WTO PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION
Professional series entry-level grade
Normal practice in the WTO Secretariat is to fill professional series posts initially at the
lowest grade level (Grade 7 – corresponding to P-2 in the UN system) of professional grade series
grades 7-10.  Grade 7 is therefore to be seen as the entry level for (normally) young professionals.
The duties assigned to Grade 7 professionals are not substantially different from those assigned to
Grade 8; however, during their initial period of employment with the Secretariat, new employees
naturally need a greater degree of supervision.
Grade 7 should therefore be seen in the same light as similar entry grades in many national
administrations – a grade from which movement to grade 8 is not really a "promotion" in terms of
moving up to new or greater responsibilities but rather an acknowledgement of proof of initialcompetence in WTO work.
Given this background, it is proposed that entry-level WTO positions in the professional
series should henceforth be considered as Grade 7/8 so that a regrading of the post would not be a
requirement when an individual is promoted from Grade 7 to Grade 8.
None of this is to suggest that movement fr om Grade 7 to 8 would be in any way automatic.
Professional employees initially hired at Grade 7 would still be subject to normal promotion
procedures, including full performance evaluation reports and a desk audit to verify that the actual
work being done by the individual proposed by his/her director justifies advancement to Grade 8.
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