The window of opportunity for WTO members to
reach a trade-facilitation agreement at the ninth WTO
Ministerial Conference to be held in Bali, Indonesia
(3–6 December 2013) remains open. Expectations
are that the Ministerial Conference will deliver on
some elements of the Doha package, including trade
facilitation, a package for the LDCs and some aspects
of agriculture and development issues. There are
diverging views amongst the WTO membership on
whether a deliverable on trade facilitation is possible,
and some have questioned the desirability of focusing
on only a few issues while others of high importance
for developing countries, such as agriculture, may not
be programmed for discussion at Bali. This lack of
consensus was previously noted in the 2012 edition
of the Review of Maritime Transport, that is, the
linkage of the trade facilitation to other items of the
Doha round and the need to fine tune the agreement
itself to provide the appropriate balance between
commitments and flexibilities (UNCTAD, 2012a).