The Ninth World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference will take place in Bali, Indonesia, from December 3-6. On the agenda is an agreement on the ‘Bali package,’ that consists of a deal on trade facilitation which will cut the costs of trading on a global scale, agriculture, and duty-free quota-free market access for the Least Developed Countries.
The Conference is the top most decision-making body of the WTO, usually meeting once two years. The conference includes all members of the WTO and takes decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements. The Ministerial Conference was last held in Geneva in December 2011.
The WTO is a global international organisation dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At present the WTO has 159 members and the Director-General is the recently elected diplomat from Brazil, Roberto Azevedo.