Ensure compliance with laws and rules that are not contrary to the provisions of this agreement, including those relating to the protection of patents, trademarks and copyrights and the prevention of fraudulent practices; The third element of the GATT structure, which was later incorporated into the WTO, is an institutional presence maintained by the work of its secretariat. It is important that the Secretariat largely monitors the implementation of dispute resolution bodies that, in fact, define the mechanism for enforcing the rules of the trading system within the WTO system. These dispute resolution bodies have accelerated considerably in recent years and have culminated in decisions in a number of key areas, including banana trade (see THE WTO Director-General`s statement to the WTO General Council, 8 March 1999). For the most part, GATT, as developed after 1947 and which became permanent within the World Trade Organization in 1994, represents three key elements that contribute to the monitoring of world trade and to the way in which national governments allow each other to intervene in this trade. The first is a set of mutually agreed limits (or rules) for the application of restrictive measures by national governments. These were originally defined in the general agreement itself, but were interpreted and developed both later in the negotiations and through the GATT dispute resolution process. The second is progressive liberalization, which must be achieved through negotiations on trade barriers and the removal of trade barriers. These rounds of negotiations, which ended on the basis of reciprocal concessions between member state governments, took place in the 1960s and 1970s (in the Kennedys and Tokyo Round) and in the 1980s until 1994 (in the Uruguay round). Derogations under Article XX of the GATT are permitted as long as the resulting measures are not unjustified or arbitrary. This implies that the country has no other means of pursuing objectives that would avoid restrictive trade practices. In this context, the general principles of international law and other international conventions ratified by members may also be taken into account when interpreting the extension of a waiver (US – Shrimp, WTAB/R, 1998, para.

35). See also the Vienna Convention on Treaty Law Article 31.3.c). The GATT had three main provisions. The most important requirement was that each member be obliged to confer the status of the most favoured country on any other member. All members must be treated the same with respect to tariffs. It excluded special tariffs between members of the British Commonwealth and the Customs Union. It allowed tariffs if their removal causes serious damage to domestic producers. One of GATT`s most important achievements has been indiscriminate trade.