Most WTO Agreements make no attempt to guide governments
on the content of their laws: they concern only the ‘external’
effects of the laws or regulations. There are some WTO accords,
however, such as the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary
Agreement and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade,
that encourage the harmonization of policies in specific technical
areas. But even here, there are exceptions available.