Typical examples are regulations that impose certain safety, health or other quality standards on imports. For example, most countries require that imports of unprocessed fruits, vegetables, meat or other agricultural products be accompanied by certificates guaranteeing that they are not carrying diseases or pests. Another common rule is that imports of processed foods must carry the same nutritional labels that locally made food products display. The WTO accepts restrictions of this kind, providing they have a sound scientific basis and do not unfairly discriminate against imports. Most disputes brought before the WTO are complaints that certain regulations have not met these conditions.
Free trade is trade carried on in the absence of any barriers.
The first round began in 1947. At that time the memory of the Great Depression of the 1930s was fresh in everyone's minds. A lesson that had been learned was that it was severely misguided to try and protect jobs at home by raising tariffs and reducing imports. One country's imports were another country's exports. Many countries raised tariffs in the 1930s causing widespread cuts in exports and the jobs that depended on them.