Are violations important? They may or may not be. The example I gave in terms of the Federal Aviation Administration's advanced qualification program, which is a violation to ICAO standards, but it's a violation in excess, I think pretty much sums it up.
If we're talking abut some country in the middle of nowhere, then you can't come down and say you've got to follow regulations because this system really does not exist. The only way to build this system is through enforcement of regulations.
When you have an ultra-safe system like you have in the U.S., Canada, and in western Europe, regulatory compliance to the exact letter of the law is a matter that is not really a black and white safety situation, but greyish. In many cases, again, like the example of the advanced qualification program, the violation underlies superior performance.