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UN passes treaty to regulate global arms sales

Other News Materials 2 April 2013 23:40 (UTC +04:00)
The UN General Assembly on Tuesday passed the first-ever treaty to regulate international arms sales, dpa reported.
UN passes treaty to regulate global arms sales

The UN General Assembly on Tuesday passed the first-ever treaty to regulate international arms sales, dpa reported.

The Arms Trade Treaty, which had been seven years in the making, outlines global guidelines for the sales of arms.

The vote came after a conference on the treaty failed to pass the agreement by consensus Thursday, leaving it up to the General Assembly to approve it. It did so on a 154-3 vote.

Twenty-three countries - including India, Sudan and Indonesia - abstained from the vote, citing inadequacies in the text.

Now it is up to each member state to ratify the treaty.

Under the agreement, member states are prohibited from selling arms to other countries if there's even a slight possibility that the weapons could be used to violate human rights.

Supporters of the agreement welcomed the long-awaited decision.

"This is an incredible moment," said Anna Macdonald of international charity Oxfam. "For the first time ever, we have a legally binding international treaty that will regulate the world's deadliest business, the arms trade.

"The agreement of the Arms Trade Treaty sends a clear message to arms dealers who supply war lords and dictators that their time is up. They will no longer be able to operate and arm themselves with impunity. The world will be watching and will hold them accountable.

The final draft of the agreement emerged last week after repeated negotiations and was welcomed by supporters of the treaty.

"The final draft text is a compromise text, which represents the broadest possible input of delegations," Australian ambassador Peter Woolcott said before the vote. "That text would make a difference for the broadest range of stakeholders."

However, when it came to passing the resolution, North Korea, Syria and Iran blocked the consensus last week, and opposed the agreement at today's vote.

North Korea opposed the treaty saying it gives too much power to exporters and doesn't do enough to stop the illegal trade of arms to non-state actors.

A delegate from Pakistan said his country supports the treaty, however, he said it was important to clarify that the treaty's aim is to establish responsible arms trade, and it's not an attempt for international disarmament or arms control.

China, India, Indonesia and Belarus were among the 23 abstaining countries, each pointing to perceived shortcomings of text including definitions of prohibitions.

Other member states, such as Cuba, abstained because they disagreed with passing the agreement after the conference failed to achieve a consensus saying delegates were forcing the treaty on others.

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