UN chief ‘disappointed' as member states fail to agree on Arms Trade Treaty

July 28, 2012: The Vatican’s representative at the UN endorsed a new international treaty to regulate the multibillion dollar global arms trade, on Friday. However, UN member states failed to reach an agreement on the new U.N. treaty. Hopes had been raised that agreement could be reached on a revised treaty text that closed some major loopholes by Friday's deadline for action. But the U.S. announced on Friday morning that it needed more time to consider the proposed treaty — and Russia and China then also asked for more time.
The U.N. Secretary-General, presently in London to attend the Olympics said that he was ‘disappointed that the Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) concluded its four-week-long session without agreement on a treaty text that would have set common standards to regulate the international trade in conventional arms.’
The Conference's inability to conclude its work on this much-awaited ATT, despite years of effort of Member States and civil society from many countries, is a setback, he felt.
However, ‘I am encouraged that this is not the end of the ATT, and that States have agreed to continue pursuing this noble goal. There is already considerable common ground and States can build on the hard work that has been done during these negotiations’, the Secretary-General added.My commitment to the pursuit of a robust ATT is steadfast. A strong treaty would rid the world of the appalling human cost of the poorly regulated international arms trade. It would also enhance the ability of the United Nations to cope with the proliferation of arms.