Delegations from around the world failed on Friday to agree a landmark UN arms-trade treaty to regulate the more than $60 billion industry, opting for further talks and a possible UN General Assembly vote by the end of the year, diplomats said.
More than 170 countries have spent the past month in New York negotiating a treaty, which needed to be adopted by consensus, so any one country effectively could have vetoed a deal. Instead, no decision was taken on a draft treaty. But this leaves the door open for further talks and a draft arms-trade treaty could be brought to the 193-nation UN General Assembly and adopted with a two-thirds majority vote. Diplomats said there could be a vote by the end of the year.
"We feel that we could have agreed (a treaty). It is disappointing that more time is needed. But an arms-trade treaty is coming - not today - but soon. We've taken a big step forward," said a spokesman for Britain's delegation. One person every minute dies from armed violence around the world, and arms control activists say a convention is needed to prevent illicitly traded guns from pouring into conflict zones and fuelling wars and atrocities. They cited conflicts in Syria and elsewhere as examples of why a treaty is necessary.
While most UN member states favoured a strong treaty, activists said there was a small minority of states, including Syria, North Korea, Iran, Egypt and Algeria, who loudly voiced opposition to global arms control throughout the negotiations. But ultimately, arms-control activists blamed the United States and Russia for the inability to reach a decision on Friday, as both countries said there was not enough time left for them to clarify and resolve issues they had with the draft treaty.
"Moving forward, President Obama must show the political courage required to make a strong treaty that contains strong rules on human rights a reality," said Scott Stedjan, a senior policy advisor at Oxfam America, which fights poverty and other injustices. The draft arms-trade treaty under negotiation required countries to assess if a proposed arms export could be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian or human rights law.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment the meetings were inconclusive but was encouraged UN members will continue pursuing "this noble goal." "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," Ban said.
"There is already considerable common ground and states can build on the hard work that has been done during these negotiations," he added. It covered all conventional arms in the categories of battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small arms and light weapons. The treaty would only have come into effect after it was ratified by 65 countries.
"Today was the day for political courage - not delays and dithering," said Anna Macdonald, head of arms control at Oxfam. "Some 50,000 people lost their lives through armed violence during the course of these month-long negotiations. The out-of-control arms trade must - and will - be stopped."