Xinhua, United Nations :
The United Nations announced that a treaty designed to regulate the multi-billion-U.S. dollar international arms trade will enter into force in December after it was ratified by the 50th country Thursday.
“Today marks a milestone in the history of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Less than two years after its adoption by the General Assembly, we have crossed the threshold of 50 ratifications needed to trigger the Treaty’s entry-into-force,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message to a high-level event here on the ATT.
“This will occur on 24 December,” he said. “Today we can look ahead with satisfaction to the date of this historic new Treaty’s entry into force.”
Eight countries deposited their instruments of ratification with the UN chief earlier Thursday, including Argentina, Bahamas, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Saint Lucia, Senegal and Uruguay, while two states, Georgia and Namibia, signed the treaty.
In a message delivered by his High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane, Ban said the need for the ATT remains abundantly clear.
“Deadly weaponry continues to find its way into irresponsible hands. Unscrupulous arms brokers defy UN arms embargoes. Ruthless leaders turn their arsenals on their own citizens. Ammunition depots are poorly guarded. State-owned weapons go missing. Civilian airplanes end up in the crosshairs. End-use certificates are not standardized and can be easily forged. Pirates wield grenade launchers and machine guns against merchant ships. Drug- traffickers outgun police forces,” Ban said.
“Just as with other commodities, the trade in arms should comply with vigorous, internationally agreed standards,” he stated. “All actors involved in the arms trade must be held accountable.”
“Now we must work for its efficient implementation and seek its universalisation so that the regulation of armaments-as expressed in the Charter of the United Nations-can become a reality once and for all,” the UN chief added.
The ATT was adopted by a vote in the 193-member UN General Assembly on April 2, 2013. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran and Syria voted against the measure, while Cuba, India, Russia and China were among the abstaining states. China insisted that the treaty should be reached through consensus and accepted by all parties.
The ATT, which will enter into force 90 days after the date when it gets 50 ratifications, regulates all conventional arms within the categories of battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers and small arms and light weapons.
