The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the first international treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade Tuesday, capping a more than decade-long campaign to keep weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists, insurgents, organized crime figures and human rights violators.
The resolution was approved by a vote of 154 to 3 with 23 abstentions. As the numbers appeared on the electronic board, loud cheers filled the assembly chamber.
“This is an historic day and a major achievement for the United Nations,” said British Foreign Secretary William Hague, whose country helped spearhead the campaign. “The world wanted this treaty and would not be thwarted by the few who sought to prevent the introduction of robust, effective and legally binding controls on the international trade in weapons.”
What impact it will have in curbing the estimated $60 billion global arms trade remains to be seen. The landmark U.N. treaty will take effect after 50 countries ratify it, and a lot will depend on which ones ratify and which ones don’t, and how stringently it is implemented.
Enforcement is left up to the nations that ratify the treaty. The treaty requires these countries to cooperate on its implementation and to assist each other in investigating and prosecuting violations.
Britain and a small group of other treaty supporters sought a vote in the 193-member world body after Iran, North Korea and Syria blocked its adoption by consensus last week. The three countries voted “no” Tuesday, while Russia and China, both major arms exporters, abstained. The United States, the world’s largest arms exporter, voted in favor.
Never before has there been an international treaty regulating the global arms trade. Supporters said its adoption took far too long.
Australian Ambassador Peter Woolcott, who chaired the negotiations, said the treaty will “make an important difference by reducing human suffering and saving lives.”
“We owe it to those millions — often the most vulnerable in society — whose lives have been overshadowed by the irresponsible and illicit international trade in arms,” he told the assembly just before the vote.
The treaty is likely to face stiff resistance from conservatives in the U.S. Senate, where it needs the approval of two-thirds of the 100 lawmakers to win ratification.
Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the approval of “a strong, effective and implementable arms trade treaty that can strengthen global security while protecting the sovereign right of states to conduct legitimate arms trade.” He emphasized that the treaty applies only to international trade “and reaffirms the sovereign right of any state to regulate arms within its territory.”
The three treaty opponents and many countries that abstained complained that the treaty has too many loopholes and can be easily “politicized.” They argued among other things that the agreement favors exporters like the United States over importers who need arms for self-defense.
The treaty will not control the domestic use of weapons in any country, but it will require countries that ratify it to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms and components and to regulate arms brokers.
It covers battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small arms and light weapons. A phrase stating that the treaty covers these weapons “at a minimum” was dropped, according to diplomats, at the insistence of the United States. Supporters complained that this limited the treaty’s scope.
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