ATT States Fail to Set Arms Reporting Rules in Mexico The Gulf Daily | |
go to original August 28, 2015 |
The first international state arms conference in Mexico (Al Jazeera America News )
Countries backing a major accord to regulate the international arms industry on Thursday failed to agree on a definitive format for reporting arms sales, kicking the issue down the road and disappointing advocates of arms control.
Officials from 121 governments have been meeting in the Mexican resort of Cancun to agree details of how the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will oversee the multi-billion dollar industry.
But on the final day of the first conference, officials resolved only to work together over coming months on crafting a lasting template for reporting sales.
For the ATT to be effective, say arms control groups, there must be full disclosure of weapons sales, but the issue is contentious and officials had already suggested that reaching agreement might prove impossible at the inaugural conference.
“The aim is to achieve a reporting system which is the same for everyone,” said Jorge Lomonaco, Mexico's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, who oversaw the conference. “It still needs to be refined and work will continue on it.”
Time would tell whether an effective format for reporting arms sales would emerge, but for now it was a setback, said Anna Macdonald, director of lobby group Control Arms.
Read the rest at The Gulf Daily
Related: When It Comes to Global Arms Control, US May Not Get Customary Veto Power (ENEWSPF)
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