UN inches toward new treaty on global arms trade

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 19 (Reuters) Seven nations asked the UN General Assembly to let work begin on a new treaty setting global standards for arms deals that would shore up UN arms embargoes and prevent human rights abuses.

Australia, Argentina, Britain, Costa Rica, Japan, Kenya and Finland formally introduced a draft resolution in the 192-nation assembly that is tentatively set to be put to a vote next Wednesday.

Another 90 governments have so far agreed to co-sponsor the text, backers said, giving them the majority they need for approval.

The measure would give the UN secretary-general a year to explore and report back to the assembly on the feasibility and scope of a binding international treaty establishing uniform worldwide standards for conventional arms deals.

The treaty could end up, for example, blocking deals that fuel an ongoing war, violate a U.N. arms ban, contribute to gross human rights violations or undermine a country's development by tying up all its financial resources.

The goal is to close loopholes created by the global marketplace.

While many nations have rules on arms deals, nothing prevents a buyer from shopping around in search of the lowest standards.

The Control Arms Campaign, a coalition of Oxfam International, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms, cites a study it did in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Despite a UN embargo in place there since 2003, the campaign found rebels in northeast Congo with arms from Russia, China, Greece, Serbia, South Africa and the United States.

The arms were probably not sold directly to the rebels, but likely entered from neighboring countries, the campaign said yesterday.

Among the governments yet to declare support for the draft measure are the United States, China, Russia and numerous Arab nations, backers said.

The United States said in June it was willing to endorse a set of principles aimed at guiding decisions on arms deals.

But Washington would not back a formal agreement such as a treaty imposing controls on weapons transfers across national boundaries, US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Robert Joseph told a UN arms control meeting at the time.

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