United Nations: Arms Trade Treaty Negotiations Begin Today

Philippine soldiers recover illegal weapons from a private army. Photograph: Erik De Castro/Reuters

Is It Time To Regulate The $60 Billion-A-Year Arms Trade? -- MSNBC/Reuters

Global rules govern the trade of fruit and dinosaur bones, but not guns and tanks, campaigners say.

UNITED NATIONS — Delegates from around the world gather in New York on Monday for the start of month-long U.N.-hosted negotiations to hammer out the first-ever binding treaty to regulate the global weapons market, valued at more than $60 billion a year.

Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies as a result of armed violence around the world and that a convention is needed to prevent illicitly traded guns from pouring into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities.

Most U.N. member states favor a strong treaty.

Read more ....

More News On The Arms Trade Treaty Negotiations

Arms trade treaty negotiations begin, Syria casts shadow -- Chicago Tribune/Reuters
Talks on global arms treaty set to begin in New York -- BBC
Arms Trade Treaty Negotiations to Begin July 2 -- Defpro
UN plans to control the arms trade -- Deutsche Welle
ICRC stresses need for arms trade treaty -- UPI
European Foreign Ministers Want 'Decisive' Effort to Regulate Arms Trade -- Voice of America
Talks take aim at weapons trading -- Swiss Info
Mobilising against the illicit arms trade -- Bob Carr, Sydney Morning Herald
Why this arms trade treaty is essential -- William Hague, Laurent Fabius, Guido Westerwelle and Ewa Björling, The Guardian