Arms trade talks break down

New Zealand regrets that four weeks of UN negotiations on an Arms Trade Treaty in New York have ended with no agreement on a treaty text, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says.

“I am disappointed that it was not possible to bridge the entrenched positions on some issues. Differences remained about exactly what sorts of weapons should be in the treaty,” Mr McCully says.

“States could not reach consensus after a small group of influential countries said they needed more time to work through the text.”

New Zealand was active in the negotiations, pushing for a treaty with the highest possible standards covering bullets to battleships, and joined a group of 90 countries calling for negotiations to begin again soon.

“Despite our disappointment at the outcome, New Zealand is committed to achieving a strong Arms Trade Treaty. We expect that negotiations will resume at the UN General Assembly this October,” Mr McCully says.