Negotiations at the United Nations on a global arms trade treaty nearly collapsed Friday due to objections by weapons-exporting nations over provisions calling for arms sales to be conditioned on buyers' human rights records.

Delegates were meeting in New York City to lay the groundwork for the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, which is currently set for July 2-27. Diplomats and arms control experts said that Friday's talks were nearly aborted due to divisions over human rights and whether participating nations should have a veto over the agreement's framework.

China, Russia and several other arms-exporting nations are opposed to making human rights records a mandatory requirement for arms sales. The US has also expressed reservations, arguing that such a requirement would discourage states like Syria from joining.

"There is still some doubt about China and Russia, they don't want strong criteria," said Brian Wood of Amnesty international, one of the non-governmental organizations pushing for the treaty.

Dissension over veto

There was also debate about whether or not nations should have a veto over decisions made at the upcoming drafting conference in July. The US, Russia, China, Syria and Iran have pushed for the veto, saying it is the only way to ensure that all countries get on board with the treaty. However, nations such as Mexico and some European countries argue that unanimity will ultimately weaken the content of the treaty.

"As we have seen in the case of Syria, veto power leads to inaction and hampers the ability of the international community to prevent conflict," said Jeff Abramson of the group Control Arms, referring to Russia and China's veto at the Security Council over the violence in Syria.

Most of the world's major arms exporters, including the US, agreed in 2009 to a UN resolution that proposed a treaty to control the global trade in conventional arms. That came after Washington vetoed a General Assembly resolution in 2006 calling for such a treaty.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has indicated that Washington would now support a strong treaty and was prepared to use a UN conference to promote it.

slk/srs (Reuters, AFP)