UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote on what would be the first U.N. treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar international arms trade after Iran, North Korea and Syria blocked its adoption by consensus.
Assembly spokesman Nikola Jovanovic told the Associated Press on Monday that the resolution to adopt the treaty requires support from a majority of the 193 U.N. member states.
Since the treaty had strong support when it was brought before U.N. members last Thursday its approval is virtually certain — unless there are attempts to amend it.
For more than a decade, activists and some governments have been pushing for international rules to regulate the estimated $60 billion global arms trade and try to keep illicit weapons out of the hands of terrorists, insurgent fighters and organized crime.
—Compiled from Associated Press reports
