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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry signed the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly in New York here Wednesday.
At a ceremony on Wednesday morning, Kerry signed the Treaty which regulates the multi-billion-U.S. dollar international trade in conventional weapons.
The UN General Assembly adopted the Arms Trade Treaty in April in a vote of 154 to 3 with 23 abstentions. The vote took place after the UN conference on the treaty failed to adopt the pact due to a lack of consensus among 193 UN member states.
After its adoption by the General Assembly, the treaty needs to be signed and ratified by at least 50 countries to enter into force.
China was among the 23 countries who abstained in the vote. It insists that the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) should be reached through consensus and accepted by all parties.
Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, stressed after the vote "we could support a treaty reached through consensus. Only by doing so can we ensure the universal support and effective implementation of the treaty.
