New UN body on control of arms trade to be based in Geneva

A new UN Permanent Secretariat to oversee the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) would be located in Geneva.

This was announced Wednesday night by the First Conference of States party to the ATT being held in Cancun.

South Africa's Simeon Dumisani Dladla has been named the new body's first Secretary-General and will assume his position on Dec. This is one of the landmark decisions to come out of this week's conference, in which 121 countries are participating, as well as representatives from NGOs and weapons companies.

The vote to decide the new organization's seat was cast twice. The first round of voting saw Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, come out ahead but without the required two-thirds majority. After a period of discussion, a second round of vote was conducted, with Geneva coming out on top.

The new Permanent Secretariat will oversee matters relating to the control of the arms trade and to the breaking up of trafficking of all illegal weapons.

Furthermore, the conference agreed that unanimous decisions would not be required to move forward on decisions concerning the global arms trade. Instead, majority decisions would be sufficient, thus removing the threat of a veto.

These decisions were well-received by NGOs, such as the Control Arms Coalition. "Switzerland has been a firm supporter of the ATT and we expect its commitment to help in the construction and implementation of the ATT," Anna MacDonald, director of the Control Arms Secretariat, told the press.

She added that the tight result of the voting showed the difficulties behind the decision. "However, the Secretariat must get in work to help countries develop high standards to control the sales of weaponry and to save lives," Macdonald noted.

It was also announced at the conference that the new UN body will be comprised of a secretary-general, an assistant secretary, as well as a counselor.

The means by which it will be financed has not yet been made clear, although various proposals are on the table. Colombia has proposed that each country having signed the ATT should put forward 0.1 percent of the body's total budget.

The conference will close on Thursday evening, with a report on the precise mechanisms that the participants have chosen to put in place within the ATT.