Belarus intends to conduct full review of the international Arms Trade Treaty

Belarus intends to conduct full review of the international Arms Trade Treaty, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 2 April, before considering further steps on joining the agreement. This was stated by Head of Information, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Andrei Savinykh.

"The Belarusian delegation participated in the process of the treaty development throughout the entire meeting. We’ve tried to contribute to better wording of the agreement. Some of our proposals were approved, while the major ones were unfortunately denied. The ban to sell arms to unauthorized non-governmental bodies was rejected. There’s also no ban on free re-export of arms without the approval of the importer-countries. The absence of these articles makes us doubt whether the newly adopted international standards in arms trade are efficient. Some of the international standards are inferior to those already being implemented in Belarus. This is why we couldn’t support the international Arms Trade Treaty", said the official.