Trinidad loses bid to host Arms Trade Treaty
CANCUN, Mexico (CMC) – Trinidad and Tobago has lost in its bid to be the Secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty, which aims to regulate the international arms trade.
Delegates to the First Conference of States Parties (CSPs) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) which ended here earlier this week, voted to have the Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had launched a vigorously campaign to have the Secretariat based in Port of Spain and in February she said her country had made a formal offer to host the Secretariat of the ATT which was ratified by the United Nations in September 2014.
Trinidad and Tobago’s candidacy was endorsed by the community of Latin American and Caribbean States, but the meeting here attended by delegates from 121 countries had decided on Geneva even after considering Vienna, Austria.
The conference also adopted the Rules of Procedure for all subsequent CSPs as well as the financial rules governing the Secretariat.
St Lucia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Alva Baptiste , who addressed the conference, said the treaty serves as a testimony of the political will of states like St Lucia to address the unregulated access to guns and ammunition.
“This treaty will be judged according to its success in preventing arms transfers that risk contributing to or facilitating human suffering. Let our work here this week ensure that when we plead our just cause before the bar of history that our decisions impact positively on those most affected,” he added.