Albania parliamentary panel ratifies UN arms trade treaty

Albania's parliamentary law committee ratified the international Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) on Tuesday, according to state news agency ATA. The multilateral treaty was designed to regulate the international trade in conventional arms, establish common international standards for import, export and transfer of conventional arms and boost transparency in the arms trade, Albanian Ministry of Defence representative Herald Jonuzaj told the committee. The ATT is the first global treaty to establish international standards for import, export and transfer of conventional arms, and it obligates member states to monitor arms exports and ensure weapons do not cross existing arms embargoes or end up being used in human-rights abuses. The treaty, adopted by the UN General Assembly on April 2, 2013, has so far been signed by 116 countries, including the United States, and ratified by nine, according to the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.