NEW YORK - Sixty-seven countries signed a United Nations treaty that aims to regulate the trade of conventional weapons across international borders, on the day it opened for signature at the world body’s headquarters in New York on Monday.

Addressing a special event organized to mark the opening of the landmark Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) for signature, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that, with the treaty, the world has decided to finally put an end to the “free-for-all” nature of international weapons transfers.

"The Treaty will provide an effective deterrent against excessive and destabilizing arms flows, particularly in conflict-prone regions. It will make it harder for weapons to be diverted into the illicit market… to reach warlords, pirates, terrorists and criminals… or to be used to commit grave human rights abuses or violations of international humanitarian law," said Mr. Ban.

“This treaty will also enable the United Nations to better carry out its mandates, particularly in humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping and peacebuilding,” he added.

The treaty regulates all conventional arms within the following categories: battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small arms and light weapons.

According to the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), the treaty will not do any of the following: interfere with domestic arms commerce or the right to bear arms in Member States; ban the export of any type of weapon; harm States' legitimate right to self-defence; or undermine national arms regulation standards already in place.

On its website, UNODA notes that decades of war have generated excessive amounts of war debris across Afghanistan.

“The surplus of ammunition, in particular, now presents the Government with a considerable logistics problem whilst also generating security concerns within Afghan and international circles,” the UN office states.

Among the first countries that signed the treaty on Monday are France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, Italy and Norway.

During the opening event, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Angela Kane, said that the day opens “a new chapter in which States will sign up to an international contract bringing responsibility and transparency to the global arms trade.” While the treaty is “not perfect,” it is certainly “robust,” she added.

In his remarks, Mr. Ban also appealed to major arms-trading countries in particular to be “first movers” and bring their national legislation in line with the requirements of the treaty, which will come into force 90 days after it has been ratified by 50 nations.

Although the ATT will not control the domestic weapons use, once ratified, it will require States to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms and regulate arms brokers, among other objectives.

On 2 April, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of the ATT – with 154 Member States voting for, three against, and with 23 abstentions.