UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonon Tuesday called upon participants at the United Nations Final Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) to "show a shared determination" to put in place substantial measures that would establish standards for the international trade in conventional weapons.

Ban made the appeal as the two-week ATT conference is to conclude Thursday.

"The negotiations now stand at a critical juncture," Ban's spokesperson, Martin Nesirky, told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York. "(The secretary-general) calls upon member states to show a shared determination to close the gaps in the poorly regulated international arms trade by agreeing to a set of legally binding global standards that will make a difference."

The UN General Assembly in December 2006 voted to begin on a new treaty regulating international trade in conventional weapons and the last negotiations on the ATT ended last July without an agreement. Ban has stressed that reaching consensus through compromise on all sides is long overdue.

Virtually all international trade in goods is regulated, but no globally agreed standards exist for the international arms trade. The result of this situation can be the misuse of transferred weaponry by government forces, or diversion of arms into illegal markets, where they end up in the hands of criminals, gangs, war lords and terrorists.

Armed violence kills more than half a million people each year, including 66,000 women and girls, Ban noted early this month.

In addition, between 2000 and 2010, almost 800 humanitarian workers were killed in armed attacks and another 689 injured, according to the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs.

The UN secretary-general "has consistently said that a strong and robust arms trade treaty will have a real impact on the lives of those millions of people suffering from the consequences of armed conflict, repression and armed violence," Nesirky said.

Some 2,000 representatives of governments, international and regional organizations and civil society have gathered at the UN Headquarters to take part in the negotiations and related events organized during the conference, which began on March 18.

According to Nesirky, there are a range of views on the scope of the treaty, regarding whether ammunition should fully be a part of it, and the criteria that arms-exporting nations will need to use to determine if a particular arms export is warranted.

"The secretary-general has been active in encouraging member states to reach an agreement. He has been reaching out to some of the key players in this regard," Nesirky said.

According to the conference's website, the proposed treaty will not interfere with the domestic arms trade or the way a country regulates civilian possession; or ban, or prohibit the export of, any type of weapons; or impair States'legitimate right to self-defense; or lower arms regulation standards in countries where these are already at a high level.

An arms trade treaty will "aim to create a level playing field for international arms transfers by requiring all States to abide by a set of standards for transfer controls, which will ultimately benefit the safety and security of people everywhere in the world. "