“The breakdown occurred on the eve of the Friday deadline, with several countries with large stakes in the international trade (Russia, China, etc.) raising objections to the working text. But major human rights groups including Oxfam and Amnesty International reserved some of their harshest criticism for the Obama administration. “The White House walked away at a critical moment,” Scott Stedjan, Oxfam America’s senior policy advisor, wrote in a statement. “In the United States we already have tough regulations governing the trade of weapons—and this Treaty is about leveling the playing field with the many countries around the world that have weak or ineffective regulations, if any at all.”

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/07/obama-arms-trade-treaty