France and Britain led praise for the new support from the world's leading arms exporter for a new UN Arms Trade Treaty, which had been snubbed by the previous US administration.

"This decision marks an important shift in the US position, which today is rejoining the 145 nations already in favor," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement.

In a communique sent late on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US was "committed to actively pursuing a strong and robust treaty that contains the highest possible, legally binding standards for the international transfer of conventional weapons."

Discussions are underway on a new treaty following a 2006 vote by the UN General Assembly, with the aim of drawing up a new pact by 2012.

The United States was the only country to vote against the plan in 2006, while 24 other countries abstained.

"France is delighted by this decision which is a major advance towards adopting a treaty on arms sales," Kouchner said, adding he hoped "the active participation of the US" would help "rally new support" for the pact.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, a strong supporter of the new treaty, also welcomed the US position.

Officials are preparing to meet in New York this month for talks on kickstarting a new round of formal treaty negotiations to restrict global arms sales, said to be worth 55-billion-dollars a year.

"Conventional arms transfers are a crucial national security concern for the United States, and we have always supported effective action to control the international transfer of arms," Clinton said in a statement.

"The United States is prepared to work hard for a strong international standard in this area by seizing the opportunity presented by the Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty at the United Nations."

But she insisted that the conference must be run by consensus.

"As long as that conference operates under the rule of consensus decision-making needed to ensure that all countries can be held to standards that will actually improve the global situation by denying arms to those who would abuse them, the United States will actively support the negotiations," she said.

Rights groups swiftly raised concerns that setting such conditions could effectively scupper the negotiations.

"The US goal to raise global standards is laudable, but its insistence on consensus is likely to prove counterproductive," Daryl Kimball, from the non-governmental Arms Control Association, told the Washington Post.

"It will give any country that wants to derail the process an opportunity to do so."

Oxfam International and Amnesty International also posted warnings saying Washington's support could come at a high price.

"The world has waited a long time for the USA to come on board to support global arms trade negotiations," said Oxfam International's policy adviser Debbie Hillier in a statement.

"However, governments must resist US demands to give any single state the power to veto the treaty as this could hold the process hostage during the course of negotiations."

Oxfam has said two million people have been killed in armed conflicts since 2006 due to the slowness of the treaty negotiations.

Brian Wood of Amnesty International also warned: "By giving every single government the right to scupper the UN Conference in 2012, the US position could hugely weaken or delay agreement to tackle irresponsible arms transfers that shatter countless lives worldwide."

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