Negotiators at the United Nations failed to meet a Friday deadline to complete a new treaty aimed at regulating the estimated $60 billion global arms trade business, as major weapons exporting nations, including the United States, said more time was needed to finalize an agreement.

The negotiators adjourned after having met for the past four weeks with the goal of completing an agreement that proponents said would have severely restricted the cross-border flow of weapons and ammunition that has helped to fuel armed conflicts and mass killings around the world. Approval by all 193 members of the United Nations was required.

“There is no consensus and the meeting is over,” said Ewen Buchanan, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, which sponsored the negotiation conference on the treaty.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who had beseeched the members to reach an agreement, said in a statement, “The conference’s inability to conclude its work on this much-awaited A.T.T., despite years of effort of member states and civil society from many countries, is a setback.” He was referring to the official name of the pact, the Arms Trade Treaty. Diplomats said the next step was likely to be further negotiations and a vote at the next session of the United Nations General Assembly in a couple of months.