Bureau of Verification and Compliance

The Bureau of Verification and Compliance, headed by Assistant Secretary Paula A. DeSutter, provides oversight of both policy and resources of all matters relating to verification of compliance with international arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament agreements and commitments.  

The Bureau of Verification and Compliance (VC) supports the Secretary and the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security in developing and implementing robust and rigorous verification and compliance policies.

The Bureau is responsible for preparing rigorous noncompliance assessments, essential for informing policy makers whether other nations and entities are complying with their commitments and to enable timely and appropriate responses to violations.

Effective verification regimes and a robust compliance process are critical for ensuring that parties to arms control and nonproliferation agreements and commitments follow through on their obligations thereby contributing to U.S. national security. Congress requires that the President report on issues of noncompliance in an Annual Report on "Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control and Nonproliferation Agreements and Commitments," which the VC Bureau is responsible for preparing and coordinating.

The Bureau's noncompliance assessments are strengthened by full utilization of all source intelligence information related to weapons of mass destruction and the proliferation behavior of other nations and entities. Applying rigor to noncompliance assessments further supports and informs the process for evaluating and determining sanctionable activities.

To reinforce the Department's unique leadership in verification and compliance, Congress mandated the creation of the Bureau of Verification and Compliance, which became operational on February 1, 2000. The VC Bureau's involvement in every stage of the arms control and nonproliferation process maximizes the possibility that the United States will pursue and achieve agreements and commitments that provide reliable confirmation and credible assessment of the foreign programs that affect our national security.

In its capacity as the Department's verification and compliance policy liaison to the Intelligence Community, the Bureau provides guidance on funding and tasking priorities for collection resources and analytic assets to support arms control and nonproliferation goals.

To facilitate the effective integration of the verification and compliance function into Department activities, Bureau personnel participate regularly as Special Verification Advisors to and members of delegations to ongoing bilateral and multilateral negotiations.

The Bureau co-chairs a number of Interagency Verification and Compliance Analysis Working Groups (VCAWGs), including those related to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC), the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the Open Skies Treaty, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). VC also serves as co-chair with the intelligence community of the Verification and Monitoring Task Force to improve nuclear test detection and verifiability of nuclear-related agreements. These groups provide the fora for discussion and resolution of issues arising from the implementation of treaties and commitments in-force and under negotiation. Bureau participation in the Department's sanctions groups further informs our noncompliance assessments and facilitates appropriate policy action.

The Bureau also leads Department efforts on such issues as requirements for the verifiable dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons capability and the verifiable elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities. The Bureau further leads efforts to integrate the implementation of the START verification regime, national monitoring activities, and as necessary, transparency measures to enhance monitoring of and confidence in the Moscow Treaty, and for developing and implementing U.S. policy with respect to the conduct of challenge inspections under the CWC. Additionally, the Bureau is responsible for enhancing the verification and assessment of noncompliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Plutonium Disposition Agreement, and the potential Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, and for tracking nuclear materials accountability and nonproliferation assistance to Russia and the FSU.

As the lead in the Department for preserving assets essential for verification, seeding development of verification technologies, and enhancing the cohesiveness of national technology efforts, the Bureau manages the Key Verification Assets Fund (V Fund), co-chairs the interagency Nonproliferation and Arms Control Technology Working Group (NPAC TWG), and chairs the interagency Treaty Monitoring Working Group (TMWG).

The Bureau operates the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center (NRRC), which is charged with the transmission, translation, and dissemination of the many government-to-government notifications required annually under the implementation of 20 different arms control treaties and security agreements.

In carrying out its charge to develop, operate, and maintain information systems that support the formulation, negotiation, implementation, verification and compliance of arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament agreements and commitments, VC also works closely with other relevant USG agencies to develop and maintain related databases and information management systems. Fulfilling the Department's responsibilities as the United States Archivist for arms control information, VC leads the interagency initiative for development of verification databases and arms control data repositories.

Additionally, the Bureau prepares several congressionally-mandated reports, including: verifiability assessments for all international arms control and nonproliferation agreements and commitments; specialized compliance reports specified in U.S. Senate resolutions providing advice and consent to the ratification of the CWC and the CFE Flank Agreement; and an Annual Report on "World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers."