View source for Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance

{{Update|documentation|date=November 2023}}

{{Short description|Bureau}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance
| type = bureau
| seal = US Department of State official seal.svg
| seal_width = 120px
| seal_caption = Seal of the United States Department of State
| logo            = File:AVC logo 2012.jpg
| logo_width      = 
| logo_caption    = Logo of the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance
| formed          = 2010
| preceding1      = Bureau of Verification, Compliance and Implementation<ref>{{cite web|title=The Department of State's Reorganization of the Arms Control and International Security Bureaus|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/10/148521.htm|publisher=[[U.S. Department of State]]|date=October 1, 2010|accessdate=December 11, 2015}}</ref>
| preceding2      = 
| jurisdiction    = [[Executive branch of the United States]]
| employees       = 141 ({{as of|2014}})<ref name="OIG">{{cite web|title=Inspection of the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance|url=https://oig.state.gov/system/files/228996.pdf|publisher=[[Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State]]|date=June 2014|accessdate=November 21, 2015|archive-date=November 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122062200/https://oig.state.gov/system/files/228996.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| budget          = $31.2 million (FY 2013)<ref name="OIG"/>
| chief1_name     = [[Mallory Stewart]]
| chief1_position = [[Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance]]
| chief2_name     = Paul Dean 
| chief2_position = Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance
| parent_department = [[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]]
| website         = [https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-arms-control-and-international-security-affairs/bureau-of-arms-control-verification-and-compliance/ Official website]
}}
The '''Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability''', formerly the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance ('''AVC''') is a bureau within the [[United States Department of State]]. It is responsible for providing oversight of policy and resources of all matters relating to the verification of compliance or discovery of noncompliance with international [[arms control]], [[nonproliferation]], and [[disarmament]] agreements.
==Name Change==
On 13 November 2023, the State Department announced the renaming of the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance. It is now the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability.<ref name="Rename">{{cite web |title=Announcing the Renaming of the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance to the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability |url=https://www.state.gov/announcing-the-renaming-of-the-bureau-of-arms-control-verification-and-complianceto-the-bureau-of-arms-control-deterrence-and-stability/ |website=US State Department |access-date=25 November 2023}}</ref><ref name="IISS rename">{{cite web |title=the International Institute for Strategic Studies |url=https://www.iiss.org/online-analysis/online-analysis/2023/11/us-department-of-state-renames-its-arms-control-bureau/ |website=the International Institute for Strategic Studies |access-date=25 November 2023}}</ref>

==History and Mission==
The Bureau is headed by the [[Assistant Secretary for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance]]. The Arms Control Bureau, a predecessor to the AVC Bureau, was established on April 1, 1999,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Assistant Secretaries of State for Arms Control |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/principalofficers/assistant-secretary-for-arms-control |access-date=June 15, 2024 |website=U.S. Dept of State: Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute}}</ref> by Secretary [[Madeleine Albright]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Looking Back: Arms Control Reorganization, Then and Now {{!}} Arms Control Association |url=https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2005-06/looking-back-arms-control-reorganization-then-and-now |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=www.armscontrol.org}}</ref> The Bureau of Verification and Compliance was split off on February 1, 2000.  Some of the functions of these two Bureaus were recombined in 2005 into the Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation.  The AVC Bureau was established in a reorganization in 2009.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The AVC Bureau is responsible for coordinating an Annual Report on "Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control and Nonproliferation Agreements and Commitments," a report required by statute (Section 403 of the [[Arms Control and Disarmament Act of 1961|Arms Control and Disarmament Act]], as amended ([[Title 22 of the United States Code|22 U.S.C.]] 2593a)) to be annually submitted by the [[President of the United States|President]] to [[United States Congress|Congress]]. In its noncompliance assessments, the Bureau utilizes all source intelligence related to weapons of mass destruction and the proliferation behavior. The assessments are used in the process for evaluating and determining sanctionable activities.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

As the Bureau acts as the Department's policy liaison to the [[United States Intelligence Community|Intelligence Community]] for verification and compliance, it provides guidance on funding and tasking priorities for collection resources. Bureau personnel participate regularly as Special Verification Advisors to, and as members of, delegations to ongoing bilateral and multilateral agreements. The Bureau co-chairs a number of Interagency Verification and Compliance Analysis Working Groups, including those related to the [[Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention]], the [[Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe|Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty]], the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]], the [[Open Skies Treaty]], the [[Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty]], and the [[New START|Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance 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, and the participation in the Department of State's sanctions groups provides further information for noncompliance assessments.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-arms-control-and-international-security-affairs/bureau-of-arms-control-verification-and-compliance/ Official website]
*[https://1997-2001.state.gov/www/global/arms/bureauvc.html Bureau archives]
*[https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/10/148521.htm Press release on reorganization of the Arms Control and International Security bureaus]
{{USDOS agencies}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Arms control]]
[[Category:United States Department of State agencies|AVC]]