EXPERIENCE WITH IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INF TREATY

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces or INF Treaty was signed on December 8, 1987, and entered into force on June 1, 1988. The INF Treaty was the first to achieve actual reductions in arms, rather than merely to limit increases. The INF Treaty is of unlimited duration. It provides for the elimination within three years of all U.S. and Soviet ground-launched missile systems with a range of 500-5,500 km, and it bans all production and flight testing. For a period of thirteen years, the Treaty provides for the continuous monitoring of the perimeter of one missile plant in each country and for a specified number of shortnotice inspections. For the implementation of the Treaty, the two parties also signed and brought into force five additional documents: — The Memorandum of Understanding provides a complete inventory and description of all treaty-limited sites, facilities and systems; — The Elimination Protocol spells out the specific actions each country must take to destroy its missile force; — The Inspection Protocol covers all aspects of the inspection process; — The Memorandum of Agreement, signed a year after the Treaty, further codifies numerous operational details to improve the viability and effectiveness of the Treaty; and - A side letter giving the U.S. rights of up to six on-site inspections of former SS-4 silos. Finally, the United States entered into the so-called Basing Country Agreement with the five allies on whose territory the U.S. bases covered by the INF Treaty are located.