Technical Equipment Inspection (TEI) Program

The United States is required under many treaties, agreements, and initiatives to permit foreign inspection teams to conduct on-site inspections at US facilities or overfly US territory. In order for the US to have confidence that this equipment is consistent with the appropriate protocols, can be safely operated, and does not pose a serious national security concern, the Technical Equipment Inspection (TEI) Program was established. This program is operated by the On-Site Inspection Agency with participation by a variety of federal agencies. It has supported the implementation of a variety of treaties and agreements in the US to include the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the Treaty on Open Skies, and bilateral chemical weapons agreements. It is now supporting the implementation of new agreements and treaties such as the Chemical Weapons Convention and will also support the bilateral agreement between the US and the Russian Federation to shutdown plutonium production reactors and cease the use of newly produced plutonium for nuclear weapons.