The Winter 2025 edition of T&V opens with a lead article assessing the establishment of the new Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions relating to North Korea. The rest of the edition covers issues ranging from an update on North Korea’s enrichment programme to the use of artificial intelligence for tracking dark ships.
From the Panel of Experts to the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team: plus ça change in North Korean sanctions monitoring?
The lead article, written by Researcher Roel Walravens, assesses the establishment of the new Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions relating to North Korea. He argues that, given its operation outside of the UN system, one of the immediate challenges facing the new MSMT mechanism will be gaining wider authority and legitimacy within the international community. The author reviews the lessons learned from the now-disbanded UN Security Council 1718 Committee Panel of Experts, before addressing specific issues concerning the establishment and operationalisation of the new MSMT.
Verification Watch
Verification Watch opens with an article by Researcher Hailey Wingo that explores potential implications for the future of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and U.S. ratification of the treaty following the change in the U.S. political leadership after the November 2024 general election. Senior Researcher Hugh Chalmers continues with an article which discusses the challenge of attributing cyber security attacks on nuclear facilities under the current international legal framework for nuclear security. Researcher Hailey Wingo and Co-Programme Director for Verification and Monitoring Grant Christopher then provide an update on North Korea’s enrichment programme and the incorporation of new information into VERTIC’s model of North Korea’s nuclear fuel cycle. Senior Researcher Noel Stott closes this section with an update on further steps taken within the UN General Assembly for the establishment of a multilateral Group of Scientific and Technical Experts on Nuclear Disarmament Verification.
Implementation Watch
In Implementation Watch, Legal Officer Eliza Walsh opens with an article which analyses whether traditional chemical security and biosecurity measures can keep pace with technological advances, drawing on lessons from two recent cases in the United Kingdom. Associate Legal Officer Alix Renaudin concludes this section with the discussion of the national implementation implications arising from a case in the U.S. in which Indiana University’s Bloomington Drosophila Stock Centre exported 42 shipments of different strains of genetically modified fruit flies that contained transgenes of ricin toxin to 30 different institutions in 16 destinations worldwide without an export licence.
Science and Technology Scan
In Science and Technology Scan, Co-Programme Director for Verification and Monitoring Grant Christopher discusses innovations in the use of artificial intelligence for tracking dark ships and the potential application of such advances in tracking North Korean sanctions evaders at sea.
Centre News
Plus, Centre News, outlining the latest updates from across the programmes.