Definition

Letters of agreement set out the high-level policy for cooperation between states under contingency conditions and can cover operational as well as technical support.

Objective

Letters of agreement provide ways of establishing mutual support under contingency. They enable planning well before an incident takes place. Testing and exercises can be used to determine whether or not states can implement the joint approaches described in letters of agreement. For more details on the legal issues involved see the article Legal Aspects of Contingency.