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CHAPTER V-UNITED STATES INFORMATION

AGENCY

Part 500

501

Employee responsibilities and conduct.

Appointment for Foreign Service information officers.

502 World-wide free flow (export-import) of audio-visual materials. 503 Availability of records.

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It is the policy of the U.S. Information Agency that Foreign Service information officers occupy positions in which there is a need and reasonable opportunity for interchangeability of personnel between the Agency and posts abroad, and which are concerned with (a) the conduct, observation, or analysis of information and cultural activities, or (b) the executive management of, or administrative responsibility for, the overseas operations of the Agency's program.

§ 501.2 Eligibility for appointment as FSIO.

(a) Pursuant to Public Law 90-494 and section 511 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as amended, all Foreign Service information officers shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. All appointments shall be made to a class and not to a particular post. No person

shall be eligible for appointment as a Foreign Service information officer unless he has demonstrated his loyalty to the Government of the United States and his attachment to the principles of the Constitution, and unless he has been a citizen of the United States for at least 10 years and, if married, is married to a citizen of the United States. The religion, race, sex, and political affiliations of a candidate will not be considered in designations, examinations, or certifications.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 3320 the fact that any applicant is a veteran or disabled veteran, as defined in 5 U.S.C. 2108 (1) or (2) will be taken into consideration as an affirmative factor in the selection of applicants for initial appointment as Foreign Service information officers.

$501.3 Appointment of FSIO as chief of mission.

(a) Appointment by President. Chiefs of mission are appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. They may be career members of the Foreign Service or they may be appointed from outside the Service.

(b) Recommendation of Foreign Service information officers. On the basis of recommendations made by the Board of the Foreign Service and the Director of USIA, the Secretary of State from time to time furnishes the President with the names of Foreign Service information officers qualified for appointment as chiefs of mission. The names of these officers, together with pertinent information concerning them, are given to the President to assist him in selecting qualified candidates for appointment as chiefs of mission.

(c) Status of Foreign Service information officers appointed as chiefs of mission. Foreign Service information officers who are appointed as chiefs of mission retain their status as Foreign Service information officers.

§ 501.4 Noncompetitive interchange between Civil Service and Foreign Service.

(a) An agreement between the Civil Service Commission and the Agency under the provisions of Executive Order 11219 (3 CFR 1964-65 Comp. p. 303) provides for the noncompetitive appointment of present or former career or career-conditional Civil Service employees in the Foreign Service.

(b) Under this agreement former career personnel of the Agency's Foreign Service (FSCR, FSIO, or FSS), and such present personnel desiring to transfer, are eligible, under certain conditions, for noncompetitive career or career-conditional appointment in any Federal agency that desires to appoint them. The President has authorized the Civil Service Commission by Executive order to waive the requirement for competitive examination and appointment for such Agency career Foreign Service personnel.

(c) In order to provide a comparable basis for the appointment of career or career-conditional Civil Service employees in the Foreign Service, the Agency has agreed to waive written test requirements under certain conditions for career or unlimited appointment to the Foreign Service Staff Corps and to credit service under a Civil Service career type appointment toward the probationary period in the Staff Corps.

(d) In addition, the agreement recognizes the current provisions of the Foreign Service Act as a basis for the lateral entry appointment of present or former Civil Service personnel as Foreign Service information officers. § 501.5

Appointment to Class 7 or 8. Appointment as a Foreign Service information officer of class 8, or of class 7, is governed by §§ 501.6-501.12. § 501.6 Written examination.

(a) When and where given. The written examination will usually be given annually in designated cities in the United States and at Foreign Service posts abroad on dates established by the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service. Applicants must indicate in their applications whether they are applying for appointment as an FSO with the Department of State or for appointment as an FSIO with the United States Information Agency.

(b) Designation to take the written examination. No person will be permitted to take a written examination for appointment as Foreign Service information officer who has not been specifically designated by the Board of Examiners to take that particular examination. Prior to each written examination the Board will establish a closing date for the receipt of applications for designation to take the examination. No person will be designated for the examination

who has not as of that closing date filed an application with the Board. To be designated for the written examination a candidate, as of the date of the examination, shall have been a citizen of the United States for at least 72 years and shall be at least 21 but under 31 years of age, except that an applicant who has been awarded a bachelor's degree by a college or university, or has completed successfully his junior year at a college or university, may qualify as to age if at least 20 but under 31 years of age.

(c) Content. The written examination is designed to permit the Board to test the candidate's intelligence and the breadth and quality of his knowledge and understanding. It will consist of four parts: (1) A general ability test, (2) an English expression test, (3) a general background test, and (4) three special optional tests: Option A-History, Government, Social Sciences, and Public Affairs; Option B-Administration; Option C-Economics and Commerce; one of which must be selected by the candidate except that candidates for the United States Information Agency will take Option A only.

(d) Grading. The several parts of the written examination are weighted in accordance with the rules laid down by the Board of Examiners.

§ 501.7 Oral examination.

The Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service has established the following rules regarding the oral examination:

(a) When and where given. The oral examination will be given throughout the year at Washington and periodically in selected cities in the United States and at selected Foreign Service posts abroad.

(b) Eligibility. If a candidate's weighted average on the four parts of the written examination is 70 or higher, he will be eligible to take the oral examination. Candidates eligible for the oral examination will be given an opportunity and will be required to take the oral examination within 9 months after the date of the written examination. If a candidate fails to present himself for the oral examination on an agreed date within the 9-month period, his candidacy will automatically terminate except that time spent outside the United States and its territories for reasons acceptable to the Board of Examiners will not be counted against the 9-month period.

(c) Examining process. The oral examination will be given by a panel of deputy examiners selected by the Board of Examiners from a roster of Foreign Service officers, Foreign Service information officers, officers from the Department of State, the U.S. Information Agency and other Government agencies, and qualified private citizens who by prior service as members of selection boards or through other appropriate activities have demonstrated special qualifications for this work. The examination will be conducted in the light of all available information concerning the candidate and will be designed to determine his competence to perform the work of a Foreign Service information officer at home and abroad, his potential for growth in the Service, and his suitability to serve as a representative of the United States abroad. Panels examining candidates for the Department of State will be chaired by a Foreign Service officer with the Department. Panels examining candidates for the United States Information Agency will be chaired by an officer from the Agency's Foreign Service. Determinations of duly constituted panels of deputy examiners are final, unless modified by specific action of the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service.

(d) Grading. Candidates appearing for the oral examination will be graded "recommended for class 8," "recommended for class 7," or "not recommended." If recommended, the panel will assign a grade which will determine the candidate's numerical standing on the rankorder register of eligibles.

§ 501.8 Medical examination.

The Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service has established the following rules regarding the medical examination of candidates. (Regulations regarding medical examination of dependents are contained in the Foreign Affairs Manual available at the Department of State and U.S. Information Agency.)

(a) Eligibility. A candidate graded "recommended" on the oral examination will be eligible for the physical examination.

(b) Purpose. The medical examination is designed to determine the candidate's physical fitness to perform the duties of a Foreign Service information officer on a worldwide basis and to determine the presence of any physical, nervous, or mental disease or defect of such a nature

as to make it unlikely that he would become a satisfactory officer. The Executive Director of the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service, with the concurrence of the Director, Medical Division, may make such exceptions to these physical requirements as are in the interest of the Service. All such exceptions shall be reported to the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service at its next meeting.

(c) Conduct of examination. The medical examination will be conducted either by medical officers of the Armed Forces, the Public Health Service, the Department, accredited colleges and universities, or, with the approval of the Board of Examiners, by private physicians.

(d) Determination. The Board of Examiners will determine on the basis of the report of the physician(s) who conducted the medical examination whether the candidate has met the standards set forth in paragraph (b) in this section.

§ 501.9 Certification for appointment.

(a) No person will be certified as eligible for appointment as a Foreign Service information officer of class 8 unless he is at least 21 years of age, has been a citizen of the United States for at least 10 years, and, if married, is married to a citizen of the United States. A person shall be certified as eligible for direct appointment to class 7 if in addition to meeting these specifications he is at least 23 years old and has a record of 2 years of graduate training, employment, military service, or Peace Corps service which clearly demonstrates ability and special skills for which there is a need in the Foreign Service. Recommended candidates who meet these requirements, who pass their medical examinations, and who, on the basis of investigation, are found to be loyal to the Government of the United States and personally suitable to represent it abroad, will have their names placed on the rank-order register for class 8 appointments or, if deemed appropriate by the Board of Examiners in the light of their age and education or employment record, on the rank-order register for class 7 appointments, and they will be certified for appointment, in accordance with the needs of the Service, in the order of their standing on their respective registers.

(b) Separate registers for the Depart-` ment of State candidates will be main tained according to the optional portions

of the examination. Successful candidates for the U.S. Information Agency will have their names placed on & separate rank-order register and appointments will be made according to the needs of the Agency. Postponement of entrance on duty for required active military service, civilian Government service abroad, or Peace Corps volunteer service will be authorized. A candidate may be certified for appointment to class 7 or 8 without first having passed an examination in a foreign language, but his appointment will be subject to the condition that he may not receive more than one promotion unless, within a specified period of time, he achieves adequate proficiency in a foreign language.

§ 501.10 Leave-without-pay appoint

ments.

In certain specified cases, leavewithout-pay offers of appointment as Foreign Service Reserve officers may be made to candidates who have established their eligibility when such appointments will insure that well-qualified candidates will not be lost to the Service because they wish to continue advanced graduate studies that will improve their qualifications as future Foreign Service information officers. When they become available for duty they will be nominated for regular Foreign Service information officer appointments.

§ 501.11

Termination of eligibility.

(a) Candidates who have qualified but have not been appointed because of lack of vacancies will be dropped from the rank-order register 30 months after the date of the written examination: Provided, however, That reasonable time spent in civilian Government service abroad, including service as a Peace Corps volunteer or in required active military service subsequent to establishing eligibility for appointment will not be counted in the 30-month period.

(b) The Chairman of the Board of Examiners may extend the eligibility period when such extension is in his judgment justified in the interests of the Service. He shall report to the Board of Examiners the extensions he has approved.

§ 501.12 Travel expenses of candidates.

The travel and other personal expenses of candidates incurred in connection with the written and oral examination

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§ 501.13 Lateral entry appointment of Foreign Service information officers to Classes 1 through 6.

Appointments of Foreign Service information officers, under the provisions of Public Law 90-494 and section 517 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as amended, are governed by this section.

(a) The lateral entry program is a means by which the intake of Foreign Service information officers through the junior Foreign Service information officer examination can be supplemented to meet total requirements for Foreign Service information officers. Lateral entry appointments are made only to Classes 1 through 6, insuring retention of the career principle of entry primarily at Classes 7 and 8 through competitive examination. Additional officers will be added to the Foreign Service Information Officer Corps through lateral entry on the basis of established service need for each class by functional specialty or general manpower requirements.

(b) The great majority of lateral entrants will be drawn from officers of the U.S. Information Agency of proven ability who possess high potential for advancement, or similar personnel of other foreign affairs agencies who may be appointed based on agreements between the Agency and those agencies.

(c) The need for other lateral entrants in Classes 1 through 6 is met by appointing applicants who are officers or former officers of other Federal Government agencies. Principally, these will be persons possessing skills and abilities in short supply in the Agency's Foreign Service appointed to meet rapidly changing requirements. On a limited and highly selective basis, however, other persons may be appointed who have demonstrated outstanding qualities of leadership and who possess capabilities, insights, techniques, experiences, and differences of outlook which would serve to enrich and stimulate the Agency's Foreign Service and enable them to perform effectively in assignments both abroad and in the Agency.

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502.4

502.5

502.6

502.7 502.8

Procedures.

Consultation of experts.

Review and appeal.

Substantive criteria.

History and background.

Miscellaneous; coordination with U.S.
Customs Bureau.

AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 502 are issued under 5 U.S.C. 301, 19 U.S.C. 2051, 2052, 22 U.S.C. 1431 et seq., E.O. 11311, 31 F.R. 13413, 3 CFR 1966-1970 Comp., page 593.

SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 502 appear at 32 F.R. 10352, July 14, 1967, unless otherwise noted.

§ 502.1 Summary; general.

(a) The "Audio-Visual Agreement" (short title), also known as the "Beirut Agreement of 1948", is a multi-nation treaty with the formal title, "Agreement for Facilitating the International Circulation of Visual and Auditory Materials of an Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Character" United States acceptance of this treaty was proclaimed by President Johnson and deposited with the United Nations on October 14, 1966, and formal operations by the United States under the Agreement commenced January 12, 1967. Initial implementation of the treaty by the United States was effected by Public Law 89-634 of October 8, 1966, and Executive Order 11311 of October 14, 1966, and it is further implemented by these regulations. The U.S. Information Agency has been designated by the President to carry out the Agreement for the United States. Export certification, import certificate authentication, rulings, and information, respecting the Agreement may be obtained from the International Communications Media Staff (IMV/C), U.S. Information Agency, Washington, D.C. 20547.

(b) This treaty facilitates the free flow of educational audio-visual materials between nations, by eliminating import duties, import licenses, special taxes, quantitative restrictions and other restraints and costs, by shipment under an international certificate. Each government may issue such certificates as to materials for which basic ownership is in

117 U.S.T. 1578 (T.I.A.S. 6116).

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