NEW POLICY
Effective as of August 1, 2008, all international travelers will be required to certify that they
have received a briefing from the Office of Security and their bureau CIO, and complied with
all requirements outlined in the briefing before purchasing tickets for international travel.
All Department of Commerce employees traveling internationally must:
• retake the “Overseas Defensive Travel and Counterintelligence Briefing”
• comply with all guidance outlined in the briefing
• use revised forms CD-29, “Travel Order,” and CD-370, “Travel Voucher,” which have been
updated to provide for bureau CIO clearance for international travelers
(http://www.osec.doc.gov/oas/travel/cd29.pdf) (http://www.osec.doc.gov/oas/travel/cd370.pdf)
Tickets will not be issued unless travel orders reflect full compliance with these procedures. If
you have any questions regarding this policy, please contact your bureau CIO.
Thank you for your cooperation in implementing this new policy.
PURPOSE
As a Commerce employee, you are one of our most critical assets and may
have access to critical U.S. government information. The purpose of
this briefing is to provide you with the knowledge to protect yourself
and ensure that you understand your responsibilities to protect the
information, and to make you aware of the security vulnerabilities
associated with foreign travel. Presidential Decision Directive/NSC-12 "Security Awareness and
Reporting Foreign Contacts," requires security personnel to establish
and maintain security awareness programs which include formal briefing
of the threat posed by foreign intelligence services. The awareness
program focuses on the intelligence gathering of classified as well as
other sensitive information. This Defensive Travel Briefing is part of
Commerce's Security Awareness program.
APPLICABILITY
When
traveling abroad, all Departmental personnel, including summer hires,
those on temporary assignment, and contractors are required to receive
an annual defensive travel briefing. Any individual retuning from
travel of 90 days or more must contact there servicing security office
and undergo a security debriefing upon their return to the U.S.
This defensive travel briefing is required by DAO-207-1 and the CIO
Policy.
Click on the hyper-link below to access the Department of Commerce
Defensive Oversea Travel Briefing.
http://www.osec.doc.gov/osy/PPT/Defensive_Overseas_and_CI_Travel_Brief_061608.pdf
At the completion of the briefing,
ensure you complete the certificate of
training. The
information will be electronically filed to indicate
you have met the training requirement.
ADDITIONAL SECURITY AND SAFETY INFORMATION
The security and
safety measures suggested below will help protect you
from the loss of
sensitive information and criminal acts as well as from
terrorism.
Some suggestions are
more applicable to one form of threat than others. The
level of risk varies
from country to country and time-to-time. You may need
to pick and choose
or modify the suggested security measures to meet your
needs. These suggestions
apply whether you are visiting abroad for business or
pleasure or
stationed abroad for a longer period.
Be sure to read the
entire cable that grants you country clearance. Country
specific procedures
or issues are enumerated that need to be addressed –
some prior to
departure (like entry visas) - to ensure a successful and
safe trip.
Additionally,
personnel possessing a security clearance must contact there servicing
security office prior to departure and may request a
classified, country
specific counterintelligence brief for China and other
countries that
posses a high threat of espionage.
The State
Department’s website below offers the following information which
should be reviewed
prior to your departure:
Current Public
Announcements
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_1161.html
Current Travel
Warnings
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html
Country
specific Consular Information Sheets
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1765.html
“A Safe Trip
Abroad” Publication
http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/safety/safety_1747.html
An increasing number
of countries throughout the world have reported cases
of the Avian
Influenza (H5N1) virus in migratory and domesticated birds. As
of the 21st of March
2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 184 cases of the
A/H5N1) virus transmission to humans in Southeast Asia,
Turkey and Iraq. Of
the 184 infected, the WHO has confirmed that 103 have
died from the
A/H5N1) virus – a mortality rate of 55.98%.
The majority of
these cases involved human exposure to domesticated birds –
living or dead. The WHO states “… no epidemiological data suggest that
the
disease can be
transmitted to humans through properly cooked [and handled]
food (even if
contaminated with the virus prior to cooking).” No case of
human-to-human
transmission has been confirmed. The recent appearance of
the Avian Influenza
(H5N1) virus in wild and domesticated birds in Africa
and Europe has been
confirmed.
The number of cases
and countries identified is rapidly changing. For the
most current
information, the World Health Organization is the best source:
The World
Health Organization’s Avian Influenza Web Page
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/index.html
The Office of
Security advises all employees to strictly avoid contact with all birds (wild or
domestic) and all poultry products during their travels overseas.
For more information
on Avian Influenza please refer to:
The Centers of
Disease Control and Prevention’s Avian Influenza Web Page
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/index.htm
The State
Department’s Avian Influenza Fact Sheet
http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/tips/health/health_1181.html
Further inquiries
concerning travel or security briefings should be
directed to the
Eastern Region Office of Security at (757) 441-3431.
Security is Everyone’s Responsibility
Security is Everyone’s Responsibility