Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 2.djvu/336

 102 STAT. 1340

PUBLIC LAW 100-418—AUG. 23, 1988 to be the senior commercial representative of the United States in that country, and the United States chief of mission in that country shall accord that officer all privileges and responsibilities appropriate to the position of senior commercial representative of other countries. (E) The Secretary of State is authorized, upon the request of the Secretary, to provide office space, equipment, facilities, and such other administrative and clerical services as may be required for the operation of the foreign offices. The Secretary is authorized to reimburse or advance funds to the Secretary of State for such services. (F) The authority of the Secretary under this paragraph shall be subject to section 103 of the Diplomatic Security Act (22 U.S.C. 4802).

(d) RANK MISSIONS.—

OF COMMERCIAL

SERVICE

OFFICERS

IN FOREIGN

(1) MINISTER-COUNSELOR.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary is authorized to designate up to 8 United States missions abroad at which the senior Commercial Service Officer will be able to use the diplomatic title of Minister-Counselor. The Secretary of State shall accord the diplomatic title of Minister-Counselor to the senior Commercial Service Officer assigned to a United States mission so designated. (2) CONSUL GENERAL.—In any United States consulate in

Reports.

which a vacancy occurs in the position of Consul General, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary, shall consider filling that vacancy with a Commercial Service Officer if the primary functions of the consulate are of a commercial nature and if there are significant business opportunities for United States exporters in the region in which the consulate is located. (e) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.—In order to carry out subsection (b)(7), to lessen the cost of distribution of information produced by the Commercial Service, and to make that information more readily available, the Secretary should establish a system for distributing that information in those areas where no district offices of the Commercial Service are located. Distributors of the information should be State export promotion agencies or private export and trade promotion associations. The distribution system should be consistent with cost recovery objectives of the Department of Commerce. (f) AUDITS.—The Inspector General of the Department of Commerce shall perform periodic audits of the operations of the Commercial Service, but at least once every 3 years. The Inspector General shall report to the Congress the results of each such audit. In addition to an overview of the activities and effectiveness of Commercial Service operations, the audit shall include— (1) an evaluation of the current placement of domestic personnel and recommendations for transferring personnel among district offices; (2) an evaluation of the current placement of foreign-based personnel and recommendations for transferring such personnel in response to newly emerging business opportunities for United States exporters; and (3) an evaluation of the personnel system and its management, including the recruitment, assignment, promotion, and

�