The U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service 2018 Officer Promotion Process Did Not Comply With Applicable Criteria

For our evaluation of the International Trade Administration’s (ITA’s) U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service’s (US&FCS’s) officer promotion process, our objective was to determine whether US&FCS adhered to applicable laws, regulations, and policies when conducting the 2018 officer promotion process. We found that ITA’s 2018 US&FCS officer promotion process did not adhere to certain applicable laws, regulations, and policies. Specifically, we found the following: I. ITA did not determine the number of available promotion opportunities before selection boards convened; II. board rankings and other sensitive information were improperly stored on an unsecured shared network drive; III. US&FCS incorrectly determined promotion eligibility; and IV. discrepancies were identified in the rankings of one selection board. We also noted a separate matter for ITA management's attention with respect to conflicts of interest within an “Other Matter” section of this report.