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Overview

The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) is a Federal Advisory Committee with a U.S. Government Charter to promote security cooperation between American business and private sector interests worldwide and the U.S. Department of State. OSAC currently encompasses the 34-member core Council, an Executive Office, over 100 Country Councils, and more than 3,500 constituent member organizations and 372 associates.

The objectives of the Council as outlined in the Charter are:

• To establish continuing liaison and to provide for operational security cooperation between State Department security functions and the Private Sector.
• To provide for regular and timely interchange of information between the Private Sector and the State Department concerning developments in the overseas security environment.
• To recommend methods and provide material for coordinating security planning and implementation of security programs.
• To recommend methods to protect the competitiveness of American businesses operating worldwide.

The Council is established under authority of the Secretary of State pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 2656 and in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act as amended. The activities of the Council are determined to be in the public interest and are directly related to overseas security functions of the Department of State.

The increase in terrorism over the last 25 years and the continuing threat against U.S. interests overseas has forced many American companies to seek advice and assistance from the U.S. Government, particularly the State Department. In 1985, a handful of chief executive officers from prominent American companies met with then Secretary of State George P. Shultz to promote cooperation between the American private sector worldwide and the U.S. Government on security issues. The subsequent establishment of the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) has developed into an enormously successful joint venture. Today over 3,500 U.S. companies, educational institutions, religious and non-governmental organizations are constituents of OSAC. The Council provides a forum for best practices and provides the tools needed to cope with today’s ever-changing challenges and security-related issues abroad.

The OSAC (Council) is comprised of 30 private sector and 4 public sector member organizations that represent a broad range of economic sectors or agencies operating abroad. Private sector members are selected from OSAC’s constituency and normally serve for two to four year terms. Member organizations designate a representative to work on the Council. These representatives provide the direction and guidance to develop programs that most benefit the U.S. private sector overseas. Representatives meet quarterly and staff committees tasked with specific projects – such as the protection of business information and transnational crime. Under OSAC leadership annual goals and objectives are discussed, evaluated, initiated, and assigned. The original five-year strategic plan is now being reviewed annually to keep the goals and objectives of the Council up-to-date with the needs of the constituency. The council is co-chaired by the Director of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) and a selected representative of the private sector.

Under OSAC’s Strategic Plan for 2006 – 2007 the following committee’s were created to support new objectives for the Council. This strategic plan outlines a purpose to protect American interests overseas by promoting public-private security partnerships through leadership, information sharing and innovation.

An Executive Working Group is staffed by the Council Co-Chairs, the Executive Director, and three representatives selected from among the Council representatives. The Executive Working Group (EWG) provides the leadership and strategic direction of the Council and committee initiatives. The EWG reviews and assists with the successful completion and implementation of all committee objectives.

Along with the thirty-four members Council, OSAC utilizes technical advisors from the U.S. Government and subject-matter experts from the private sector to assist the committees with special projects. The technical advisors include representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Loyola Marymount University, National Security Agency, National Counterintelligence Executive, Prudential PLC, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Department of State.

Current OSAC Member Organizations (January 2006)

• 3M
• American Airlines, Inc.
• American Standard Companies
• Archer Daniels Midland Company
• Ball Corporation
• Boeing Company
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
• CARE USA
• Chevron Corporation
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
• CIGNA
• Citigroup, Inc.
• E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company
• Federal Mogul Corporation
• KPMG, LLP
• Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.
• Levi Strauss & Co.
• Merck & Co., Inc.
• Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
• National Football League
• The Ohio State University
• Pepperdine University
• Procter & Gamble Company
• Raytheon Company
• Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C.
• Time Warner
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Whirlpool Corporation
• U.S. Agency for International Development
• U.S. Department of Commerce
• U.S. Department of State
• U.S. Department of the Treasury

The Executive Office is comprised of two senior Special Agents from the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) who act as the Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director, OSAC Operations Coordinator, two Executive Assistants, and the Research and Information Support Center.

With the assistance of the U.S. Department of Commerce, OSAC established the Research and Information Support Center (RISC) in 1997. RISC is currently comprised of a division chief and nine International Security Specialists divided into eight regional areas and one functional area. The RISC staff interfaces and liaises with the private sector, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and other federal agencies, and U.S. diplomatic missions around the world on matters of security involving U.S. firms and their employees. RISC gauges threats to U.S. private sector investment, personnel, facilities, and intellectual property abroad. With access to a broad range of classified and unclassified reporting from American embassies abroad, as well as open source information, RISC can track social, political, and economic issues that impact the security of the private sector operating overseas. The RISC staff conducts open source research to provide time-sensitive unclassified analytical products and updates. RISC is now able to provide “any enterprise incorporated in the United States doing business abroad” with timely security-related information of an unclassified nature by means of the website. The staff of RISC is dedicated full time to the American private sector to respond to inquiries and research security-related issues. The group averages 200 telephone consultations per month with constituents where information is passed regarding the overseas security environment.

The OSAC website is operated and maintained by the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security information technology support team. Established in January 2005, the current website was significantly enhanced to incorporate state of the art technology and constituent feedback. It is the focal point for the exchange of unclassified information between the U.S. Department of State and the private sector on security-related incidents and threats overseas. Some of the information accessible from the website include Department of State Travel Warnings and Public Announcements; daily security-related news articles; overseas reports on security and crime incidents; terrorist group profiles; timely presentations on current terrorist attacks and other incidents; general crime information for cities and countries; locations and contacts at U.S. posts overseas; and updates on new or unusual situations. The OSAC website recently expanded to include cyber threat information, critical incident reporting, and specific traveler information. The critical incident reporting section has been enhanced to become more interactive for constituents to post incidents and query the database. OSAC website access is now available to Federal, State, and local law enforcement and public safety agencies. Country Councils (discussed later) now have individual country-specific websites. The OSAC website is an encrypted site, which requires a password.

OSAC initiated an outreach program to assist the U.S. private sector with the establishment of “country councils” in selected foreign cities to provide a forum for implementing the in-country overseas portion of this security information-sharing concept. The country councils are aimed at building on what already exists, since many U.S. Embassies have already established contact with American private sector representatives in their areas. There are currently over 100 OSAC country councils operating in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Western Hemisphere. An additional 20 cities are in various stages of developing and establishing their own country council. By establishing country councils in major cities abroad, OSAC facilitates and encourages security managers of U.S. private sector enterprises to organize themselves to better cope with security problems and threats. Key representatives of these councils and U.S. embassy security officers, as well as other key embassy officials, are developing working relationships to create an exchange of information through which pertinent, unclassified security information is exchanged in a timely fashion. In addition, the councils provide a forum to promote cooperation regarding other security issues and global threats of mutual concern. Go to the Country Council section for a current list and the country council websites.

OSAC has outlined the private sector position on such issues as the protection of proprietary information and technology and encryption needs overseas. OSAC played a significant role in discussions regarding amendment of the Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property Statute and made vital contributions to the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. The Council also works to reduce international pirating, counterfeiting of U.S. products, and the incidences of cargo theft and piracy.

OSAC has established several strategic partnerships over the years and works closely with professional organizations such as the International Security Management Association (ISMA), American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and the UK’s Security Information Service for Business Overseas (SISBO). OSAC along with partners, ISMA and SISBO, will be hosting the seventh joint venture of a regional security conference to raise the awareness, understanding, and capability over a broad range of security issues for constituents of all three organizations.

OSAC has been the conduit of security information for the private sector on world events, such as, the IMF/World Bank Meetings, the summer and winter Olympics, and the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In an effort to reach OSAC constituents worldwide, OSAC hosted its first ever, interactive web-based briefing in July 2004 to address late-breaking issues and last minute security preparations for the Olympic Games in Athens. OSAC provides industry-specific briefings to sectors such as energy, hotels, financial, and non-governmental organizations. Also, OSAC conducts briefings for region-specific issues and international incidents.

Through legislation in 1999, OSAC constituents are now eligible to enroll in the Foreign Service Institute’s Private Sector Security Overseas Seminar. Constituents may participate in this highly acclaimed two-day security awareness primer available at cost to American citizens working for U.S. private sector organizations. The seminar is located at the Department of State’s state-of-the-art National Foreign Affairs Training Center in Arlington, Virginia. The course covers travel, home and personal security, fire and environmental hazards, kidnap avoidance, cross cultural competence, weapons of mass destruction, current threat trends, and crisis management. The focus is on getting participants to identify security risks and develop strategies for dealing with them.

As part of an outreach effort, OSAC undertook an initiative with the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs to invite American colleges and universities to develop programs and methods to increase security awareness for students and faculty traveling and studying abroad. This initiative was called the University Working Group, which met for the first time in February of 2001 until June of 2004. The working group broadened OSAC’s reach to educational institutions and increased the constituency in this industry by ten-fold. OSAC will be looking at keeping representatives from the educational industry as a member organization in the near future. This industry sector provides vital insight to another realm of constituents living and working abroad.

OSAC has also conducted extensive reviews of American private sector security support requirements overseas. It was concluded that U.S. business representatives clearly needed guidelines to cope with terrorist activity, as well as violent crime, civil unrest, and other threats to their personnel and facilities. More recently, emergency planning and protecting sensitive U.S. business information and technology abroad have also become significant issues for a growing number of American organizations. OSAC corporate representatives concluded that these challenges could be addressed effectively in this joint public and private sector security forum.

OSAC continually promotes the exchange of information on developments in all aspects of security and recommends methods for planning and implementing security programs abroad. To achieve these objectives, OSAC established committees to address issues such as emergency preparedness, physical security, and protection of proprietary information. OSAC committees have produced seven publications to be used as guidelines by the American private sector living and operating abroad. The publication format was designed to be used by the security professional as part of their organizations’ awareness and education program. OSAC now has a comprehensive library of security guidelines with thousands of copies distributed to the American private sector doing business abroad. OSAC will continue to produce timely publications designed to assist the U.S. private sector in meeting security challenges overseas. Click here to go to the Publications section.

The Overseas Security Advisory Council is committed to providing the American private sector with customer service of the highest standard. Since OSAC is a joint venture with the private sector, we strive to maintain standards equal to or surpassing those provided by private industry. OSAC activities directly correspond to requests from the private sector.

OSAC has received exceptional support for its initiatives from the chief executive officers and corporate security directors of many of the largest international corporations in the United States. Even with the national trend to down size government the State Department and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security recognize the greater need in OSAC’s goal to support the U.S. private sector by continuing to develop an effective and cost-efficient security information and communication network that will provide the private sector with the tools needed to cope with security-related issues in the foreign environment. OSAC’s unique charter and continued success serves as an example to the benefits to be shared through mutual cooperation.

OSAC constituency is available to any American-owned, not-for-profit organization, or any enterprise incorporated in the U.S. (parent company, not subsidiaries or divisions) doing business overseas. Each organization has been requested to designate one representative from their U.S. headquarters. We have noted that in the majority of instances the designated representative is the corporate security director or whoever represents the CEO on security matters with further distribution of the OSAC information determined within the corporate structure.

OSAC will verify constituent eligibility and organizations will be requested to provide OSAC with documentation that your organization is incorporated in the U.S.

Access to OSAC’s website is also available to Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies on an associate basis.

Online registration is available here.

Overseas Security Advisory Council
Bureau of Diplomatic Security
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20522-2008

Telephone: 571-345-2223
Facsimile: 571-345-2238