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Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-713-2458
Guidelines for Working With Foreign Partners
There are at least three possible ways a U.S. federal employee may perform work for a foreign government. These are:
Private Agreement:
This occurs when work is performed as an individual for no pay, honorarium, or compensation for expenses, while on leave, after establishing there is no conflict of interest. This type of agreement would be advised only if the employee has a great interest in the work of the co-researchers involved. It is also advisable that the employee to describe the situation in detail to the ethics committee and insure there are no conflict in interests. The federal employee must decide if it is worth placing their personal resources into the work.
- Contact Ethics Committee to get Guidelines; An attorney in the Ethics Division, Office of the General Counsel can give further advise (202) 482-5384.
- Ensure no conflicts of interest exist with work as a federal employee (e.g. in your job, are you working directly on research you would perform as a private individual?).
- It is advisable to obtain Professional Liability Insurance for any work performed as a private individual.
An Understanding with Dual Investment:
In this case, work is performed while on official duty (paid by the Federal laboratory). There may be some compensation to the laboratory for salary and other expenses. This option recognizes benefits for both countries or parties and shares resources to perform the mission. Both parties must have a clear connection to the mission. This is less desirable if the mission is a long term project and the work primarily responds to a need of the foreign government.
- Does the work impact the missions of both the federal lab and the foreign government?
- Is it in the interest of the federal lab to provide these resources?
- Is there anything in the agreement that involves important legal issues? If so contact Roxie Allyson Browne (NOAA attorney at 301-713-1222).
- Does the importance of the work rise to a high enough level that the State Department must be advised?
A Memorandum of Understanding:
When special expertise or resources are required to address the needs of a foreign government, this option is very useful. A detailed agreement must be developed by both parties. Ample time will be required to ensure that the process is clear and issues are resolved beforehand.
- Create statement of work.
- Identify constraints; Are the technical tasks appropriate and can they be accomplished within time available and with resources provided?
- Contact NOAA attorney (Roxie Allyson Browne at 301-713-1222).
- Determine if the level of importance requires notification of the State Department general counsel. Write a memo for the record documenting this determination.
- Determine if the MOU falls under the definitions of a Special Studies Agreement or a Joint Project Agreement. Generally Special Studies Agreements occur when a researcher is compensated for work done for an outside party. Joint Project Agreements occur when the two parties share work and cost of the project.
- Place the agreement in the standard format provided (Special Studies Agreement Format or Joint Project Agreement Format )
- Identify issues of wording or philosophy that need to be resolved.(e.g. Can the services of a particular person be identified?).
- What resource persons or organizations may be aware of precedents or provide special guidance?
Our thanks to Dr. Alfred Bedard from ETL for providing this information.
