[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 22, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 22CFR9.4]

[Page 33]
 
                       TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS
 
                     CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF STATE
 
PART 9--SECURITY INFORMATION REGULATIONS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 9.4  Classification.

    (a) When there is reasonable doubt about the need to classify 
information, the information shall be safeguarded as if it were 
``Confidential'' pending a determination about its classification by an 
original classification authority. When there is reasonable doubt about 
the appropriate classification level, the information shall be 
safeguarded at the higher level pending the determination of its 
classification level by an original classification authority. 
Determinations hereunder shall be made within 30 days.
    (b) Information may not be classified unless its disclosure 
reasonably could be expected to cause damage to the national security. 
Information may not be classified to conceal violations of law, 
inefficiency, or administrative error; to prevent embarrassment to a 
person, organization, or agency; to restrain competition; or to prevent 
or delay the release of information that does not require protection in 
the interest of national security.
    (c) The President or an agency head or official designated under 
section 1.2 (a)(2), 1.2 (b)(1), or 1.2 (c)(1) of the Order may 
reclassify information previously declassified and disclosed if it is 
determined in writing that (1) the information requires protection in 
the interest of national security, and (2) the information may 
reasonably be recovered. These reclassification actions shall be 
reported promptly to the Director of ISOO.
    (d) It is permitted to classify or reclassify information after an 
agency has received a request for it under the Freedom of Information 
Act or the Privacy Act, or the mandatory review provisions of the Order, 
provided that such classification meets the requirements of the Order 
and is accomplished personally and on a document-by-document basis by 
the agency head, the deputy agency head, the senior official, or an 
official with original Top Secret classification authority. Every effort 
should be made to classify properly at the time of origin. When a 
determination is made that a document requires classification or 
reclassification, however, all holders of the document should be 
notified and, in the Department of State, a copy of the classification 
or reclassification memorandum should be sent to the Foreign Affairs 
Information Management Center (FAIM). In addition, if the classification 
or reclassification was done in any office other than the DAS/CDC, that 
office should send a copy of the pertinent memorandum to the CDC.
    (e) For the Department of State, these functions will be performed 
by the DAS/CDC.
    (f) For AID, the function will be performed by the Administrator.
    (g) For USIA, the function will be performed by the Director of 
Public Liaison.
    (h) Information classified in accordance with these regulations 
shall not be declassified automatically as a result of any unofficial 
publication or inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure in the United 
States or abroad of identical or similar information.