On
Ratification of the
Statute on Preparing Information Comprising
State Secrets
For Transfer To Other States
02 August 1997
Text of decree
In accordance with the Russian Federation law, "On State Secrets,"
the Government of the Russian Federation hereby decrees:
That the appended "Statute on Preparing Information Comprising
State Secrets For Transfer To Other States" shall be ratified.
[Signed]
Chairman of Government of the Russian Federation
V. Chernomyrdin
Moscow
2 August 1997
Statute on
Preparing Information Comprising State
Secrets
For Transfer To Other States
1. The present Statute defines the order of preparation and
presentation by federal agencies of executive power and agencies
of executive power of subjects of the Russian Federation to the
Government of the Russian Federation of materials for adoption of
decisions on transfer of information comprising state secrets (henceforth
referred to as information) to other states.
The statute is mandatory for fulfillment by federal agencies
of executive power, agencies of executive power of subjects of the
Russian Federation, enterprises, institutions and organizations
regardless of their organizational-legal form, officials and citizens
of the Russian Federation who have assumed the responsibility or
are responsible by virtue of their official status for fulfilling
the requirements of Russian Federation legislation on state secrets.
2. Transfer of information to other states is understood to
mean the provision to a foreign state (state authorized representative)
by some method (presenting, sending, familiarization, provision
of access) of the aforementioned information.
3. Transfer of information in each individual case is performed
at the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation in the
presence of an expert conclusion of the Interdepartmental Commission
on Protection of State Secrets (henceforth referred to as Interdepartmental
Commission) regarding the possibility of transfer of said information.
4. Obligations of the recipient party for protecting the information
transferred to it are specified in the international treaty concluded
with it,* sections (articles, points) of which must contain:
- Correlation of degrees of secrecy of transferred
information in the Russian Federation and in the foreign state;
- List of competent agencies authorized to perform
acceptance (transfer) of information and having responsibility for
its protection;
- Procedure of information transfer;
- Requirements for application and processing of transferred
information;
- Obligations on non-dissemination of transferred
information to third parties, or its protection in accordance with
the domestic legislation of the accepting party;
- Procedure for resolving conflict situations and
compensation of possible loss.
5. Agencies of executive power, agencies of executive power
of subjects of the Russian Federation, enterprises, institutions
and organizations who are interested in the transfer of information
forward to the heads of the agencies of state power authorized to
dispose of the information a motivated request, which includes:
- The purpose of the transfer;
- List of information planned for transfer, its degree
of secrecy, by whom and on what grounds it was classified (relegated
to state secrecy);
- List of competent agencies authorized by the recipient
party to receive the information;
- Justification of the need and expediency for transfer
of information; Evaluation of consequences of such transfer for
provision of political and economic interests of the Russian Federation;
- Presumed procedure for compensating loss in case
of failure by recipient party to fulfill its assumed responsibilities.
The agency of state power which has received a motivated request
studies the possibility of transfer of the requested information,
and informs the petitioner of its decision within a month"s
time.
6. The motivated request and decision of agencies of state
power whose managers are empowered to dispose of the information,
and likewise international agreements and other documents having
direct relation to protection of the information being considered
for transfer, are submitted by the petitioner to the Interdepartmental
Commission for preparation of an expert conclusion.
7. The expert conclusion of the Interdepartmental Commission,
which contains a conclusion as to the possibility of transfer of
the information with consideration for adherence to the interests
of the Russian Federation, is forwarded to the petitioner within
45 days from the moment of receipt of the materials specified in
point 6 of the present Statute. If it is necessary to conduct an
additional expert evaluation, the term of preparation of the expert
conclusion may be increased, and the petitioner is duly informed
of this.
8. At the request of the petitioning organization, the federal
agencies of executive power whose managers are empowered to dispose
of information and the agencies of executive power of subjects of
the Russian Federation submit the draft decision of the Government
of the Russian Federation, along with the expert conclusion of the
Interdepartmental Commission, to the Government of the Russian Federation
in accordance with the established procedure.
If no international agreement on mutual provision of security
of transferred information has been concluded with a foreign state
which is the recipient of the information, or if a previously concluded
international agreement does not fully reflect the rules specified
in point 4 of the present Statute, proposals on concluding the appropriate
international agreement or amending the existing one shall be submitted
at the time of submission of the draft decision on transfer of information
to the Government of the Russian Federation. These proposals shall
be preliminarily reviewed with the recipient party and coordinated
with the interested federal agencies of executive power.
If the country which is the recipient of the information refuses
to conclude an international agreement on mutual provision of protection
of the transferred information, the materials submitted to the Government
of the Russian Federation must contain information about the previously
assumed responsibilities and guarantees of the recipient party on
ensuring protection of the information transferred to it and
non-dissemination
of the transferred information to third parties.
9. On the basis of the decision of the Government of the Russian
Federation and in accordance with the procedures specified by international
agreement and effective normative legal statutes, the actual transfer
of information is performed.
Supplemental measures of protection of the transferred information
may be specified in the agreements or contracts concluded (signed)
by competent agencies authorized to perform the receipt (transfer)
of information.
10. Heads of federal agencies of executive power, agencies
of executive power of subjects of the Russian Federation, enterprises,
institutions and organizations authorized by the Government of the
Russian Federation to perform transfer of information to other states
bear responsibility for violation or improper fulfillment of the
present Statute, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian
Federation.
Note: *International treaty in the present Statute is understood
to mean an international agreement, regardless of its specific name,
concluded by the Russian Federation in accordance with the Federal
law, "On International Treaties of the Russian Federation."
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