Report Contents
What OIG Inspected
OIG inspected the executive direction, policy and program implementation, resource management, and information management operations of Embassy Tallinn.
What OIG Recommends
OIG made 8 recommendations: 7 to Embassy Tallinn and 1 to the Bureau of Information Resource Management. In its comments on the draft report, the Department concurred with 7 recommendations and disagreed with 1 recommendation. OIG considers 7 recommendations resolved and 1 recommendation unresolved. The Department’s response to each recommendation, and OIG’s reply, can be found in the Recommendations section of this report. The Department’s formal responses are reprinted in their entirety in Appendix B.
What OIG Found
- The Chargé d’Affaires led Embassy Tallinn in a professional and collaborative manner consistent with Department of State leadership principles. He established an inclusive and supportive tone for the embassy.
- Department and other U.S. Government officials praised the embassy’s role in achieving significant foreign policy objectives, in particular Estonian support for a global minimum tax on large corporations and an increase in the Estonian defense budget.
- The embassy did not consistently document public diplomacy grants in accordance with Department standards.
- Some management controls for human resources and general services did not meet Department standards.
- The embassy lacked proper controls on mail handling and did not perform some required information systems security duties.
Report Terms
Report Recommendations
Embassy Tallinn should comply with Department standards for grant file documentation.
Embassy Tallinn, in coordination with the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations and the Bureau of Consular Affairs, should bring the Consular Section’s physical space into compliance with Department standards.
Embassy Tallinn should comply with all Department Motor Vehicle Safety Management Program standards for chauffeurs and incidental drivers under chief of mission authority.
Embassy Tallinn, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration, should review and update furniture and appliance pool assets records in the Integrated Logistics Management System, in accordance with Department standards.
Embassy Tallinn, in coordination with the Bureau of Global Talent Management, should request authorization to implement changes to its local compensation plan, in accordance with Department standards.
Embassy Tallinn, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration, should bring its mail delivery procedures into compliance with U.S. Postal Service and Department standards.
The Bureau of Information Resource Management, in coordination with Embassy Tallinn, should configure SharePoint permissions to comply with Department standards.
Embassy Tallinn should require Information Systems Security Officers to perform their duties in accordance with Department standards.