Brendan C. O’Hearn Deputy DirectorWCO

Mr. O’Hearn serves as the Deputy Director of the Compliance and Facilitation Directorate in charge of the Procedures and Facilitation Sub-Directorate at the World Customs Organization (WCO) where he directs the development, implementation and maintenance of international treaties, conventions, standards, guidelines and other trade facilitation and Customs procedure tools. He oversees a large staff and the preparation and execution of more than 20 Member driven committees, sub-committees and working groups, which includes the preparation of meeting agendas, documents and reports. Mr. O’Hearn also provides counsel to the Director, Deputy Secretary General and Secretary General on matters relating to the Sub-Directorate.

From July 2013 to November 2019, Mr. O’Hearn served as both the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Attaché and Department of Homeland Security Attaché in Tokyo, Japan. In these positions, he managed a broad range Homeland Security, Customs and Immigration issues. He was also responsible for providing advice and counsel to U.S. Ambassadors to Japan Caroline Kennedy and William Hagerty, as well as numerous Japanese lawmakers, on Homeland Security issues.

Mr. O’Hearn started his public service career with the U.S. Customs Service in 1995 as an Import Specialist at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. He graduated from the School of International Studies at the University of the Pacific in California, did graduate work in Education at Dowling College in New York and is a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Massachusetts.