Commerce's OEE Adding Agents, Increasing Investigations in New England Field Offices

The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security's New England field offices are adding agents and increasing prosecutions and investigations, according to William Higgins, a special agent in charge of BIS’s Office of Export Enforcement. Higgins said the changes are particularly reflected in the OEE’s Boston office, which plans to increase staff to 14 agents before 2020. “There has been a sea change in the last few years, especially in the Boston area,” Higgins said, speaking during a Dec. 13 event hosted by the Massachusetts Export Center. “We’re increasing the amount of agents we have significantly.”

While Boston is a focus, Higgins said OEE is increasing activity across the country and throughout New England. “The U.S. attorney's office in New Hampshire thinks we've taken over New Hampshire,” Higgins said. “And he might be right.” The OEE is a “growing agency,” he said, adding that Commerce is placing more OEE agents in Federal Bureau of Investigation and Defense Criminal Investigative Service offices “around the country” to provide export insight within their investigations.

The growth has allowed OEE agents to cover more ground, particularly in Boston, Higgins said, where he said the OEE office emphasizes industry outreach. The Boston office was responsible for 800 of the 7,000 company visitations Commerce agents conducted in 2019, Higgins said. About 80 percent of the Boston office's export investigations are triggered by tips from industry outreach, he said. “I want our agents going to ... companies out there and saying, ‘hey, if you get something, here's a business card, I want you to call me up,’” Higgins said. “We’re broadening our footprint.”