Articles under "#training and learning" category

Issue: WCO News 92 June 2020

Where there’s a way, there’s a will: how the WCO builds capacity to implement strategic trade controls

It is often said that where there is a will there’s a way, but the reverse can also be true: improving Customs administrations’ capacity to understand and implement regulations might influence their willingness to make commitments. By developing and disseminati...

When it comes to enforcing STCs, Customs is generally, although not always, the main agency involved at the border. Depending on the situation of a country, determining whether traders are compliant is a challenging task, especially for dual-use goods. As Renaud Chatelus explained in an article p...

Measuring the programme’s performance

The following data can be taken into account when trying to assess the impact of the programme:

  • Operation Cosmo 2 gathered 114 countries, which makes it the most successful WCO global o...

Issue: WCO News 100 – Issue 1 / 2023

New e-learning module on Internal Affairs

An e-learning module on Internal Affairs was released in January 2023 on CLiKC! – the learning platform developed by the WCO for Customs officers. The course was first released in English, but will be available in French, Portuguese, Arabic and Spanish by the end of March 2023.

The WCO...

Through discussions held at meetings of WCO working bodies and following integrity development assessments conducted with administrations over the years, the WCO Secretariat identified the need to provide support on this topic and develop a training curriculum on Internal Affairs-related processe...

Issue: WCO News 101 – Issue 2 / 2023

The WCO Fellowship Programme is modernizing

The Fellowship Programme will combine online and in-person activities from September 2023 onwards. Already used for several activities, the method is expected to be cost-effective and to provide Fellows with an equally rewarding experience.

As with th...

The method is to be applied to the Fellowship Programme from its 87th session for French-speaking officers, which is scheduled from 18 September to 3 November 2023. Launched in 1985, the WCO Fellowship Programme forms part of the WCO’s initiatives to enable Customs officers from deve...

Issue: WCO News 97 – Issue 1 / 2022

CLiKC! – A goldmine of learning opportunities for Customs officers

A wide range of online courses, e-learning modules, videos and webinars are made available to Customs officers via CLiKC!, the WCO learning platform. Thousands of officers have already registered on the platform. Below...

Issue: WCO News 101 – Issue 2 / 2023

A guide to developing HS skills

Classifying goods in the Harmonized System (HS) requires specific knowledge and skills, and, in some cases, a thorough understanding of the rules that govern it. While machine learning technology has enabled the development of various classification tools, these “are designed to assist clas...

To guide Customs administrations in their efforts to train their staff, the WCO Secretariat has developed the Strategic Guidance for Competency Development in the area of Tariff Classification of Goods for Customs Administrations. The guidance outlines a four-level competency development...

Issue: WCO News 97 – Issue 1 / 2022

Leveraging the gamification of learning

Gamification can be defined as the use of game principals in non-game contexts, including to deliver knowledge and know-how. For example, acquiring points and completing series of tasks or activities to advance to the next level may be used in contexts other than gaming to provide fun and stimula...

Virtual reality and gamification to enhance inspection skills

To develop the first course, the RTC worked with the WCO Secretariat. The idea was to develop it using Immersive Learning, an experiential training methodology...

Issue: WCO News 98 – Issue 2 / 2022

Evaluating the impact of training activities: overview of the WCO Secretariat’s proposal

Most Customs administrations devote a significant portion of their resources to training and competency development activities. The development and delivery of training also feature among the core activities of the WCO.[1] But h...

Figure 1 illustrates a possible WCO operating model for such training activities. It provides for an iterative process and evaluation at all stages, and is results- and impact-based. The initial step that would guide the whole process involves setting and agreeing on the beneficiary’s expectati...

Resource implications

Implementing such a framework requires resources to be allocated to the WCO Secretariat. This will involve the establishment of a Monitoring and Evaluation Unit with dedicated staff, whose responsibi...

Issue: WCO News 94 February 2021

Data Analytics course available on CLiKC!

An online data analytics training course on is now available in English and French via the WCO CLiKC! Platform in the eLearning section. Developed thanks to Korea Customs funding, the course is for Customs officials who wish to become entry-level data analysts. It is structured to  build a compr...

Issue: WCO News 102 – Issue 3 / 2023

Customs officials’ papers are published in the Borders in Globalization Review

As part of its PICARD Programme, the WCO Secretariat has established a partnership with the Borders in Globalization (BIG) research programme of the University of Victoria, Canada, enabling some of the Customs officials who have submitted academic or policy research papers to the WCO Secretariat ...

Using “nudges” to enhance compliance

Veasna Yong from the Cambodian General Department of Customs and Excise wrote an article entitled Nudging Voluntary Compliance in Border Customs. “Nudging” is persuadi...

Issue: WCO News 89

A new CLiKC! platform

The WCO Secretariat is about to launch a new version of the CLiKC! learning platform, in order to provide users with a comprehensive picture of the Organization’s training material and opportunities available to its Members.

This initiative follows the endorsement by the WCO Capacity Bui...

To support this shift in the way training is delivered, the new CLiKC! platform will enable its users to:

  • view all the training opportunities offered by the WCO Secretariat, such as the “course catalogue,” which includes e-learning courses, global and regional workshops, and othe...

Issue: WCO News 99- Issue 3 / 2022

New e-learning course on AEO validation available to Customs and trade professionals

To help meet the growing demand from Customs administrations for support in developing Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programmes and, more specifically, in setting up an AEO validation procedure, the WCO Secretariat has devised a new e-learning course which is available to Customs on the WCO ...

The e-learning course is expected to be of significant benefit to administrations that are currently embarking on AEO programme implementation or wishing to ensure that their validation procedures are aligned with recommended practices, as this will facilitate the negotiation of Mutual Recognitio...

Issue: WCO News 101 – Issue 2 / 2023

CLiKC! – new courses and new design

New e-learning modules are available to Customs officers via CLiKC!, the WCO learning platform. Since April 2023, the platform also features a brand-new design that is both modern and intuitive, and an improved search function which allows users t...

The latest courses are:

  • Internal Affairs New (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic)
  • Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Validation New (English, French)
  • Role o...

Issue: WCO News 101 – Issue 2 / 2023

WCO Academy – the private sector’s point of access to WCO expertise

The WCO Academy was launched in May 2018 to provide representatives from the private sector and academia with access to WCO distance learning courses. The aim is to disseminate knowledge related to WCO standards, tools and instruments to a wide audience, t...

In 2022, the WCO Academy platform was redesigned and the purchasing options modified.

Learners can now choose between:

  • taking a standalone module – this is the ideal option for those who only want to access specific content and who do not wish to complete a full course;<...

Issue: WCO News 92 June 2020

Japan Customs conducts online induction training for new recruits

As more countries imposed restrictions on movements and gatherings to fight the spread of COVID-19, online training that might have been a useful tool before, suddenly became a necessity. In this article, Japan Customs explains how it quickly adapted to the situati...

The Japan Customs Training Institute (CTI) provides various kinds of training programmes, which are designed according to officers’ skills and career paths. Among these various training programmes, the one developed for newly recruited officers is of particular importance. It is indeed imperati...

Issue: WCO News 105 – Issue 3 / 2024

Revisiting training in search of vehicle: how partnership and purpose pave the road to innovation in Ireland

Change comes in many forms but it is invariably brought about by two main factors. The first occurs when there is a desire for it, whether by a group or an individual. The second type is born of necessity, when circumstances dictate that there is no other option. Occasionally both impetuses arriv...

Gold standard

The foundation, as seen by Morrissey and Codd, would be built upon meeting the highest standards of EU and WCO training, while delivering to a precise, ambitious set of business needs. With discussions heightening around the development of their own purpose-...

But it wasn’t just the technical training that made the trip so successful. Surrounded by colleagues of other Customs agencies from around Europe, the participants traded knowledge and experiences, as everyone brought something to the table. The trip also served another significant purpose, as ...

Issue: WCO News 100 – Issue 1 / 2023

Providing diversified learning: some innovative practices of China Customs

In March 2018, the Chinese government decided to integrate China’s entry-exit inspection and quarantine duties and workforce in 306 ports nationwide into China Customs. The former entry-exit inspection and quarantine officers then commenced working as Customs officers. This marked the birth of ...

All staff also undertook physical and team training based on military-style models. This included physical fitness training and behavioural training focusing on the importance of obedience to rules, teamwork and discipline. Senior officials also actively participated in this team training, which ...

Creating knowledge

A first-class academic institution cannot content itself with spreading knowledge through its programmes and teachings. It must go further by producing original and pertinent findings through research a...

Issue: WCO News 100 – Issue 1 / 2023

Knowledge transfer: Serbia Customs shares its experience

The Serbia Customs Modernization Plan covering 2019 to 2023 recognized that the success of its implementation relies heavily on having qualified and professional Customs officials. It therefore provided for the development of a Human Resource Strategy to manage its human capital in a way that ali...

Demographics

Issue: WCO News 100 – Issue 1 / 2023

Knowledge management: interesting practices from brokers

Customs brokers and Customs administrations share many challenges when it comes to collecting and sharing knowledge. This article introduces some of the practices used in this domain by brokers based in Lithuania.

About entry level requirements

Brokers navigate through the complexity of international trade thanks to information systems, but there is a limit to what the systems can d...

Issue: WCO News 101 – Issue 2 / 2023

A Borders Academy in Niger

The French and Nigerien authorities have been working on setting up a region-specific national training centre on coordinated border management. Its purpose is to train the internal security services of the countries of West Africa that have seen security in their ...

The Sahelian border areas, where trade is the main economic resource, were subject to 65% of the violent incidents in 2022. These areas have become sources of financial revenue and influence, for which the armed groups are jostling with the states. In the past, there was little investment in thes...

A region-specific national training centre in Niger

Niger has a 5,690-kilometre-long border with seven countries: Algeria and Libya to...

Issue: WCO News 105 – Issue 3 / 2024

A Borders Academy for Benin

For more than 10 years, counter-terrorism units have been witnessing the establishment of caliphates by jihadist groups in the Sahel. Although the activities of militant Islamist groups were initially focused on Mali, they have gradually shifted towards the west and south of Burkina Faso and spr...

Groups of traffickers organized into networks have taken advantage of the situation to step up their illicit activities (trafficking in arms, drugs and human beings etc.) in the border areas of the region and of Benin.

Issue: WCO News 77

Strengthening export control capacity in the EU through a simulation exercise

Several European Union (EU) Member States recently participated in a simulation exercise aimed at analysing practices related to the implementation of the EU Dual-Use Export Control Regulation and identifying related challenges. The simulation gathered both Customs...

Outcomes and recommendations

The purpose of SimEX 2015 was not to teach that a particular way of implementing export control would be better than another. All participants in the preparation/master team and in the playing...

Issue: WCO News 100 – Issue 1 / 2023

Some guidance to Customs and trade practitioners on how to deal with the hugely complex, demanding and risky field of Customs knowledge

 This article argues that a formal plan for building and managing Customs knowledge is necessary for a Customs brokerage to operate effectively. The components of such a plan are discussed, as well as the determinants that may affect the choices made. The discussi...

What is a Customs broker?

The most basic function of the Customs broker is to complete and lodge Customs declarations and other documentation. Associated with this is the ability to advise the client on the requirements f...

Further, the avowed wish of Customs authorities to move compliance activity further from the border-crossing and to rely more heavily on risk-rating, post-clearance checks, audits and system checks, makes it dangerous to regard successful clearance as the end of the process. Errors that could be ...

Issue: WCO News 96 October 2021

Brand new facility for the training of Customs officials in Morocco

Knowing that strengthening human capital is one of the key factors that determine performance, Moroccan Customs made this one of the five objectives of its 2017-2021 Strategic Plan. In September 2019, as part of this Plan, a Customs Training Institute came into bei...

Training is also offered for what are known as support positions within the Administration, such as human resource management and budget management. In addition to this, there is specific training known as “succession training”, which is intended for a pool of Customs officials selected for t...

Issue: WCO News 91 February 2020

Shanghai Customs College opens to the world

Shanghai Customs College (SCC) was founded in 1953 to provide training in Customs technique and management to the staff of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China. In March 2007, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, the SCC became an institution of...

Meeting international standards

Many universities around the world have now launched educational programmes that focus specifically on Customs issues and how they link to the international trade landscape. To ensure that ...

Issue: WCO News 105 – Issue 3 / 2024

Mongolian Customs reforms its post-clearance audit process

Over the past two years, the Mongolian Customs General Administration (MCGA) has embarked on an ambitious journey to reform its post-clearance audit (PCA) process with the support of the WCO. This article explains how the reform has taken shape and what has been ac...

In 1996, the Mongolian Customs General Administration (MCGA) established a PCA department, making PCA an essential part of its Customs declaration control process. As foreign trade turnover increased significantly over the decades that followed, the Administration reformulated its strategic goals...

Examining procedures and regulations

Based on the work plan, the MCGA created a working group to draft proposals for amendments to the Mongolian Customs Law. Together with all Customs staff involved in the legal reform, ...

Issue: WCO News 78

Educating the next generation of Customs professionals

Are there ways to improve compliance, safety, security, operational efficiency and information quality in international trade? Reduce the administrative burden for business and government? Foster the uniform application of Customs legislation? Encourage mutual unde...

Issue: WCO News 102 – Issue 3 / 2023

Diary of a WCO Professional Associate

Dreams are for real

For Customs officers across the globe, working for the WCO Secretariat is a prestigious opportunity not to let slip. I’m no different. So when the chance came knocking to ply my trade via the Career ...

Embracing opportunities

My first major task was to help organize the Global Information and Intelligence Strategy Working Group meeting. My role was not confined to making preparations for the meeting. I was to deliver a ...

Issue: WCO News 78

Violent extremism, borders and action by Customs teams

People, goods and capital involved in preparing and perpetrating terrorist acts generally, cross borders and transit between different countries. The border is therefore the ideal place for thwarting the preparation of violent acts in advance, and for intercepting individuals linked to a terroris...

Issue: WCO News 93 October 2020

Training in the time of COVID-19: Ukraine’s experience

Ukraine declared itself an independent country on 24 August 1991 and, shortly afterwards, established its own Customs Service. As it is the case for any new organization, the challenge was to find highly qualified specialists and focus was consequently placed on the training of newly recruited of...

 

The Department also selects and trains dogs and dog handler teams, manages the logistics and infrastructure of the Dog Training Centre (kennels, vehicles and training tools used), ensures participation by Ukrainian dog handler teams in special events, and cooperates with other agenc...

Issue: WCO News 96 October 2021

The challenges of X-ray image analysis and the value of training

The implementation of X-ray machines to support security screening was introduced approximately 50 years ago to accelerate the process of baggage inspection. Equipment was then developed to enable the non-intrusive inspection of vehicles, containers and trains.

Today’s X-ray systems pro...

When an object is X-rayed, some of the X-rays are absorbed by the object, whereas other X-rays pass straight through it. It is therefore the density and thickness of the materials that affect how easily X-rays pass through objects. The lower the density of a material, the more transparent the mat...

Issue: WCO News 101 – Issue 2 / 2023

An overview of Zimbabwe Customs’ journey

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) Strategy for 2021 to 2025 has people as one of its key pillars, demonstrating the Administration’s commitment to investing in staff development. Leadership is one of the topics for which competency building has been sought. ...

In addition to these aspects, during the six-month training period participants also worked on actual projects, in teams of three, to enable them to put into practice the methods and concepts they had learned. On 10 March 2022, a graduation ceremony was organized to recognize their commitment and...

Issue: WCO News 105 – Issue 3 / 2024

Customs should consider their training needs when integrating NII systems

Customs organizations considering centralizing the analysis of data generated by non-intrusive inspection equipment should also consider their training needs and include a remote training platform in their integration architecture. The benefits will more than offse...

Integration has also found application with regard to security systems, such as real-time monitoring devices, sensors and non-intrusive inspection equipment. Such technologies range from CCTV, to systems enabling licence plate recognition for vehicles, optical character recognition, radiation det...