The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training program for freight forwarders will be launched on 25th February this year in Uganda where it is being piloted.
Announcing this date, Mr. Asadu Kigozi, Assistant Commissioner Field Services, at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), said that the industry has undergone significant transformations, hence the need to continuously equip customs agents with the emerging trends especially in world of technology.
“Once these people have knowledge and skills, we will have faster clearance of goods, both imports and exports,” Kigozi, who is also a trainer and a member of the National Curriculum Implementation Committee (NCIC) in Uganda said.
The Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) partnered with TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) to develop the CPD programme in the East Africa.
In the recent months, a regional CPD policy framework, implementation guidelines and tools were developed and adopted by the Curriculum Implementation Committee (CIC) in East Africa.
Uganda and Rwanda were selected to pilot the program under the framework of the National Curriculum Implementation Committees (NCICs). Their experiences are expected to inform rollout of the program in other countries in the region.
In September 2019, TMEA did a baseline survey to provide data on the impact of East Africa Customs and Freight Forwarding Certificate (EACFFPC) training. As part of the preparations for curriculum review, a training needs assessment (TNA) was conducted, and a number of key areas identified for CPD program. They were categorized in terms of priorities in terms of
The new training curriculum will ensure that EACFFPC graduates are kept technically and professionally updated. The CPD will test three major components; technical competencies, emerging issues and matters on leadership and personal development.
Since 2007 when the EACFFPC training programme was started, over 6000 customs agents and freight forwarders have qualified from the program in the region.
TMEA has been supporting the implementation of this programme since 2011 to equip agents with desirable competencies in the discharge of their functions in order to enhance compliance, professionalism and facilitate trade.
The TNA survey also assessed the appropriateness of the EACFFPC in addressing the needs and requirements of modern-day customs agents, freight forwarders and warehousing operations from the perspective of the employers, customers and principals.
Other areas of focus were on bench marking the curriculum in its current form with other professional training and capacity building initiatives in other regions.
