Fermin Cuza, International President, was invited by the World Customs Organization to participate in the 7th Knowledge Academy for Customs and Trade, a one week intensive program focusing on the development of technical skills for customs and business leaders. The training took place at the WCO in Brussels, Belgium, from June 19-24, 2017.
This year’s program included a learning track on Compliance and Facilitation, focusing on all aspects of Customs work relating to Trade Facilitation, Data Analytics, Stakeholder Engagement, E-Commerce, Centralized Compliance, Digital Customs, Data Model, Time Release Study, SAFE and AEO, Counterfeit Medicines, Illicit Trade, Partnership in Wildlife Protection and Small Arms and Light Weapons.
Over 200 customs officers from all regions of the globe participated in the Knowledge Academy. BASC was honored to have been among the few organizations from the “private sector” invited to participate in this year’s program.
The list of Academy presenters featured more than 20 prominent speakers, including WCO experts and specialists from customs administrations from around the world, international organizations, the IT sector, and others in international trade, who shared their experiences and best practices. BASC is pleased to have been included among the list of presenters, through Fermin Cuza, International President, WBO, who served as a panelist in the session on the “AEO program and the Benefits of MRAs from the Business Perspective”. This panel was moderated by Asha Menon of the WCO and also included Carol West, Secretary General of the IFCBA, a global network of customs broker associations, and Theo Hesselink, WCO Technical Officer.
In addition to the classroom training, participants had the opportunity to visit the facilities of the maritime port of Antwerp and its impressive Customs Museum. Based on the enormous value of this Academy program, Fermin Cuza will solicit a WCO invitation for a BASC representative to be invited to next year’s Knowledge Academy program.
