The WCO supports a Regional AEO Validation Train the Trainers for enhanced AEO compatibility in the SACU region

The WCO's Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme, funded by the United Kingdom's His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), co-facilitated a Regional AEO Validation Train-the-Trainers training in partnership with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS), from 19 to 23 August 2024. The target audience for this training consisted of AEO Validators from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia. The AEO Validation training took place in follow-up to a workshop organized in April 2024 to strengthen the SACU partner countries' vision towards mutual recognition of AEOs in the region advised as part of the broader trade facilitation partnership with respective partner countries of the Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme.

The AEO Programme is a testament of trust, collaboration, and partnership between Customs and the Private Sector. This was vividly demonstrated during the on-the-job training, where the two SARS clients that were seeking AEO validation generously opened their doors, systems and procedures to the validators of the SACU region. In addition to imparting technical skills in AEO validation, a key objective of this training was to ensure that the SACU region develops Validation Techniques and tools that are standardized and compatible with each other, as per the SACU AEO Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) signed in May 2023.

A WCO expert from the US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) shared practical validation methods to ensure improved security of the international supply chain. This included methods to mitigate cybersecurity concerns, and cargo and conveyance security, providing the participants with valuable insights and tools.

Looking ahead, the SACU region intends to expand its programme to other economic operators such as Customs Brokers, Forwarding Agents, Warehousing Operators, Transporters as well as the stakeholders within the e-commerce industry. Moreover, in the spirit of sustainable knowledge management, the participants of this validation training will prepare capacity building plans to other AEO validators within the SACU region.

Expressing enthusiasm for the newly obtained skills, one of the participants shared: "When I return to my Administration, I will be unrecognizable as the leader of change in AEO Validation. I have observed how a compliance strategy can assist a Customs Administration in handling clients that want to comply versus those who do not want to comply, and this is a methodology my team and I will be using going forward."

In his closing remarks, Mr Maropeng Sebothoma, Head of the SARS Academy Technical Division, thanked the WCO's Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme and the SACU Secretariat for their role in developing critical and practical skills of AEO Validation, given that the Programme is a valuable approach to manage the risk of Non-Compliance and improve Supply Chain Security within the SACU Region.

The WCO Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme looks forward to its continued partnership with Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa for sustainable trade facilitation reforms and inclusive economic prosperity.

For more information on the Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme, please see here.

For more information on WCO capacity building, please contact [email protected] .