Under the framework of the Mercator Programme, the WCO successfully delivered a workshop to pilot its newly developed advanced Post Clearance Audit (PCA) Training Package at the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA).  The workshop, which was held in Lusaka from 9 to 13 September 2019, benefitted 13 Customs officers from various units of the ZRA including PCA, Risk Management, Customs Accreditation Client Programme (CACP), Learning and Development units.

This advanced PCA Training Package provides a hands-on tool addressing the prerequisites of effective PCA implementation, in order to move away from controls at the border to a later stage, in line with Article 7.5 of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA). This Package has been developed under the HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD Programme funded by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) via Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of the United Kingdom, under the auspices of the WCO Mercator Programme, to specifically meet the needs of Mercator beneficiary countries.

The five-day workshop provided an opportunity for participants to enhance their professional and operational competencies through using practical tools and techniques to effectively conduct systems-based audits, within the context of a facilitative, Customs-to-business partnership.  Thanks to the feedback from participants on the workshop, the WCO will be able to further enhance the training material. The participants commended the WCO for developing this training package which effectively enhances auditor’s skills and confidence in conducting onsite systems-based audits. The WCO will continue to enhance this PCA Training package to ensure effective implementation of the WTO TFA.