Under the auspices of WCO/JICA Joint Project, which was launched in July 2016 to support trade facilitation in Africa, a workshop on the Harmonized System (HS) for Master Trainers of East Africa was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 7 to 11 November 2016. Those Master Trainers are Customs officials and have been actively contributing to the capacity development of both Customs and Customs brokers in East Africa.

Twenty-three (23) officials from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda participated in this workshop and developed case studies which reflected the classification challenges faced by both Customs officers and trade communities in East Africa. With the inputs and advice from the experts from both WCO and Japan Customs, participants had intensive discussions on the practical cases submitted by their respective administrations and made outstanding progress for their improvement. The development of case studies is expected to be completed at the next workshop planned in 2017. Once completed, they will be used as training materials for Customs officials as well as Customs brokers and thereby contribute to the regional capacity development on classification.

Considering the important roles that Master Trainers are playing in the Customs administrations in East Africa, the WCO introduced in details the scope of HS 2017 amendments with a view to ensuring its uniform interpretation and smooth application. The WCO expert also introduced the materials developed under the WCO Revenue Package to respond to the Members’ needs in respect of fair, efficient and effective revenue collection. Japan Customs shared their experience on the preparatory work for HS 2017 amendments that includes, but is not limited to, revision of domestic laws and regulations, and awareness raising to front line officers and trade communities.

Throughout this workshop, all participants made excellent contributions to improve the case studies and at the same time they deepened their understanding of the WCO tools and instruments relating to classification. At the end of the workshop, the participants agreed to continue their efforts to further review the case studies with a view to finalize them at the next workshop in 2017. The WCO/JICA Joint Project is committed to support these continuous efforts of Customs administrations in East Africa to ensure sustainable capacity development.