NAIROBI, Kenya – For years, importers and exporters across East Africa have struggled with inconsistent customs inspection procedures, inefficiencies, and high compliance costs that significantly hindered regional trade facilitation and economic development. To address these challenges, the World Customs Organization (WCO) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have joined forces to implement the Master Training Program (MTP), designed to comprehensively enhance customs inspection capabilities across East Africa.
The program focuses on building a sustainable, self-sufficient training system by developing regional expertise in Customs Audit Practice (CAP) across five East African nations: Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Through systematic training and capacity building, the initiative aims to cultivate a cadre of customs inspection specialists while developing regionally tailored training materials.
Program Background: Addressing Regional Challenges
Despite rapid economic growth and accelerating regional integration in East Africa, customs inspection capabilities have failed to keep pace, creating a critical bottleneck for trade facilitation. Customs audits serve as a vital component of customs administration, essential for safeguarding national economic security, combating smuggling, and ensuring tax revenue collection.
The region faces multiple inspection challenges:
- Insufficient professional expertise: Lack of systematic training and practical experience leaves inspectors inadequately prepared to identify and address regulatory violations.
- Non-standardized procedures: Absence of uniform inspection standards leads to inefficiencies and potential human intervention, compromising fairness and transparency.
- Outdated inspection technology: Limited access to advanced tools and equipment hampers effectiveness against increasingly sophisticated trade environments and smuggling techniques.
- Fragmented information sharing: Weak coordination between customs administrations and other law enforcement agencies prevents effective data integration.
- High compliance costs: Cumbersome inspection processes impose significant time and resource burdens on businesses, undermining competitiveness.
Program Objectives: Building Sustainable Capacity
The MTP initiative pursues three core objectives to transform East Africa's customs inspection landscape:
- Establishing regional expertise: Developing a pool of CAP specialists capable of providing technical support across member states.
- Creating localized training materials: Producing inspection manuals tailored to East Africa's operational realities.
- Institutionalizing training mechanisms: Developing local trainer capacity to ensure sustainable knowledge transfer.
Implementation: Collaborative Capacity Building
Since September 2018, 18 customs officials from five East African countries have participated in the program's phased approach:
- Working group seminars featuring WCO, JICA, and East African Community (EAC) experts
- Collaborative development of regional training materials
- Simulated training sessions evaluated by WCO and Japanese customs professionals
- Comparative study visits to international customs administrations
- Practical case analysis and group problem-solving exercises
The program culminated in April 2021 with participants successfully conducting a four-day virtual customs audit training and receiving formal certification as Master Trainers.
Program Outcomes: Transforming Regional Capacity
The MTP has delivered measurable improvements:
- 18 certified Master Trainers now serve as regional inspection experts
- A comprehensive training curriculum addresses East Africa's specific needs
- A self-sustaining training model ensures continuous capacity development
The initiative builds upon previous MTP successes that trained approximately 90 regional experts in commodity classification, customs valuation, and intelligence analysis.
Future Directions: Strengthening Regional Integration
Program partners plan to expand cooperation through:
- Continued specialized training programs
- Enhanced technical support for inspection technologies
- Improved regional information sharing mechanisms
- Stronger international customs cooperation
- Replication of the MTP model in other developing regions
Stakeholder Perspectives
WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya: "The MTP exemplifies effective international cooperation in customs capacity building. This initiative will significantly advance trade facilitation and economic development across East Africa."
JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka: "Our partnership with WCO reflects JICA's commitment to sustainable development through institutional strengthening. These Master Trainers will drive lasting improvements in regional customs administration."
EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki: "Enhanced customs inspection capabilities directly support our regional integration agenda. We appreciate our partners' support and look forward to continued collaboration."
Private sector representatives have welcomed the initiative, anticipating reduced compliance burdens and improved trade efficiency through more professionalized customs procedures.