Adriana Santos’ schedule is hectic, to say the least. Abroad up to a dozen times a year, Tracklements’ head of international works hard to balance client visits worldwide with customs oversight at the company’s Wiltshire-based HQ.
Given the company’s success selling a range of over 50 artisan condiments to over 20 markets globally, it’s no small feat.
Santos explains how completing a qualification with the UK Customs Academy (UKCA) – whose suite of online qualifications is delivered by the Chartered Institute in partnership with Maersk and the Centre for Customs & Excise Studies – was the perfect way to enhance her customs knowledge within a demanding role.
Compliance safeguard
Although Tracklements use a third party to complete their customs declarations, Santos reviews declarations before goods are moved, making her the firm’s last line of defence on customs compliance.
In light of this responsibility, she says that taking the Level 3 Certificate in Customs Compliance qualification was invaluable, enabling her to “confidently review customs declarations completed on our behalf”.
“As we do not complete customs declarations ourselves, the course gave me the knowledge to better understand how customs declarations work”
Flexibility
In the context of frequent international travel, Santos says she appreciates that the UKCA course gave her “the flexibility to learn at my own pace, especially considering that I work full time and spend a lot of time abroad”.
She adds that it was also easy to “follow your progress” online and track your achievements on each course assessment. This helped with organising her time and monitoring her progress towards a pass mark.
Grappling with complexity
In addition to the practical skills she’s gained to review declarations, Santos says that the course has given her “a better understanding of other related customs aspects such as regulations, rules of origin and valuation”.
This is especially valuable amid recent seismic changes within international trade, as new UK trade deals and a raft of US tariffs change the global trade landscape for British firms.
Santos says that, given the “complexities” of customs compliance, “knowledge is power”.
“The more any professional working in international trade knows about customs, the more beneficial it will be to their business when navigating the complexities of the industry.”
She adds that regardless of your skill level when embarking on a qualification, “whether you have basic or in-depth knowledge”, taking a UKCA course “will benefit your business in the long term”.
You can hear more about UKCA from Adriana next month, when she speaks at the Chartered Institute’s UK Customs Academy Virtual Open Day at 2pm – 3.30pm on 23 September. Join the event, hosted on Microsoft Teams, to:
· Discover the qualifications
Understand the customs career pathways available to you or your team - from beginner to advanced
· Speak to learners
Hear from alumni and our current cohort of learners, with a chance to ask all your burning questions
· Experience elearning
Grasp the benefits of remote, self-paced online study, with a demo of our elearning platform
Secure your spot now. to learn more about the academy and its qualifications.
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