The Daily Update spoke to DHL customs compliance senior specialist James Boam about his experience studying with the UK Customs Academy (UKCA), which provides a suite of online qualifications delivered by the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade in partnership with Maersk and the Centre for Customs & Excise Studies.
Ahead of a virtual open day exploring the qualifications on Tuesday (23 September), Boam told us that completing his Level 5 Diploma in Advanced Customs Compliance provided him with the customs context he needed to support a wide range of clients exporting from and importing goods into the UK. It also helped him to progress his own career in customs.
Core skills
As he’s advanced in his career, Boam says that his role has become increasingly compliance-oriented, including evaluating customs declarations submitted, analysing regulatory changes to ensure processes are up to date and troubleshooting day-to-day challenges raised by clients.
That’s where the UKCA diploma came in, he says.
“There are two sections on classification and the makeup of customs valuation.
“So those are two big areas that we look at on my team, just to make sure that we're classifying things correctly, using the right description, but also that we're using the right values, so the right revenues being calculated.”
Breadth and depth
In-depth knowledge across these customs competencies is especially valuable when operating as a customs intermediary and working with clients from different sectors, submitting documents for a variety of goods.
“We've got our own business model, we can be quite insulated in some respects.
“I think it gives you that understanding of the wider industry; more perspective… and more empathetic to customers.”
Taking classification as an example, he explains “we don't classify goods ourselves, we rely on our customers to do it”.
“They know their products, we map the declaration based on their instructions, but it's good to have that understanding of classification – if we see something and think that might not be quite right, we've got the ability to say: ‘Are you sure this is correct?’”
‘Brilliant’ elearning
The online format of the qualification was also appreciated, coming as it did during the pandemic, and enabling Boam to learn flexibly from home.
“The elearning was brilliant. You can do it in your own time. You can access the information whenever you want.”
Combined with the practical “real-world application” of the content, this flexibility made the course ideal for addressing everyday customs queries.
Boam says that “if a question pops up and it’s covered in the curriculum” you have “instant access” to review the relevant material and sense-check your decision making.
Career progression
Considering what the qualification means for his career, Boam says that completing the Level 5 course carries a certain cache in the sector.
“Customers see it, or people within your own company see it, and there’s more trust when you've got that credential,” he says.
“There's an understanding that you've gone through the courses and you know what you're talking about… it makes things easier when explaining things to people and getting them to understand.”
He adds that the qualification also offers a framework through which to view career progression, saying that it’s “certainly put me in a position where I'm absolutely able to look at the next step, the next level, and even the level beyond that”.
UKCA Virtual Open Day
You can hear more about UKCA next week at the Chartered Institute’s UK Customs Academy Virtual Open Day, 2-3.30pm 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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