We are honoured to partner with the WCO ESA Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) in supporting the east and southern Africa region to build capacity for Customs at a national level.” TMSA* supports the ROCB in four areas:

• acceding to and implementing provisions of the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC);
• training of trainers programme with a focus on Risk Management and Post Clearance Audit;
• strengthening blended learning through development of a regional e-learning platform; and
• supporting research capacity and sharing of best practices amongst Revenue Authorities in east and southern Africa.

Revenue Authorities are key institutions mandated to implement trade agreements and thus play a central role in the movement of cargo from one country to the other. This places great responsibility on Customs to implement solutions that address modern day challenges. Capacity building in the four focal areas selected by ROCB will go a long way to support improved and more efficient trade facilitation in east and southern Africa.

Through this newsletter, stakeholders will be informed of progress made by Revenue Authorities in implementing various customs and trade facilitation initiatives that contributes to the regional and global trade agenda. The newsletter is also a platform for sharing experiences and relevant information that contribute to effective and efficient administration of cargo movement in East and Southern Africa. I look forward to tangible deliverables from the TMSA/WCO ESA collaboration! Mark Pearson, Programme Director TMSA