The University of Mьnster recently awarded 22 graduates of the Master of Customs Administration, Policy and Law” their degree certificates at a ceremony in Pretoria. The course is offered in collaboration with the German ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development as well as the GIZ (Society for International Cooperation). The target group are officials from Ministries and customs administrations in southern, western and central Africa. Since the course started in 2005 more than 150 customs professionals have successfully graduated as holders of the MCA degree.
The Master’s course deals with a number of customs subjects and leadership strategies relating to economic and international economic integration. In particular, the course focuses on the practical implementation of theoretical knowledge within the customs administrations of home countries. This issue is dealt with by a four-day follow-up seminar on the subject of “Transfer Projects” which takes place after the Master’s course. As part of their studies in Mьnster, the 22 graduates worked on practical projects to improve their customs administration together with implementation strategies under the guidance of customs experts. The transfer projects included the improvement of risk management, strategies on how to adapt to market liberalisation by means of customs and free trade zones and trade facilitation measures. The seminar in Pretoria was held under the auspices of Dr. Frank Altemцller (the University of Mьnster) and Michael Lux (European Commission, DG TAXUD). Graduates discussed how they had implemented their projects in close collaboration with their home customs administrations.
An additional subject of the seminar was “Regional Integration in Africa and the Role of Customs”. This saw the graduates developing strategies directed towards the practical implementation of overarching concepts in SADC, EAC ECOWAS. In particular, discussions centred on how individual countries could help promote and take ownership of economic regional integration. The speakers included Ms. Elsie Pule (Chief Officer Human Resources) from the South African Revenue Service and Rae Cruikshank (Group Executive Customs Operations). They drew attention to the need to modernise customs administrations and provided an overview of the various aspects of the tripartite fusion between the economic zones of southern, eastern and central Africa. Additional expertise was provided by various MCA alumni, who had already worked in the SADC, SACU and EAC secretariats. An important message from this informative seminar was that the graduates should develop solutions that reflect local conditions, thereby ensuring that the regional and international fora of negotiations are represented more effectively.
The University of Mьnster is a member of the International Network of Customs Universities. The Master of Customs Administration has been accredited under the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) and is recognised by the World Customs Organisation.
Contact address:
University of Munster
Institute of Tax Law
Department of Customs and Excise,
Universitдtsstrasse 14 – 16
D-48143 Mьnster
Germany
0049 (0) 251 83 27591
customs@uni-muenster.de