Certificate in Customs and Trade

Content overview

The content focuses on the skills and knowledge required to meet the legal and regulatory requirements of international trade, specifically trade between Northern Ireland, Great Britain, and Ireland/EU post-Brexit. It will equip you to develop your career or business in international trade, preparing you to give advice, to perform agency functions, or to engage with customs authorities and the customs process on your own behalf or for clients.

• Offer customs advice.
• Support applicants for customs authorisations and permissions.
• Develop plans and strategies for businesses facing Brexit-related challenges.

Who takes the Certificate?

The Certificate in Customs and Trade is suitable for:

• Professional accountants wishing to add customs advice and/or agency to their range of services. Members of Chartered Accountants Ireland undertaking this certificate may refer to themselves as a Customs Advisor upon successful completion.
• Businesses involved in trading activities that need evidence of formal customs training. Business owners and managers who need to plan and manage post-Brexit trade will obtain the knowledge they need on this course.

The Certificate is designed in the context of the EU Customs Competency Framework for the Private Sector – the most comprehensive international description of the skills required for operators in customs. This course addresses the ‘Operational’ competencies and will enable suitably qualified/experienced professionals to claim an overall proficiency level in customs.

Why should you study this programme?

New rules of international trade and customs entered force on 1 January 2021 between Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain. Businesses are critically short of expertise to manage this unprecedented change. Long-established trading relationships will need to be renegotiated, the cost of trade will inevitably rise (estimates indicate at least 5%) and supply chains will have to be critically reappraised.

In practice, there are few businesses that will not be affected, directly or indirectly, and all will need advice from professionals familiar with the complex new rules and procedures.