As part of the DFID-funded project to modernise Sierra Leone's National Revenue Authority (NRA), Crown Agents has been supporting the transfer of licensing of Clearing and Forwarding Agents from the Ministry of Transport and Aviation to the NRA with a series of training events.
This kicked off with a number of presentations to 250 
Customs Brokers and Customs officers which resulted in a clear understanding of the areas where knowledge of import and export procedures could be improved - these included Customs Valuation, Classification of Imported Goods, INCO-terms and the rules of Origin of goods.
Working in partnership with the Customs & Excise Department (CED) and the Association of Clearing and Forwarding Agents (ACFA) we organised a training programme to cover the subjects in question. To facilitate this and to ensure that the training is sustainable we conducted a Train the Trainer event for 14 students and helped them to develop the material for three training courses on the Principles of Customs Valuation and Classification which they went on to deliver to 54 staff from both the CED and ACFA.
These trainers are now planning future events to 
cascade the learning to other brokers and Customs officials throughout Sierra Leone. Early indications are that the quality of declarations presented to Customs has improved in these areas whilst the confidence of customs staff to deal with the two complicated areas of Valuation and Classification has increased.