Future of customs professionals

Professor Albert Veenstra (Rotterdam School of Management) looks at how the customs profession needs to change, arguing that tomorrow's customs professionals cannot succeed without a much deeper grasp of supply chains and logistics than the classic training curriculum currently provides.

Topics covered:

• Gaps in current customs education against the EU competency framework, and why data management, stress management and peer knowledge-exchange are under-taught compared with classic topics like tariff classification, valuation, origin and VAT
• The likely automation of standardised customs-declarant work and its effect on the professional's future role
• The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR): geolocation data requirements and restrictions on commingling certified shipments (e.g. palm oil)
• Why compliance with EU sanctions packages against Russia requires supply-chain and commercial-chain knowledge, illustrated by a case study on a French airline spare-parts supplier
• The ongoing EU customs reform: the planned EU Customs Data Hub and its "360-degree overview" ambition, and the new "Trust and Check" trader status beyond AEO
• Why customs professionals and compliance staff will increasingly need supply-chain and logistics expertise, not just legal/technical customs knowledge

For a broader overview of the topic, please watch the full recording. The slides are available in the Resources section.

Please note that this summary was generated using AI, based on the recording and available slides.