Saaff prepares new course material to meet globally recognised requirements

“The South African Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) is currently working on training material appropriate to the content of the two nationally recognised Freight Forwarding and Customs Compliance qualifications (National Qualification registration numbers 59365 and 59298) which will form the platform for the award of the internationally recognised Fiata Diploma from 2009,” says Tony d’Almeida, who heads up Saaff’s Education and Training function. The content is being updated with participating training providers, interested Saaff member companies and the Saaff Training Junket to facilitate the writing of the new course material. “Our member companies are at the cutting edge and require contemporary content dealing with clients’ requirements and needs,” d’Almeida explains. One of the aspects that will be covered in future Saaff Junket workshops, for instance, is the upcoming Authorised Economic Operator standards which revolve around freight security. “As forwarding and clearing agents or expediters we need to know from whom we are picking up freight, the ‘known shipper’ concept. Directorgeneral Pravin Gordan and Sars will be setting the standards and staff must be trained on how to implement these standards as agents will be taking full responsibility for the safety of freight. “The workshops will have to develop unit standards in conjunction with Saqa (SA Qualification Authority) in order to allow formal nationally recognised training in line with our Seta (Sector Education and Training Authority) quality assurance processes. We are also addressing the training that needs to be undertaken by agents to comply with Part 108 of the civil aviation regulations, which are due to be promulgated early next year,” says d’Almeida. It is also part of Saaff’s remit to identify and address both critical and scarce skills within the industry. “Saaff therefore plays a strategic role in the forwarding and clearing chamber of the Transport Education Training Authority (Teta),” says d’Almeida. “As one of the stakeholders, Saaff identifies what the priorities are and assists in directing certain funding incentives to participating companies who will enrol learners for training in those particular areas.”