Scalable learning for Customs officers & the private sector
The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an independent intergovernmental organization dedicated to enhancing Customs administration efficiency and effectiveness.
Representing 186 Customs administrations and handling approximately 98% of global trade, WCO sets international standards, fosters cooperation and builds capacity to facilitate legitimate trade, to secure a fair revenue collection and to protect society. WCO is providing leadership, guidance and capacity building support to Customs administrations.
The challenge
WCO faced the complex task of addressing two interconnected learning demands: (1) delivering high-quality online training to Customs officials from its Member administrations free of charge via the Customs Learning and Knowledge Community platform (CLiKC!), (2) while simultaneously selling online training to the private sector and academia.
The challenge was to achieve both within a streamlined learning environment while ensuring that security-sensitive enforcement-related courses remained exclusively accessible to Customs officers. A shared backend for both learning audiences was key, as it allowed WCO to lower administrative workload while maintaining the necessary security standards. The platform needed to differentiate access rights between Members and external users, ensuring that restricted enforcement-related content was never publicly available while still offering a seamless learning experience.
Enhancing training for WCO Members
For WCO Members, the goal was to develop an accessible, structured, and multilingual e-learning platform that strengthened expertise on core Customs topics such as trade facilitation, revenue collection, and compliance with international standards. Many Customs administrations lack their own LMS but require a structured way to disseminate national training content.
To address this, WCO piloted a tenant solution within CLiKC!, allowing individual administrations to manage and distribute their own training content without disrupting the core WCO learning environment. Additionally, many Customs officers work in regions with unstable internet connectivity, necessitating a mobile-friendly solution that supports offline learning. The combination of dedicated training spaces and an accessible mobile learning experience ensured that WCO Members could train effectively, regardless of location or infrastructure constraints.
Reducing the workload
WCO needed to efficiently manage two distinct learning audiences, Members accessing CLiKC! and private sector learners purchasing courses through the Academy, within a single LMS ecosystem. The challenge lay in maintaining a structured, secure learning environment for Customs officers, while also ensuring a seamless, intuitive purchasing experience for the private sector and academia.
A major challenge was the administrative workload involved in managing course updates, enrollments, and access rights for both user groups. Without a centralized approach, delivering tailored learning experiences risked becoming inefficient and resource-intensive. Additionally, preventing unnecessary content duplication was essential to maintaining a clear and organized learning environment.
“I encourage customs officers to take advantage of this flexibility found in CLiKC! to learn conveniently and at their own pace. After completing each course and passing a comprehensive test, participants receive a certificate with their names and signed by the WCO Secretary General”.
Senior Customs Officer from an East African Revenue Authority
Monetizing expertise through WCO Academy
For learners from the private sector and academia, WCO needed a seamless and automated purchasing system. Companies had to be able to buy training in bulk, assign seats, and grant instant course access without manual intervention. Automated payment processing and enrollments were critical to eliminating administrative bottlenecks and ensuring a smooth user experience.
To meet these challenges, WCO required an innovative cost-effective solution that ensured uninterrupted learning for Members while creating a scalable, revenue-generating model for the private sector and academia, all within a single, interconnected system.
The solution
To bridge the gap between Member training and selling of training, UP learning developed a sophisticated dual-environment system that seamlessly integrated Totara (CLiKC!) and WordPress-WooCommerce (WCO Academy) into a unified ecosystem. This approach allowed Customs officers to continue their online learning while enabling the private sector and academia to access premium training via a seamless e-commerce experience.
Multi-tenant Totara for WCO Members
For WCO Members, the solution introduced a multi-tenant Totara system, granting different Member administrations dedicated learning spaces while maintaining a unified structure. This provided greater control over training content while ensuring workflow efficiency.
During 2024, a pilot was conducted with one Member administration. The impact was immediate: the number of active learners increased significantly from just 250 to nearly 3,000, showcasing the effectiveness of this scalable approach. Since the launch of the tenant space, 30 online courses were already made available to the learners of the administration.
Due to the increased use of the blended learning approach, the administration expects to save a considerable amount of financial resources on the training budget, as the time required for onsite training will be reduced.
E-Commerce integration for commercial learning
On the commercial side, integrating an e-commerce platform revolutionized WCO’s training delivery to the private sector and academia. Through a WordPress-WooCommerce storefront, courses from Totara could be selectively synced to the WCO Academy’s public catalog, allowing users to browse, purchase, and access training effortlessly. The system supported single-course purchases, bundled learning packages, and subscription models, catering to diverse learning needs. Companies could also buy training in bulk and assign courses to employees at their convenience.
Automated enrollment and payment processing
A crucial element of this solution was automated enrollment and access management. Customers purchasing courses through the WCO Academy were instantly registered in CLiKC! via Single Sign-On (SSO), eliminating manual processing and ensuring immediate course access. Stripe payment integration streamlined transactions, allowing users to register, pay, and begin learning within seconds. At the same time, Academy users had restricted access to CLiKC!, ensuring they could only view and complete the courses they had purchased.
“Investing in knowledge is investing in success. The WCO Academy equips professionals with the expertise to navigate global trade with confidence and compliance.”
Customs and trade compliance consultant
Seamless integration without disruptions
What made this approach particularly effective was its ability to preserve WCO’s learning ecosystem’s integrity. The introduction of e-commerce did not interfere with Member training workflows; instead, it operated as an extension of the existing system, ensuring a seamless experience for both audiences. Members could continue structured learning without disruption, while commercial users benefited from a fully automated, hassle-free learning journey.
Transforming WCO’s digital learning strategy
With this new ecosystem in place, WCO successfully transformed its digital learning strategy. Members gained access to a more scalable and accessible platform, while the commercial Academy unlocked a new revenue stream, enabling WCO to expand its training offerings beyond its traditional audience..
To enhance accessibility, the Totara custom branded app was introduced, enabling Customs officers to continue training even when they are offline. Since its launch, the app has been downloaded 5,043 times.
The result was a future-proof, integrated learning solution that balanced free access for Customs officials with a thriving commercial model for external professionals, positioning WCO as a global leader in Customs training.
Figures
WCO represents 186 Customs administrations, covering 98% of global trade. The number of active users continues to grow significantly year over year.
As of March 2025, the total number of cumulated course completions reached 170,895.
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