This project is the first according to its specialty profile in the world, and its category in Azerbaijan. 

In accordance with the international call for project proposals announced under the Erasmus Mundus Design Measures (EMDM) program of the European Commission / European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA),  the project titled Designing an Excellent MA in International Trade, Customs, Logistics and Supply Chain with the best European and International Standards (acronym: Excellent MA ITCLSC), which was submitted by the Academy of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan (ASCCA) to the European Commission (EC) in February 2023, was selected by the EC and awarded an EU grant.

One of the most important criteria in the evaluation of the project proposals by the EC was the fact that the project was completely innovative and justified the creation of a new program that did not exist in Europe and the world until now. 

The Author and Coordinator of the Excellent MA ITCLSC  international project is Mr. Elvin Mejidov, the ASCCA Manager of International Cooperation and Projects.  

The Excellent MA ITCLSC project, which is the first and currently the only project chosen by the EC from Azerbaijan under the EMDM program, is also the first joint, multinational, global academic degree program in the world on Customs and related areas. The program aims to design a two-year master's degree program within 15 months, under the coordination of ASCCA and with the involvement of the professors from  6 countries (Azerbaijan, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Korea, China).

The experts involved in the project represent the Mykolas Romeris University of Lithuania, Rzeszów Law School of the University of Law and Administration in Poland, University of Customs and Finance of Ukraine, Shanghai Customs College under the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Customs Human Resources Development Institute under the Korean Customs Service. The consortium will also cooperate with the International Network of Customs Universities in the indicated areas of activity.

The frameworks to be followed for the creation of this kind of  first master's program  in Azerbaijan and in the world, include the Azerbaijani legislation, mainly the Standards for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes in the European Higher Education Area, World Customs Organization's (WCO) Framework of Principles and Practices on Customs Professionalism, EU Customs Competence Framework ("CustComp") and the EU Standards for Recognition of Customs Academic Programs. Crucially, some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are planned to be mainstreamed and integrated in the program curriculum. 

One of the most important targets of the project is to achieve the accreditation and recognition of the degree program in Azerbaijan, the partner countries involved, a quality assurance agency registered in the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR), and by the EU and the WCO. Despite the existence of a number of dual degree programs in the fields covered by the project, currently there is no international joint degree program recognized by the EU and WCO, adapted to EC and WCO standards, on an international and multilateral scale, in Customs and related fields. As a result of the innovative project activities, the Academy of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan will make an important contribution to the global education and personnel training in the fields of Customs, trade, logistics, and supply chain, both in Europe and in the world.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.