Master’s degree1,500 h · Online · 11 modules

Master's in Maritime Customs Management and Trade Compliance

This master's prepares you to manage customs operations and trade compliance in international maritime trade. You will master tariff classification, customs valuation and origin, maritime import, export and transit procedures, international maritime regulation applied to cargo, sanctions and export control, customs duties and VAT, port and logistics compliance and the digitalization of customs with data-driven auditing.

Duration1,500 h
ModeOnline
Start1 December
Modules11
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About the program

What is the Master's in Maritime Customs Management and Trade Compliance?

This master's approaches customs from the operational and compliance side of maritime trade. You will study the actors and flows of seaborne trade, the modern customs function and compliance programs with SOPs and KPIs; the Harmonized System, the General Interpretative Rules and binding rulings; transaction value, adjustments, Incoterms, related-party pricing and transfer pricing; preferential and non-preferential origin, supplier declarations and origin fraud; customs declarations, temporary storage, release, transit, guarantees and special procedures; IMO rules, dangerous goods and port security as they affect cargo; sanctions, party screening, dual-use goods and licenses; duties, import VAT, suspension regimes and free zones; container handling, VGM, multimodal documentation and exception management; and EDI and API integration, rule automation, compliance analytics and audit readiness.

What sets this master's apart: rather than approaching customs mainly from the legal side, it trains you to build defensible files for every customs decision, from a classification record or a valuation file to an origin matrix based on the bill of materials, and to design the controls, procedures and indicators that keep a maritime supply chain compliant; it includes practical workshops in every module; and it closes with a Final Project in which you address a real customs or maritime trade compliance problem.

Program typeMaster’s degree
ModeOnline
Duration1,500 hours
Modules11
Start1 December

Program highlights

  • Tariff classification under the Harmonized System, with documented, traceable decisions and binding rulings strategy.
  • Customs valuation, adjustments, Incoterms and transfer pricing, plus origin rules, preferences and origin fraud prevention.
  • Maritime import, export, transit and special procedures, inspections, discrepancies and customs guarantees.
  • International maritime regulation applied to cargo: dangerous goods, port security and coordination with authorities.
  • Sanctions, party screening, export control of dual-use goods, duties, import VAT and free zones.
  • Port and logistics compliance, digital customs, EDI and API integration and data-driven compliance auditing.
Syllabus

Syllabus of the Master's in Maritime Customs Management and Trade Compliance

11 modules. Select a module to see its content.

Module 1

The global architecture of maritime trade, customs and compliance: actors, flows, risks and operational governance

  • 1.1. The international maritime trade ecosystem: shipping lines, freight forwarders, customs brokers, ship agents, ports and authorities
  • 1.2. The modern customs function: control, facilitation, revenue collection, supply chain security and risk management
  • 1.3. Types of operations: import, export, transit, transshipment, temporary storage and special procedures
  • 1.4. Basic maritime transport documents: bills of lading, sea waybills, manifests, instructions and document traceability
  • 1.5. The compliance model: policies, controls, evidence, internal audit and a reporting culture
  • 1.6. Operational and reputational risk: fraud, penalties, delays, detentions, port demurrage and claims
  • 1.7. Customs data governance: quality, master data, versioning, retention and confidentiality
  • 1.8. The company-authority relationship: inspections, information requests, professional communication and handling of discrepancies
  • 1.9. Design of standard operating procedures (SOPs): flows, roles, approvals, escalation and change control
  • 1.10. Compliance and performance KPIs: OTIF, clearance times, incidents, cost of compliance and risk trends
At this stage
136 hestimated workload
11 wkweeks at your pace
Module 2

Tariff classification and technical product management: HS, interpretative rules and traceable decisions

  • 2.1. The Harmonized System (HS) and tariff structure: sections, chapters, headings and subheadings
  • 2.2. The General Interpretative Rules: method, hierarchy, legal notes and borderline cases
  • 2.3. Technical product description: data sheets, composition, function, materials, process and documentary evidence
  • 2.4. Managing classification decisions: criteria, repository, change control and audit traceability
  • 2.5. Classification of sets, kits and multipurpose products: tariff treatment and typical risks
  • 2.6. Classification of spare parts, consumables and marine components: consistency, series and compatibility
  • 2.7. Classification of software, electronic equipment and communications: boundaries and required technical support
  • 2.8. Binding rulings and inquiries: strategy, file preparation and defensive use
  • 2.9. Discrepancy control: reclassification, financial impact, regularization and prevention of recurrence
  • 2.10. Case workshop: building a classification file with technical evidence and verifiable reasoning
At this stage
136 hestimated workload
11 wkweeks at your pace
Module 3

Customs valuation and price management: methods, adjustments, transfer pricing and supporting evidence

  • 3.1. Customs value: principles, the transaction value method and acceptance requirements
  • 3.2. Value adjustments: freight, insurance, royalties, commissions, packing and related services
  • 3.3. Secondary methods: identical or similar goods, deductive, computed and fallback methods
  • 3.4. Incoterms and valuation: cost allocation, delivery point and document consistency
  • 3.5. Related parties: tests of influence, comparables and defense of the declared value
  • 3.6. Transfer pricing and customs: alignment, risk of double adjustment and tax-customs coordination
  • 3.7. Discounts, rebates and credit notes: treatment, timing and traceability
  • 3.8. Records and evidence: contracts, invoices, proof of payment, insurance policies and logistics documents
  • 3.9. Regularizations and amendments: procedures, calculation, interest and impact control
  • 3.10. Valuation workshop: a complete file with method, adjustments, supporting documents and risk matrix
At this stage
136 hestimated workload
11 wkweeks at your pace
Module 4

Origin of goods and preferences: rules, certification, cumulation and anti-fraud management

  • 4.1. Non-preferential versus preferential origin: objectives, tariff effects and declaration risks
  • 4.2. Rules of origin: wholly obtained goods, substantial transformation, change of tariff heading and value added
  • 4.3. Origin documents: certificates, statements, approved exporter status and control of supporting evidence
  • 4.4. Cumulation, tolerances and lists of insufficient operations: scenario design and limits
  • 4.5. Supplier management: supplier declarations, traceability, audits and updates after production changes
  • 4.6. Proof of origin and verification: requests, deadlines, responses and defense of the file
  • 4.7. Origin fraud and triangulation: patterns, red flags, internal investigation and preventive measures
  • 4.8. Origin in complex supply chains: distributed manufacturing, final assembly and stage-by-stage documentation
  • 4.9. Integration with classification and valuation: consistency across data and consistency checks
  • 4.10. Origin workshop: designing a BOM-origin matrix and a file that can withstand verification
At this stage
136 hestimated workload
11 wkweeks at your pace
Module 5

Maritime customs procedures and declarations: import, export, transit and control

  • 5.1. The customs declaration: structure, minimum data, coding and validations
  • 5.2. Maritime import: advance notice, discharge, temporary storage, release and exit conditions
  • 5.3. Maritime export: exit, evidence, loading control and proof of export
  • 5.4. Transit and transshipment: guarantees, responsibilities, incidents and discharge of the procedure
  • 5.5. Special procedures: customs warehousing, inward and outward processing, temporary admission and end use
  • 5.6. Inspections and controls: documentary, physical, scanning, sampling and management of port dwell times
  • 5.7. Managing discrepancies: surpluses, shortages, damage, mixed consignments and regularization
  • 5.8. Guarantee management: types, calculation, release and optimization of financial cost
  • 5.9. Coordination with terminals and shipping lines: windows, releases, demurrage and operational communication
  • 5.10. Integrated workshop: the end-to-end flow of a maritime clearance with simulated incidents and evidence
At this stage
136 hestimated workload
11 wkweeks at your pace
Module 6

International maritime regulation applied to trade: IMO, safety, security and operational compliance

  • 6.1. The architecture of international maritime regulation: conventions, flag state and port state control
  • 6.2. Safety of life at sea and operations: operational requirements and their effects on cargo transport
  • 6.3. Dangerous goods: classification, segregation, stowage, documentation and responsibilities in maritime transport
  • 6.4. Port safety and security: access control, traceability, inspections and documentary requirements
  • 6.5. Cybersecurity and continuity: risks to logistics data, document integrity and minimum controls
  • 6.6. Crew and operational requirements: impact on schedules, windows and logistics capacity
  • 6.7. Maritime incident management: reporting, evidence, coordination and applicable lessons learned
  • 6.8. Customs-maritime authority interaction: competences, requests and interagency coordination
  • 6.9. Compliance audits and controls: preparation, evidence and handling of nonconformities
  • 6.10. Compliance workshop: an obligations matrix by cargo type and operation with a control plan
At this stage
136 hestimated workload
11 wkweeks at your pace
Module 7

Sanctions, export control and restricted trade: screening, licenses and geopolitical risk management

  • 7.1. The international sanctions framework: lists, measures, jurisdictions and corporate liability
  • 7.2. Party screening: ultimate beneficial owners, intermediaries, shipping lines and risk assessment across the chain
  • 7.3. Export control: dual-use goods, technology, software and operational classification criteria
  • 7.4. Licenses and authorizations: types, processes, lead times and required evidence
  • 7.5. Red flags and prevention: high-risk transshipments, sensitive routes, inconsistent documents and document fraud
  • 7.6. Contracts and compliance clauses: flow-down, audit rights, termination and allocation of responsibilities
  • 7.7. Internal investigation and response: preservation of evidence, communication and remediation
  • 7.8. Incident management and voluntary disclosures: governance, decisions, records and learning
  • 7.9. Sanctions and export control KPIs: false positives, times, incidents and control effectiveness
  • 7.10. Case workshop: designing a screening and response program for an international maritime operation
At this stage
136 hestimated workload
11 wkweeks at your pace
Module 8

Taxation, duties and economic regimes: customs duties, VAT and taxes, exemptions and lawful optimization

  • 8.1. Customs duties and taxes: structure, calculation and taxable bases
  • 8.2. VAT on imports and international transactions: chargeability, deduction, exemptions and evidence
  • 8.3. Suspension regimes and optimization: warehouses, deferrals, guarantees and cash flow planning
  • 8.4. Documentary proof and tax-customs audits: supporting documents, traceability and retention
  • 8.5. Amendments and regularizations: procedures, surcharges, interest and impact control
  • 8.6. Refunds, reimportation and returned goods: treatment and evidence
  • 8.7. Free zones and special areas: operations, requirements and control
  • 8.8. Interaction with accounting and ERP: data integrity, reconciliations and month-end closing
  • 8.9. Total cost of compliance: TCO, resources, automation and efficiency
  • 8.10. Tax workshop: modeling tariff and tax cost scenarios and a document control plan
At this stage
136 hestimated workload
11 wkweeks at your pace
Module 9

Port operations, logistics compliance and document management: integration with terminals, forwarders and the multimodal chain

  • 9.1. Key port processes: gate, yard, terminal operations, cut-offs and congestion management
  • 9.2. Advanced maritime documentation: manifests, ENS/ICS where applicable, instructions and data reconciliation
  • 9.3. Coordination with freight forwarders and agents: responsibilities, SLAs, handovers and incident control
  • 9.4. Container management: VGM, seals, inspections, damage, claims and traceability
  • 9.5. The multimodal chain: document continuity, transshipments, inland transit and time control
  • 9.6. Exception management: holds, inspections, discrepancies, delays and structured resolution
  • 9.7. Logistics compliance: SOPs, segregation of duties, evidence and audits
  • 9.8. Fraud risk management: impersonation, forgery, tampering and preventive controls
  • 9.9. Terminal and clearance KPIs: dwell time, delays, productivity, incidents and cost per case
  • 9.10. Operations workshop: designing the port-customs-customer document and operational flow with a control dashboard
At this stage
136 hestimated workload
11 wkweeks at your pace
Module 10

Customs digitalization and compliance analytics: EDI, integration, automation and data-driven auditing

  • 10.1. Systems architecture: ERP, TMS, WMS, broker and customs integrations and master data quality
  • 10.2. EDI/API and messaging: structure, validations, traceability and error control
  • 10.3. Rule automation: validation engine, exceptions, approvals and auditing of decisions
  • 10.4. Digital document management: repositories, metadata, retention, search and evidence
  • 10.5. Analytics applied to compliance: anomaly detection, risk patterns and prioritization of reviews
  • 10.6. Executive dashboards: KPIs, trends, risk heatmaps and reporting by business unit
  • 10.7. Internal control and testing: sampling, reconciliations, integrity checks and verification of closings
  • 10.8. Preparing for external audits: data rooms, traceability, responses and version control
  • 10.9. Cybersecurity of the document chain: access, traceability, integrity and contingency
  • 10.10. Transformation workshop: designing a customs digital roadmap with use cases, KPIs and an implementation plan
At this stage
136 hestimated workload
11 wkweeks at your pace
Module 11

Final Project

  • 11.1. Choosing the topic and defining the problem to be addressed
  • 11.2. Setting objectives, hypotheses and scope of the work
  • 11.3. Review of the state of the art and the specialized literature
  • 11.4. Analysis of the applicable regulatory and technical framework
  • 11.5. Design of the methodology and work plan
  • 11.6. Collection, processing and validation of data
  • 11.7. Technical development and analysis of results
  • 11.8. Discussion, conclusions and future lines of work
  • 11.9. Writing the final report according to academic standards
  • 11.10. Presentation and defense of the project before an evaluation panel
At this stage
136 hestimated workload
11 wkweeks at your pace
Plan your pace

Duration and format of the Master's in Maritime Customs Management and Trade Compliance

It is 1,500 hours. Tell us how many you can study each week and we will tell you when you will really finish.

4 h30 h
With 12 h per week
29
months to finish
125 weeks
weeks in total

This is the pace at which most students finish. It fits well with the installment plan.

Faculty

Academic leadership and faculty

The Navalis teaching team: working professionals who teach and supervise the programs.

Dra. Marina AlcoverDr. Marina AlcoverAcademic Director and Head of Quality Assurance
Ing. Diego CifuentesEng. Diego CifuentesSenior Lecturer in Naval Welding and Non-Destructive Testing; Head of QA/QC for Welded Joints
Cap. Javier Abaroa (MCA)Capt. Javier Abaroa (MCA)Senior Lecturer in Ship Handling, Electronic Navigation (ECDIS/Radar/ARPA) and GMDSS; STCW Compliance and Bridge Resource Management Coordinator
Dr. Pau FerrerDr. Pau FerrerSenior Lecturer in Naval Architecture and Simulation; Director of the Hydrodynamics and CFD Laboratory
Dra. Nuria LlobregatDr. Nuria LlobregatSenior Lecturer in Marine Meteorology, SAR and Operational Safety; Navigation Risk Management Coordinator
Ing. Javier BañulsEng. Javier BañulsSenior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, Automation and ETO Engineering; Electronic Integration and Engine Alarms Coordinator
Ing. Sofía MarquinaEng. Sofía MarquinaSenior Lecturer in Materials, Composites and Corrosion Protection; Coordinator of the Advanced Paints and Coatings Line
Ing. Tomás RieraEng. Tomás RieraSenior Lecturer in Propulsion, Alternative Energy and Hybrid Systems; Energy Performance and Vibration Coordinator
Objectives

Objectives of the Master's in Maritime Customs Management and Trade Compliance

01Master international customs operations, managing import and export documentation such as bills of lading, packing lists and invoices in line with Incoterms.
02Manage the clearance of goods efficiently, planning cargo, ensuring correct documentation and coordinating transport logistics to minimize waiting times and speed up delivery.
03Optimize logistics in maritime trade, managing loading and discharge according to the characteristics of the cargo while reducing times and the risk of damage or loss.
04Interpret and apply global customs rules, classifying goods, determining customs value and choosing the right customs procedures under international agreements such as those of the WTO to reduce risks and costs.
05Provide strategic advice on international trade, identifying market opportunities and adapting strategy to regulations and geopolitical risks.
06Coordinate foreign trade operations in full compliance with the law, ensuring that customs declarations and supporting documents are completed correctly and submitted to the competent authorities.
Careers

Career opportunities after the Master's in Maritime Customs Management and Trade Compliance

01Customs compliance managerclassification, valuation, origin and customs procedures in importing and exporting companies.
02International trade consultantadvice on customs matters, special procedures and optimization of the international supply chain.
03International logistics managerplanning of maritime transport operations and management of customs documentation.
04Trade risk analystidentification and assessment of customs, sanctions and maritime risks and design of mitigation strategies.
05Operations manager at shipping lines or freight forwardersdocumentation, cargo coordination and control of operations.
06Customs and trade compliance auditorassessment of regulatory compliance and design of improvement plans.
Frequently asked questions

Questions about the Master's in Maritime Customs Management and Trade Compliance

Customs management and trade compliance are at its core, and it integrates the maritime regulations that affect cargo, such as dangerous goods, port security and the coordination between customs and maritime authorities.

It is operational rather than primarily legal: you learn to classify goods, determine customs value and origin, run clearance procedures, screen parties for sanctions and build the controls, files and indicators that make a supply chain compliant.

No. Navalis Institute teaches the subject matter in depth, but customs broker licenses or representative authorizations are granted by the competent authorities in each country under their own requirements.

Foreign trade professionals, customs brokers and freight forwarders, maritime and trade lawyers and consultants, logistics and supply chain managers, and graduates in business, law or international trade.

Online, with flexible access to the materials and practical workshops in every module based on real maritime trade cases.

Through the workshops and case files in each module, such as classification, valuation and origin files or a screening program, and a Final Project addressing a real customs or trade compliance problem.

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Online admission

Admission process

No waiting for a call back. If your documents are in order, you can enroll in the same session.

Entry requirements
  • Profile: a degree in law, economics, business administration, international trade or a related field, or professional experience in the customs, logistics or maritime sector.
  • Language: sufficient command of English to follow the classes and the technical documentation.
  • Technical resources: a computer with camera and microphone, a high-speed internet connection and software for viewing documents and joining videoconferences.
  • Admission: online application, review of your profile and a short interview with the academic team.
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  3. 03
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