I already work in the industry, me and my colleagues were mandated to enroll and graduate the program. There are a few levels of certification. Consumer; retail; Master. As you go up the ranks the information you learn gets more and more in depth. For instance a master tobacconist must log a certain amount of field and factory hours in order to earn certification. At my level "retail" it serves to give me a more formal schooling in the industry.

As for whether it gives me a "leg up" or bolsters my credibility that's for potential future employers and customers to decide.

I worked in the tobacco industry for a while before taking the classes and I was surprised with how much more information it gave me. The bulk of the work centers around the history of tobacco industry, and the functional process of going from seed to cigar, then it moves on to varietals and so on and so forth. You can read the text book online if you like, the page is a bit clunky but its loaded with information I haven't seen elsewhere.