From May 19 to 23, 2025, a technical support mission led by the World Customs Organization (WCO) as part of its Integrity Portfolio, was held in Moroni with the General Directorate of Customs of the Union of the Comoros (DGD) and a working group set up as part of the initiative. The working group was made up of twenty contributors, representative of Comorian Customs.

The main objective of this mission was to support the Comorian customs authorities in assessing their integrity approach and in co-constructing a draft national strategy for fighting corruption and promoting integrity, aligned with the ten key factors of the WCO's Revised Arusha Declaration (RAD).

This process was based on a rigorous methodological approach: plenary sessions, participative group work, institutional diagnosis, and consultation with external stakeholders, including the private sector. It enabled to draw up a shared assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the current system, to explore the levers for collective commitment, and to define the outlines of an ambitious and pragmatic roadmap.

Five priorities have emerged:

• Strengthening institutional leadership and governance of customs integrity;
• Preventing corruption risks by analyzing sensitive processes;
• Continuous training and dissemination of a professional culture of integrity;
• The development of mechanisms for detecting and dealing with breaches; and
• Transparency, dialogue with stakeholders and public accountability.

The WCO experts praised the mobilization of the participants, senior managers and focal points of the DGD, the clarity of the strategic vision put forward by the General Management, and the willingness to place this dynamic within a sustainable framework. A structured action plan was launched, accompanied by a monitoring system based on ethical performance indicators.

This process marks a major step in the modernization of the Comorian customs administration, at the crossroads of good governance, tax justice and public confidence.

The success of this approach will now depend on its effective implementation, internal capacity-building and the coordinated support of technical and financial partners committed to the reform of customs governance in the Comoros.

The WCO has committed all its three core functions – standard setting, cooperation, and capacity building – to support its Members in building integrity and fighting corruption. For more information regarding the ongoing work of the WCO in the area of integrity, please contact integrity@wcoomd.org.