Under the framework of the EU-WCO Rules of Origin (RoO) Africa Programme, funded by the European Union, the World Customs Organization (WCO held a national training workshop on rules of origin for Djibouti Customs. The workshop was held from 22 to 25 September 2025 with the objective to assist Djibouti in enhancing its knowledge and application of preferential rules of origin.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Abdourahman Aouad Izzi, Technical Advisor to the General Manager, expressed his appreciation to the EU and the WCO for their continued support. He stressed that rules of origin are crucial to secure, facilitate and promote intra-African trade through creation and strengthening of regional value chains. He urged the participants to internalise the necessary competences and share their experiences in an aim to harmonise the rules of origin management and modernise the Customs administration.
During the workshop, participants worked on key concepts for proper origin determination, related operational and procedural issues, including origin certification and origin irregularities, as well as the establishment of efficient origin management. In addition, participants discussed specific areas of concern, including the low level of knowledge and use of the FTAs and challenges linked to verification of origin including trough administrative cooperation. They also discussed recommendations for better management and implementation of rules of origin on a national and regional level.
Participants engaged actively and greatly appreciated the opportunity given by the workshop to exchange knowledge and experiences and stressed that this training would contribute to trade facilitation as well as fair and efficient revenue collection.
In the margins of the training workshop, the facilitators met with Mr. Gouled Ahmed Youssouf, General Director of Customs, who thanked the WCO and especially the RoO Africa Programme for the assistance provided. He stressed that investing in human resources has helped Djibouti Customs in the modernisation of the administration and welcomed the next steps in the cooperation.
The EU-WCO Rules of Origin Africa Programme will continue its work with Djibouti Customs to equip them with extended knowledge for efficient implementation and application of rules or origin. The next steps in the competency development will cover an advanced training followed by a Training of Trainers on rules of origin.
For further information please contact EU-WCORoOAfrica.Program@wcoomd.org