Under the framework of the EU-WCO RoO Africa Programme, funded by the European Union, the World Customs Organization (WCO) in partnership with the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) held a sub-regional Training of Trainers workshop on Rules of Origin followed by an accreditation workshop for the CPLP countries. The workshops were held in Lisbon, Portugal, from 5 to 16 May 2025 with the objective to assist the Portuguese speaking community in enhancing its knowledge and application of preferential Rules of Origin and to build a pool of pre-accredited experts.

The workshops were conducted as part of a comprehensive workplan, and partnership established with the CPLP for competency development in a vision to further equip the administrations with dedicated experts to support the WCO, the AfCFTA Secretariat and the continent. The workshops were attended by experts from Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Brazil, Portugal and Timor-Leste.

In her opening remarks, Ms Ana Cristina Trovao, Deputy Director General, Portugal’s Tax and Customs Authority, thanked the WCO and the EU for the special attention with regards to the CPLP, who share a common history, culture and language. She stressed that origin is one of the key pillars for Customs administrations as it has a significant importance both for revenue collection and the application of trade policy measures. She expressed her ambition that this initiative could be expanded to other key Customs work namely the Harmonized System and Valuation.

The workshops provided participants with an opportunity to refine their knowledge of Rules of Origin, while also enhancing their skills in designing and delivering effective training sessions. The workshops offered the participants unique opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of origin-related topics through group and individual presentations, incorporating facilitation and communication skills acquired from WCO experts. The participants were assessed on their technical knowledge, presentation and facilitation skills, communication and advisory skills, overall knowledge on key WCO tools and instruments and their team working capabilities.

At the conclusion of the workshops, the WCO experts offered constructive individual feedback to participants, highlighting areas for improvement and praising their success in applying newly acquired skills to develop training materials and deliver a training session.

Successful participants will be invited to the next stage of the WCO expert accreditation process, an in-field mission. The participants who successfully complete the final accreditation process will be added to the pool of experts and work together with the WCO for the benefit of Members who request technical assistance in Rules of Origin.

For further information please contact EU-WCORoOAfrica.Program@wcoomd.org