Answer
The Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC) is a regional maritime-security cooperation agreement, developed under the auspices of the IMO, mainly to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, particularly piracy originating off Somalia. It was adopted at Djibouti on 29 January 2009.
Signatory States & Observers
Signatory States (20 Nations): Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, France (Reunion), Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, UAE, and Yemen.
Observers: Major international maritime actors participate as observers to support regional maritime security capabilities, including India (since 2020), the European Union (since 2024), Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States
Purpose: Its main purpose is cooperation between participating States in areas such as information sharing, interception of ships suspected of piracy, arrest and prosecution of offenders, development of national legislation, training and regional capacity building. IMO describes its regional counter-piracy framework as being based particularly on legislation, training, capacity building and information sharing.
The Jeddah Amendment (2017): High-level signatory states broadened the scope beyond piracy to tackle wider transnational organized maritime crime and support a sustainable Blue Economy.
The expanded remit under the Jeddah Amendment (DCoC/JA) covers:
Transnational organized maritime crimes (arms trafficking, narcotics, illegal trade in wildlife, crude oil theft, human smuggling/trafficking, and toxic waste dumping).
Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Maritime terrorism.
Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) and capacity building.