Trade Intelligence — October 2026
Published 2 October 2026 · By Dominique Zuffour
Vanilla and clove export licences just moved online. What Alalana changes before the next campaign.
On 26 September the Ministry of Commerce launched a single digital portal for export agrément applications in Madagascar's two flagship value chains — ending the era of emailed dossiers and July inbox deadlines. Here is what the platform actually does, the obligations it leaves untouched, and how to have your file ready before the campaign notices publish.
26 Sep 2026
Alalana launched
Fenoarivo Atsinanana, Analanjirofo region. Announced by Secretary General Gilchrist Rakotoson for the Ministry of Commerce.
2
Value chains covered first
Vanilla and cloves — two regulated filières, both previously run on emailed dossiers and short filing windows.
3
Administrations connected
DGI (tax), INSTAT (statistics), FINEX. Data is shared between agencies instead of re-requested from you.
21 Sep 2026
eCITES also launched
Electronic CITES permits on ASYUDA World — a separate portal, for a different set of commodities.
The change
What Alalana replaces.
How it worked until now
- Vanilla licence applications emailed to a dedicated address during a filing window of a few days in July.
- Clove authorised-exporter lists assembled by email, with a document checklist and no system to confirm receipt.
- No way to see where your file stood — chasing status meant calling the directorate.
- Scanned attachments and physical documents passed between offices; complete files could be lost or processed late.
- The same tax and statistical certificates attached to every application, re-checked by each administration separately.
How it works from 26 September
- A single online entry point for both value chains — upload the file, submit, track it to a decision.
- Document upload and status tracking replace the inbox: you see where the application sits.
- DGI, INSTAT, and FINEX are interconnected with the platform — verified data moves between administrations on its own.
- End-to-end dematerialisation: fewer physical touchpoints, fewer back-and-forth cycles, an audit trail on every submission.
- Rollout is progressive across operators in both chains; the campaign notices will say when it becomes compulsory.
Stays the same
A new front door, not new rules.
The agrément itself
The Ministry of Commerce remains the competent authority. Alalana processes the application; it does not issue a licence to anyone who would not have qualified under the old process. Approval rates still apply — 18 of 25 vanilla applications were approved in April 2026, one clove company added, 19 new exporters in total.
Currency obligations
Bank domiciliation, repatriation, and sale of export proceeds within Exchange Code deadlines remain the condition of exporter approval — confirmed by the Ministry of Economy and Finance at the launch. The digital trail links your agrément to those obligations more tightly, not less.
Product compliance
CNV verification for vanilla, MAEP phytosanitary certification for food products, quality analysis for buyer specifications — none of it moves into Alalana. The portal handles the export authorisation, not the shipment file.
Inspection and sanctions
Regular inspections continue, with graduated sanctions up to withdrawal of the licence. Digitisation improves traceability — which cuts both ways when a file is defective.
The second portal
eCITES arrived on 21 September. Different commodities, different rules.
Days before Alalana, the government launched electronic CITES permitting on ASYUDA World — moving wildlife-trade permits from paper onto the same customs platform that already runs declarations at Toamasina. If you export rosewood, ebony, orchids, or other CITES-listed species, your permit workflow just moved onto screens as well.
One clarification worth having before someone gives you bad advice: vanilla and cloves are cultivated agricultural crops. They are not CITES-listed species. Vanilla exporters do not file CITES permits and have no reason to touch the eCITES portal. Two launches, ten days apart, covering two different sets of exporters — the confusion is entirely predictable, which is why it is worth stating plainly.
Before the campaign notices
Five things to do while the window is still open.
1
Bring your administrative records current — now
Alalana cross-checks against DGI and INSTAT. That means your tax identity card, NIF, and statistical card must match your Trade Registry entry today, not the week the window opens. Mismatches that were invisible when a human skimmed an emailed PDF become visible immediately in a system-to-system check.
2
Assemble the document set before the campaign notice lands
The previous vanilla window lasted a few days. Files that were complete on day one got through; files assembled under pressure did not. Build the pack now — registration documents, tax and statistical records, banking confirmation, sectoral certificates — so the notice is a submission event, not a scramble.
3
Read the campaign notice the day it publishes
The upcoming official avis for the 2025–2026 vanilla and clove campaigns will state whether Alalana use is mandatory and on what dates. These notices historically appear with little lead time. Watch the Ministry of Commerce channels, and if you work with a transitaire, make that their job for the month.
4
Keep the foreign-exchange chain intact
Domiciliation, repatriation windows, and proceeds sale are unchanged — but they are now visibly attached to your licence file. Confirm your bank arrangements cover the full cycle for the campaign volume you expect, before you apply rather than after your first shipment.
5
Run a dry check with someone who files these
The first campaign on any new platform surfaces edge cases — attachment formats, name mismatches, expired certificates. An hour of review with a forwarder who files export documentation in Madagascar is cheap insurance against a rejection inside a short window. That is the sort of review we do before clients submit.
Questions we get
Alalana — FAQ.
- What is the Alalana platform?
- Alalana is the Ministry of Commerce's digital portal for export licence (agrément) applications in the vanilla and clove value chains. It was launched on 26 September 2026 in Fenoarivo Atsinanana by Secretary General Gilchrist Rakotoson. Applications that previously went to a dedicated email address during a short filing window are now submitted through a single online entry point with document upload and status tracking. The platform interconnects the tax authority (DGI), the statistics institute (INSTAT), and FINEX, so tax and statistical data is shared between administrations instead of re-submitted with every file. It was built by the Digital Governance Unit with funding from the PRODIGY and PIC projects.
- Is Alalana mandatory for the next vanilla export campaign?
- Not confirmed yet. The platform is being deployed progressively across operators in both value chains, and the upcoming official notices for the 2025–2026 vanilla and clove campaigns will state whether portal use becomes compulsory. Until those notices publish, prepare your document set as if it will be — the previous campaign's email window lasted only a few days in July, and files submitted outside it were not processed.
- Does Alalana change the currency repatriation rules for vanilla exporters?
- No. Export approval remains conditioned on an exporter agrément that is itself tied to bank domiciliation, repatriation, and sale of export proceeds within the deadlines of the Malagasy Exchange Code — as the Ministry of Economy and Finance confirmed at the launch. Alalana digitises the application flow; it does not alter the foreign-exchange obligations behind it. If anything, the electronic trail makes compliance easier to verify and harder to overlook.
- What is eCITES, and do vanilla exporters need it?
- eCITES is the electronic CITES permitting system launched on 21 September 2026, built on ASYUDA World. It replaces paper permits for trade in CITES-listed species — timber such as rosewood and ebony, orchids, reptiles, and other regulated wildlife products. Vanilla and cloves are commercially cultivated crops and are not CITES-listed, so vanilla and clove exporters do not use eCITES. It is a separate portal from Alalana, covering a different set of commodities.
- Which documents should I have ready before applying on Alalana?
- The core set: registration in the Trade Registry (RCS), tax identification (NIF), a current tax identity card from the DGI, the INSTAT statistical card, and a bank account designated for export proceeds — DGI and INSTAT records are exactly what the platform cross-checks, so any stale entry stalls the file. Sector-specific pieces follow: MAEP phytosanitary certification for food products, CNV verification for vanilla, quality analysis where buyers require it, and the packing and origin documents your transitaire files with the customs declaration.
First campaign on the new platform? We will walk the file with you before you submit.
Export documentation for Madagascar is what we do every day — licences, phytosanitary certificates, customs declarations, the foreign-exchange chain behind them. Send your document set and we will tell you what is missing before the window opens, not after it closes.