Madagascar Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in madagascar, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Trade Agreements
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Madagascar participates in the following regional and international agreements:

1964: United Nations Convention on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 

1992: IOC – Indian Ocean Commission: Madagascar applies no tariffs on goods originating from IOC countries. The IOC is an inter-governmental organization that includes Comoros, France (La Réunion), Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Seychelles. 

1993: COMESA – Free Trade Area (FTA) was launched on October 31, 2000, with nine member states, and now consists of 21 member states in Eastern and Northern Africa trading on a full duty free and quota free basis. The FTA aims to eliminate customs tariffs and non-tariff barriers to intra-regional trade. The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) is a proposed African free trade agreement between COMESA, Southern African Development Community (SADC), and East African Community (EAC).

1995: World Trade Organization (WTO)

2000: Cotonou Agreement

2005: SADC – SADC offers numerous commercial advantages including access to a market of more than 200 million consumers and preferential tariff treatment amongst members. SADC is an FTA in which Member States agree to remove tariffs against each other but are free to levy their own external tariffs on non-member nations, fosters economic cooperation between Member States. A Customs Union adds a common external tariff against non-SADC countries, with all members of the union receiving shares from that tariff. The SADC Protocol on Trade in Services entered into force in January 2022. Madagascar was yet to ratify the Protocol.

2009: APEi – Interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union – is a cooperation agreement between the European Union and African, Caribbean, and Pacific Ocean countries. The Interim Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Community and its Member States and the Central Africa Party has several benefits for the EU. It provides full duty-free and quota-free market access to the EU for Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) countries. It also reduces duties on EU exports to ESA countries according to an agreed schedule. The agreement also includes rules on fisheries and trade defense as well as a dispute settlement mechanism.

2014: African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) – The U.S. government restored Madagascar’s AGOA eligibility in December 2014 after a five-year gap following a military coup in Madagascar in 2009. Nearly 7,000 items are eligible for exemption from import duties when exported from eligible African countries to the U.S. market. Madagascar is among the largest exporters of textiles and apparel to the United States under AGOA.

December 2024: Madagascar passed legislation to become the 49th country to ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This is an important step to achieving continent-wide free trade for a region that needs it. With the AfCFTA now formally ratified, things may be looking up for the Malagasy people and industries. Where free markets expand, growth follows.

 

 

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