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How to Ship from China to Madagascar

Madagascar is a large island with several commercial ports, but in practice almost everything arrives through one of them. Toamasina, on the east coast, handles the great majority of the country's seaborne trade and nearly all of its containerised imports; the rest is shared among Ehoala, Mahajanga and Toliara.

Two things shape a first shipment here. The BSC cargo tracking note has to be filed before the goods leave origin, and the cyclone season — roughly November to April — affects berthing at Toamasina and the condition of the road inland. Plan around both and the route is straightforward.

An island where almost everything arrives at one port

Madagascar lists a good number of seaports, but only a handful have container facilities that matter commercially, and one of them dominates. Toamasina handles roughly nine tenths of the country's seaborne trade and almost all containerised imports, and it is where your goods will almost certainly be discharged.

That concentration has an upside: the port has a modern container terminal and the customs establishment that handles nearly every declaration. It also has a downside, which is that congestion and weather at Toamasina affect the whole country's supply chain at once.

From Toamasina, goods move inland to Antananarivo and the rest of the island by road, chiefly on the RN2 corridor. That road is the single artery, and it is worth knowing about before you promise a delivery date.

Toamasina, and the handful of ports that share the rest

Toamasina is the default for containers and for most general cargo. Its container terminal is operated by an international terminal group and handles the bulk of the country's box traffic.

Ehoala in the south serves minerals and project cargo, and Mahajanga and Toliara handle regional flows. They are worth using if your cargo is genuinely destined near them — a mining project in the south, for example — but service frequency is lower and you should confirm the call before planning around it.

Air freight into Ivato International Airport near Antananarivo is the fast option, typically quoted at under a fortnight, and it bypasses Toamasina and the RN2 entirely. Express courier handles parcels and documents door to door.

Why the tracking note must predate loading

Madagascar requires a Bordereau de Suivi de Cargaison, usually shortened to BSC, on imports. It is a pre-shipment document: it has to be filed before the goods depart origin, not on arrival, and it is issued by an authorised verification body, normally arranged by your forwarder.

Practically, that means adding it to the same checklist as export clearance in China. It is one more thing that has to be done while the goods are still on your side of the water, and it is the one most often missed by first-time importers here.

ASYCUDA World, GasyNet and the three risk channels

Declarations are filed electronically through ASYCUDA World via the GasyNet portal on behalf of the customs directorate. On filing, the system assigns a risk channel: green means release on the strength of the documents, yellow means a documentary check, and red means a physical inspection.

Which channel you get is partly luck and partly discipline. Most yellow-channel inspections trace back to a mismatch between the invoice, the packing list and the bill of lading, and that is entirely within your control before the vessel sails.

Filing is same-day and standard clearance is quoted at a few business days, with cold chain, pharmaceutical and project cargo taking longer. A licensed broker is not legally mandatory but is strongly recommended, because they manage the channel and the liaison rather than just submitting a form.

The duty code, excise lines, and VAT at 20%

Standard import duty runs roughly 0 to 20 per cent of the CIF value, set by HS code, with most manufactured goods somewhere in the 10 to 20 per cent band. Preferential rates exist under regional and continental arrangements for qualifying origins, and China's least-developed-country zero-tariff treatment took effect from 1 May 2026 for Madagascan exports, which is relevant to your buyer rather than to your import.

VAT is 20 per cent and is applied to the duty-inclusive value — CIF plus customs duty — so it is charged on more than the invoice. Nearly all imports attract it. Excise duties of 5 per cent and upward apply to alcohol, tobacco, vehicles and luxury items, and they vary widely by subcategory.

Work the whole stack out before you quote. Duty plus VAT plus excise plus port and handling is a materially larger number than the duty rate alone.

Getting goods from Toamasina to Antananarivo on the RN2

Once released, goods for the capital and the interior travel the RN2 from Toamasina to Antananarivo. It is the main corridor and the one most inland capacity runs on, so booking inland transport is a real step rather than a formality.

Confirm with your forwarder that they book inland capacity rather than handing the cargo over at the terminal gate. A container released at the port but with no truck arranged starts accruing storage immediately.

Air freight to Ivato sidesteps this entirely if the goods are light, urgent or high value. For anything bulky it is usually not economic.

Cyclone season as a planning variable, not a footnote

Cyclone season runs roughly November to April. Severe weather delays berthing at Toamasina, and heavy rain damage on the RN2 can compress inland road capacity well into the first half of the following year.

The sensible response is to plan booking and inland slots around the season rather than against it. If your cargo has a hard deadline that falls inside the window,ship earlier or use air.

Cargo insurance is worth carrying on this route in any case, and it is inexpensive relative to the value of most shipments.

One-off purchases versus a Malagasy company import

Commercial imports are made by a registered business and, in practice, cleared by a licensed broker. The importer of record has to be identifiable to the administration, and the BSC has to name the right consignee.

Private individuals can import personal effects, and the same documents apply. Where a shipment is declared as personal but is plainly commercial, expect it to be treated as commercial and assessed accordingly.

Several import regimes exist and picking the wrong one is an expensive mistake: standard import, temporary admission, bonded transit, bonded warehousing, and the export processing zone regime. Tell your broker what you are actually doing with the goods — selling them, re-exporting them, storing them — and let them choose.

What your Chinese forwarder covers and what Toamasina requires

In China your forwarder books space, arranges collection and export clearance, issues the bill of lading and applies for the BSC. They also review the commercial documents before sailing, which on this route is where the days are won or lost.

At Toamasina the broker files through GasyNet, manages the risk channel if the declaration is not green, arranges any inspection, and handles the assessment and payment. The importer arranges inland transport and delivery.

What Toamasina requires from you is a document set that agrees with itself. Invoice, packing list and bill of lading with the same consignee, the same values and the same count, plus the BSC and any product certificate.

Three consignments into Madagascar

Building materials, full container, for an Antananarivo contractor. Cement, steel and ceramics, discharged at Toamasina and trucked inland on the RN2. Duty by HS code, VAT at 20 per cent on the duty-inclusive value, inland capacity booked before the container lands.

Mining or project cargo through Ehoala. Heavy or out-of-gauge pieces for a southern site, routed to the port that suits the project rather than the default one, with lifting arranged in advance and the season taken into account.

Pharmaceuticals, air freight, for a distributor. Health permit obtained first, flown to Ivato, cleared with temperature continuity maintained. Air costs more per kilo and removes both the sea wait and the RN2 risk.

Permits: telecoms, pharmaceuticals, food and vehicles

Regulated categories need permits issued in Madagascar before the goods arrive. Pharmaceuticals need a Ministry of Health import permit; chemicals and pesticides need environmental clearance; telecommunications equipment needs approval from the regulator; food products need a health certificate and French labelling; alcohol and tobacco need an excise licence and health certificates; vehicles are subject to age limits and emission standards.

Product certificates sit alongside: phytosanitary certification for food and agricultural products, conformity documentation for electronics and machinery, and safety data sheets for chemicals.

Prohibited items include narcotics and controlled substances, weapons, ammunition and explosives, counterfeit goods and currency, hazardous and toxic waste, and products containing certain ozone-depleting substances.

Counting the days to Toamasina and beyond

Put the pieces together: permit lead time, if any; booking and export clearance in China; the BSC before departure; sea transit commonly quoted at a month or more depending on service and transshipment; clearance of a few business days when the file is clean; and the inland leg on the RN2.

Air freight compresses the transit to days but not the permits. Express courier is the fastest end to end for parcels.

The two things that most often add weeks are a missing BSC and a yellow-channel inspection caused by inconsistent documents. Both are preventable before the vessel sails.

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