Vanilla, cocoa, black-eyes (cowpea)... several Malagasy export commodities are directly affected by the tightening of certain MRLs.
From 15 September, vanilla pods exported to Europe will have to have a nicotine content of less than 0.05% ppm per kilo, against 0.3% currently. Vanilla operators have already announced that the impact of this new MRL would be terrible for the sector. "A race against the clock has already begun," says one expert.