All You Need to Know About Spices Board and Spices Board Act, 1986

Tanya Verma

08 Jan, 2021

The Spices Board of India is a flagship regulatory body set up by the Government of India to monitor, develop and promote Indian Spices. The Spices Board works under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. The board acts as a link between the Indian Exporter and the Importers abroad.

About Spices Board

Provided below is the description of the Spices Board as per the Spices Board Act, 1986.

The Central Government constituted a Board called the Spices Board to carry on the purposes of the Spices Board Act.  

The Board consists of such number of members as prescribed by the Act; however, the number of members should not be more than thirty-two. Furthermore, the board consists of the following members;

• Chairman
• Three members of the parliament. Two out of which are appointed by the House of the People {Lok Sabha} and one by the Council of States
• Three members respectively representing the following Ministries of the Central Governments dealing with;
  • Commerce
  • Agriculture
  • Finance
• Six members representing the Growers of Spices
• Eleven members representing the Spice producing States
• Five members, each representing the;
  • Directorate of Cocoa, Areca Nut {Betel Nut or Supari} and Spices Development, Calicut
  • Indian Institute of Packaging, Bombay
  • Central Food Technological and Research Institute, Mysore
  • Regional Research Laboratory, Trivandrum
  • Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasargode
• Other designated members

Major functions of the Spices Board

The following are the significant roles of the Spices Board of India;

• Developing, promoting and regulating the export of spices
• Granting certificate for export of spices and register brokers
• Undertaking programs and projects for the promotion of export of spices
• Assisting and encouraging studies and research for the improvement of process, quality, the technique of packing of spices
• Striving towards stabilizing of prices of spices for export
• Controlling quality of spices for export
• Providing licenses, subject to the prescribed terms and conditions to the manufacturers of spices for export
• Marketing of spices
• Providing warehousing facilities abroad for spices
• Collecting statistics with regard to spices for compilation and publication
• Evolving suitable quality standards and issuing a certificate of quality through “Quality Marking” for spices for export
• Importing spices for sale with taking prior permission from the Central Government
• Advising the Central Government on matters related to the export of spices   

Who needs Spice Board Registration

The following needs to apply for getting the Spice Board Registration;

1. Dealers
2. Importers
3. Exporters
4. Auctioneer
5. Cardamom Estate Owners and Dealers

Also, as per Form A1^[1], that is the “application for issue of license as dealer”. The dealer applying through the aforesaid application form needs to mention the status or type of their entity in the prescribed form. These are as follows;

1. Proprietorship
2. Hindu Joint Family
3. Partnership
4. Private Limited Company
5. Public Limited Company
6. Public Sector {Central Government}
7. Co-operative Society
8. Public Sector {State Government}

Additionally, if the type of your entity is other than the types mentioned above, you are required to specify the type.

Licensing of Cardamom Auctioneer

• Applicants need to submit their applications in prescribed Form A
• Then they need to submit the prescribed fees of Rs. 5000 by Demand Draft in favor of Spices Board. The DD should be drawn on any scheduled bank payable at Ernakulam
• Also, the applicant needs to provide confidential bank certificate in the prescribed format in support of their financial conditions
• A self-certified copy of PAN Card
• Self-certified copy of GST/CST/VAT Certificate
• Passport size photograph of the CEO or Designated officer of your firm

Also, follow the link to know about the documents you would need according to the type of your firm for getting the Cardamom Dealer License. Furthermore, the registered/licensed Cardamom Dealers have to submit their monthly statements in the prescribed form – Form F^[2].

Schedule of Spices Board Act

The schedule of the Spices Board Act contains the names of 52 spices;

1. Cardamom
2. Pepper
3. Chilly
4. Ginger
5. Turmeric
6. Coriander
7. Cumin
8. Fennel
9. Fenugreek
10. Celery
11. Aniseed
12. Bishops weed
13. Caraway
14. Dill
15. Cinnamon
16. Cassia
17. Curry Leaf
18. Kokam
19. Mint
20. Mustard
21. Parsley
22. Pomegranate Seed
23. Saffron
24. Vanilla
25. Tejpatta
26. Pepper Long
27. Star Anise
28. Sweet Flag
29. Greater Galanga
30. Sweet Flag
31. Horse-Radish
32. Caper
33. Clove
34. Asafetida
35. Cambodge
36. Hyssop
37. Juniper Berry
38. Bay leaf
39. Lovage
40. Marjoram
41. Nutmeg
42. Mace
43. Basil
44. Poppy Seed
45. All-Spice
46. Rosemary
47. Sage
48. Savory
49. Thyme
50. Oregano
51. Tarragon
52. Tamarind

And the Schedule of the Spice Board Act, 1987 contains the details of the minimum facilities required for spices and the units processing spice products to qualify for Spice House Certificate related to;

• Processing
• Cleanliness, sanitary and hygienic standards
• Warehousing facilities
• Quality assurance
• Packaging and grading
• Certification requirements

Disclaimer

The Spices Board is the apex and sole body working under the Government of India for the development, promotion, and export of good quality of spices to a foreign land. The Spices Board is responsible for issuing the registrations and licenses and the Certificate of Registration as Exporter of Spices (CRES) under section 11 of the Spice Board Act is one of them.

Read our article: FSSAI Regulatory Standards & FSSAI License Requirement for Spices