Government Registration

APEDA Registration: Is it Necessary for the Export of Agricultural Goods

At present, Agriculture contributes 14 percent to India’s total export and 6 percent to total industrial investment. Also, the agriculture and processed food products industry is all set to move towards the growth and expansion because of the government’s policies. These policies are made to boost the agriculture industry by means of soil health cards, agricultural infrastructure, storage facilities, and irrigation policies.

The term APEDA is the acronym for the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. It is an Export Promotion Council, established in the year 1985 by the Government of India as per the provisions and regulations stated in the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) Act, 1985. The main reason behind its establishment is the development and promotion of the export of scheduled products. Also, it has been started to offer financial assistance, issue guidelines and provide information concerning the progress of scheduled products.

All the exporters of the scheduled products are required to register themselves with APEDA. But, it is significant to note that any person willing to obtain APEDA registration needs to first obtain registration for Import Export Code. Further, the application for APEDA registration shall be made within one month from the date of an undertaking of such export. Furthermore, this registration is a one-time registration process and shall be valid unless the concerned Authority cancels it. In this article, we will be talking about the APEDA registration together with all the essentials concerning it.

The Objective of the APEDA

The ultimate objective of APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) is to promote export of the scheduled products and moreover, to achieve this objective, APEDA has undertaken various functions. Further, the Central government has also laid down various rules and regulations and implements them through this body for the efficient and effective administration of the APEDA Act.

The Concept of Scheduled Products

The APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) established by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is obligated with the responsibility of the export promotion and development of the following scheduled products.

The following list is of the scheduled products mentioned under the First Schedule of the APEDA Act, 1985 –

1. Meat and Meat Products
2. Poultry and Poultry Products
3. Dairy Products
4. Confectionery, Biscuits and Bakery Products
5. Honey, Jaggery and Sugar Products
6. Cocoa and its products
7. All types of Chocolates
8. Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Beverages
9. Cereal and Cereal Products
10. Groundnuts, Peanuts, and Walnuts
11. Pickles, Papads, and Chutneys
12. Guar Gum
13. Floriculture and Floriculture Products
14. Herbal and Medicinal Plants

The following list is of the scheduled products mentioned under the Second Schedule of the APEDA Act, 1985 –

1. Basmati Rice

Benefits of APEDA Registration

Following are the Benefits annexed with the concept of APEDA Registration –

1. Obtaining APEDA Registration is compulsory for doing exports of the scheduled products (agricultural and processed food products).
2. The exporters can make use of the provided APEDA subsidies for the development of export infrastructure, market development, quality development activities after obtaining APEDA Registration.
3. The exporters can easily get updated with the latest export quality standards, infrastructure support, trade fairs, and agri-exchange reports.
4. The exporters will become eligible to attend various training programs organized by the APEDA for skill and business development.
5. Provide guidelines to exporters about the various scheduled products and countries for export.

Major Initiatives taken by the APEDA

APEDA (Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) has taken major initiatives in order to execute Ease of Doing Business in the agricultural exports sector. Following listed, are the four of the major initiatives taken by the APEAD are discussed below –

1. Hortinet – Hortinet is an internet-based integrated traceability scheme developed by APEDA. The main aim behind developing this scheme was to facilitate a farmer to apply online for registering his farm. After that, the concerned farmer is required to again apply online for testing, examination, and certification of Pomegranate, Grape, and Vegetables for export from India to the EU (European Union) in accordance with their prescribed standards. By this means, the exporters are now able to trace the quality and reliability of these products.
2. Basmati.net – Another web-based traceability system developed by APEDA is basmati.net. This is made with the aim of providing a common platform to all stakeholders in the basmati rice supply chain. Such stakeholders include the farmers, paddy traders, agriculture produce markets, basmati rice millers and the basmati rice exporters. Further, they can enter details of their activities, and by way of doing this, the authenticity, reliability, and quality of the end product reaching a consumer both in and outside India is improved.
3. Meat.net – According to the current Export and Import Policy former by the Government of India, each export consignment is subjected to compulsory and mandatory microbiological and other tests conducted by a Government laboratory and has to be accompanied by the Health Certificate. With meat.net, a scheme is developed by APEDA, wherein an exporter can apply for the online Health Certificate for each export consignment of their meat product.
4. Peanut.net – Peanut.net is another integrated traceability system similar to the Basmati and Fortinet. This system was created after the success of the first two traceability systems. Further, it facilitates testing and certification of the peanuts for export from India with the standards prescribed by the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine. Furthermore, this system also stores quality assurance data reported by all the stakeholders in the supply chain.

Functions of APEDA Authorities

Following are the functions or duties of the APEDA Authorities –

1. Promotion of the export-oriented production.
2. Development of the Scheduled products.
3. Prescribing standards and specifications for the scheduled products.
4. Registration of the exporters dealing in the scheduled products after due payment of required fees
5. Improvising the packaging and marketing of the Scheduled Products.
6. Carrying out inspection and examination of the scheduled products for the purpose of ensuring their quality.
7. Providing training in several aspects of the industries related to the scheduled products.
8. Development of the industries relating to the scheduled products, and also undertaking various surveys, feasibility studies, etc.
9. Collection of statistics from various factory or establishment owners and also the publication of such collected statistics.

Documents Required for APEDA Registration

Following listed are the Documents required for obtaining APEDA Registration in India –

1. Duly signed APEDA registration application form
2. Copy of Import Export Code (IEC) issued by the Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
3. Bank Certificate duly signed by the authorities
4. Bank account statement for the latest two months
5. Canceled cheque

Additional Documents Required in case the Exporter is a Manufacturer

S.no	Products	Certification agencies
1	Floriculture and seeds	Department of Horticulture or DIC or SIA or FSSAI
2	Fruits and Vegetables	Department of Agriculture or Horticulture or DIC or SIA or FSSAI
3	Groundnut or Pulses or Guar gum	DIC or SIA or FSSAI or Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum issued by the Ministry of MSME (Micro Small and Medium Enterprises)
4	Processed Fruits and Vegetables, Processed Food Products, Meat products, Cereals preparation, Miscellaneous Preparation	FSSAI
5	Dairy or Poultry or Honey	FSSAI or EIC or EIA
6	Alcoholic Beverage	Department of Excise Commissioner
7	Cereals	DIC / SIA / FSSAI / Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum issued by Ministry of MSME

Important Points concerning APEDA Registration

Following are the points which are important to know before applying for APEDA Registration –

1. In order to obtain APEDA registration, the application shall be made to APEDA (Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Once the concerned application is duly submitted, and the applicant pays the prescribed fee, the concerned authority will grant a Registration-Cum-Membership-Certificate (RCMC). Further, the applicant is required to state his main line of business at the time of making an application for RCMC, so that the same can be referred to the Export Promotion Council or the relevant commodity board concerning that line of business.
2. The application for obtaining APEDA registration shall be made within one month from the date of the undertaking of such export. However, the concerned Authority may for valid a reason extend the said time-limit for obtaining APEDA registration for such period if they find it appropriate.
3. It is significant to note that APEDA registration is a one-time registration and shall be valid unless the same is canceled by the Authority. Also, all the registered members are governed and administered by the rules and regulations provided under the APEDA Act.
4. The central government is the apex controlling authority and has the autonomy to make provisions and regulations relating to prohibition, restriction and also has the controlling power regarding the import or export of the scheduled products. If in case any person found contravening any of the above-stated provisions, he or she shall be liable for imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or fine or both, together with the confiscation and penalty provisions provided under Customs Act.
5. Financial assistance is offered only to the registered members, that too in the form of brand publicity by means of advertisement, development, packaging, consultancy, surveys, and database up-gradation, etc. This is possible only if the concerned business is registered with APEDA.

Online Registration Process

With the aim of simplifying the registration process and ease of doing business, with effect from 1.8.2015, issuance of RCMC (Registration-Cum-Membership-Certificate) has been made online by using digital signatures. Further, the Exporters can submit an online application by following the steps listed below –

1. Log in to the official APEDA Website and then click on “Register as Member” tab
2. Now, enter the required basic details such as the Import Export Code, email ID and registered mobile number and then submit it
3. One Time Password (OTP) for confirming the submitted details will be sent on the applicant’s registered e-mail and mobile number, and then the same is required to be entered on the verification screen. Lastly, after submitting all the required details, click on submit to proceed option.
4. Once verification is complete, fill in the concerned online application and also upload the required documents. Further, it is significant to note that all the documents should be in the JPEG, PDF or PNG formats only.
5. The concerned online application can be completed in one or more sessions by revisiting the website using the allotted OTP. Further, once the information required is entered in the respective fields, save the data. Furthermore, the data entered is allowed to be edited until online payment is not made.
6. The Prescribed Fee for obtaining registration is Rs. 5000/- excluding taxes and can be paid by any of the following modes:
7. Credit Card (MasterCard and Visa)
8. Debit Card (MasterCard and Visa)
9. Demand draft (DD) in favor of “APEDA” payable with respective cities
10. Once the payment process is complete, an application number will be generated. This provided application number is required for future reference.
11. On issuance of RCMC (Registration-Cum-Membership-Certificate), login details will be sent to the registered email address of the exporter. Further, the concerned Exporter can log in to their account by using the “Exporter Login” link provided on the APEDA website.
12. Status of the RCMC (Registration-Cum-Membership-Certificate) application can be viewed by clicking on the “Track Application” link. This will help the exporter to view the status of the concerned application by submitting the import-export code and application number until it is issued.
13. In the case of any shortcoming in the submitted application, the exporter will have to rectify and resubmit the documents online.
14. The last step of the registration process is the approval of RCMC from APEDA (Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) officials. Once the approval is given the Certificate of registration can be taken by using APEDA Login details under the heading of “View RCMC Certificate” under RCMC (Registration-Cum-Membership-Certificate) Menu.