The Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, or commonly known APEDA, was established in 1985 as per the prescriptions mentioned in the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act of 1985 aimed for the development and the promotion of export of scheduled products. It has been formed to offer financial assistance, guidelines and information concerning the development of scheduled products. These scheduled products have been listed in the aforementioned Act, and the exporters of such products are required to register themselves under the APEDA. In this article, we take a look at APEDA Registration and the essentials surrounding the same.

Objective

The following is te objective of the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority/ APEDA.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority/ APEDA aims to promote the export of scheduled products as per the APEDA Act and the Central Government.

In order to achieve this,  various functions are undertaken under the regulations of the Central Government. The rules and regulations, along with its implementation, is taken care of by the Central Government through the APEDA for efficient administration.

Functions

The APEDA is vested with the following responsibilities.

• Registration of individuals as exporters of scheduled products on the payment of the prescribed fee.
• Development of Scheduled-Products Industries with respect to exports by offering financial assistance along with assistance in conducting surveys and feasibility studies, participation in enquiry capital through joint ventures, other reliefs, and subsidy schemes.
• For the purpose of exports, calibrating the standards and specifications for scheduled products.
• Conducting inspections on meat and meat products in places such as slaughterhouses, processing plants, storage premises, conveyances, including other places where such products are kept/ handled for the purpose of ensuring the standard and quality of the said products.
• Enhancing the marketing scene of scheduled products around the world.
• Enhancing the packaging of scheduled products.
• Promotion of the production and the development of scheduled products in terms of export.
• Training in multiple aspects of the sector that is inter-connected with scheduled products.
• Collection of statistics of production, processing, packaging, marketing and the export of scheduled products. This data would be collected from owners of factories or establishments, or any individual as prescribed on any subject with respect to scheduled products. They could also be obtained from publications and extracts as well.

Products monitored by APEDA

The APEDA is vested with the responsibility for the promotion and development of export of the following products that come under the scheduled products category as per the APEDA Act.

• Meat and meat products
• Fruits, vegetables and their products
• Poultry and poultry products
• Dairy products
• Honey, jaggery and sugar products
• Confectionery, biscuits and bakery products
• Cocoa and its products, including chocolates of every kind.
• Groundnuts, peanuts and walnuts
• Cereal and cereal products
• Pickles, papads and chutneys
• Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages
• Guar gum
• Herbal and medicinal plants
• Floriculture and floriculture products

Along with these products, one of the primary responsibility of the APEDA is to monitor the import of sugar.

Advantages of Registration

APEDA Registration is mandatory when it comes to the export of scheduled products. The following are the advantages of APEDA Registration.

• Exporters may avail various financial assistance schemes under the APEDA.
  APEDA provides rules, regulations and guidelines to exporters on various products as per the concerned country for export.
• The registration enhances the brand and helps exporters in terms of brand publicity through advertisements, packaging development, database upgradation and surveys, and so on.
• APEDA-registered members have the opportunity to participate in training programmes organized and held by APEDA for multiple scheduled products and thereby, bringing constant and significant improvements in their business.

Documents Required

The following documents are required for APEDA Registration.

• Application Form for the APEDA Registration that is completed and duly signed.
• Copy of the Import-Export Code issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.
• Bank Certificate that is duly signed by the concerned authorities.
• Account statement for the last 2 months of the firm’s bank account.
• Cancelled Cheque

Registration Process

The applicant is required to submit an application form to register themselves under APEDA within a month from the date of undertaking the business. In the case where the exporter fails to register themselves in the given timeline with sufficient cause, the timeline could be extended by the concerned authority only.

Once the applicant completed the required forms and pays the requisite fee, the concerned authority will issue a Registration Cum Membership Certificate (RCMC). This is a one-time registration, and the rules and regulations under the APEDA Act govern the registered members.

Online Process

Step 1: Log on to the APEDA webpage to register yourself.

Step 2: Click on the Register as Member tab.

Step 3: Enter necessary details such as Import-Export Code, Email Address and Mobile Number. Then, click on the Submit icon.

Step 4: A One-Time Password/ OTP would be sent on your registered Email Address and the Mobile Number in order to confirm the given details. The same would be required to be entered in the field provided for the same on the verification screen. Click on the Submit icon to continue.

Step 5: Once the verification is done, the online application has to be completed with appropriate information and the essential documents have to be uploaded.

Note: The documents that have to be uploaded must be in the JPEG, PDF or PNG formats only.

Step 5: The online application may be completed in more than one session by visiting the same page with the appropriate OTP. Once the essential information is entered in its respective fields, the form has to be saved. The entered data may be edited until the payment is made online.

Step 6: The registration fee is INR 5000 excluding taxes, and can be made through any of the following modes of payment:

• Credit Card (MasterCard and Visa)
• Debit Card (MasterCard and Visa)
• Demand draft in favour of  APEDA is payable at respective cities.

Step 7: After the payment has been made successfully, an Application Number will be generated. This would be required for future references.

Step 8: On issuance of the RCMC, the login credentials will be sent to your registered Email Address. You may log in into your APEDA account by clicking on the Exporter Login tab that can be found on the APEDA homepage.

Step 9: The status of the RCMC application may be viewed by clicking the Track Application tab, and by submitting the Import-Export Code along with the Application Number.

Step 10: If there are any shortcomings in the submitted application, the exporter will be required to re-submit the application and documents online.

Step 11: The final step is the approval of the RCMC by the APEDA Officials. Once the approval is granted, the Certificate may be obtained using the APEDA portal under the tab of View RCMC Certificate under the RCMC Menu.

NOTE

The following documents are to be submitted along with the application form. It should be noted that the hard copy of any document is NOT required for applying RCMC from the APEDA.

• Self-certified copy of the Import-Export Code issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.
• Bank Certificate that is duly signed by the concerned authorities.
• If you desire to register yourself as a Manufacturer Exporter, you must furnish a self-attested copy of the company registration along with certifications from relevant certification agencies for the following products.