(7).APEDA has undertaken a number of initiatives to enhance the existing e-Governance system and introduced new online facilities for the benefit of stakeholders. Such as-

• Developed paperless system for application filing, processing and certificate issuance for Organic Certification bodies including renewal of accreditation
• Online processing of Electronic Annual Performance Appraisal Report (e-APAR) for the officials of APEDA was developed and implemented, etc.
• A Farmer Connect Portal has also been set up by APEDA on its website for providing a platform for Farmer Producer Organizations and Farmer Producer Companies to interact with exporters. Over 800 FPOs have been registered on the portal.
• Department of Commerce (DoC) approved the restructuring plan of APEDA. In addition to existing five Regional Offices, five new Regional Offices to be set up at Chandigarh, Chennai, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Lucknow.

APEDA’s vision is to create a world class organization dedicated to promote India as the ”supplier of choice” of agro and value added food products in the global markets.

• Promotion of export-oriented production and development of the Scheduled products. In addition, APEDA has been entrusted with the responsibility to monitor the import of sugar.
• Development of industries relating to the scheduled products for export by way of providing financial assistance or otherwise for undertaking surveys and feasibility studies, participating through subsidy schemes;
• Registration of persons as exporters of the scheduled products and fixing of standards and specifications for the scheduled products for the purpose of export

• Carrying out inspection of meat and meat products in places where such products are kept such as slaughterhouses, processing plants, storage premises, etc. for the purpose of ensuring the quality of the products
• Improving packaging and marketing of the Scheduled products outside India;
• Training in various aspects of the industries connected with the scheduled products.

The organization is responsible to upgrade and expand of agricultural product exports. Thereby, their prime functions consist of providing a solution to all the export-related from the production until packaging and exporting. Essentially begins with promoting in-demand oriented cultivation, following which criteria for the scheduled products are set. Subsequently, the packaging, standards set for quality of the goods, Trade Leads and data for export promotion. Besides this, APEDA provides training, financial assistance in warehousing and product manufacturing.

APEDA Registration is obligatory for every exporter of agriculture commodities. By obtaining Online APEDA Registration, An Exporter Can:

• Obtain agreements on enhancing the packaging and trade of the Scheduled Products to be exported.
• Attend training sessions governed by APEDA in various traits of the industries connected with the Scheduled Products.
• Get enlisted under the Exporters Directory accessible.
• Get brand promotion by advertising and promoting the products with the APEDA registration.

Chairman- Appointed by the Central Government

Director- Appointed by APEDA

Secretary- Appointed by the Central Government

Other Officers and Staff- Appointed by the Authority

Central government lays down the rules and regulation regarding the export of such scheduled products and implements through this body for the efficient administration of APEDA Act. Basmati Rice has been included in the Second Schedule of APEDA Act. In addition to this, APEDA has been entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring the import of sugar as well.
APEDA also functions as the Secretariat to the National Accreditation Board (NAB) for implementation of accreditation of the Certification Bodies under National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) for organic exports. “Organic Products” for export are to be certified only if Produced, Processed and packed as per the standards laid down in the document – "National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP)."

The objective of APEDA is to promote schedule products export and to achieve this various functions has been undertaken by this body under the regulation of central government. Central government lays down the rules and regulation and implements through this body for the efficient administration of APEDA Act. APEDA is mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and development of scheduled products such as Fruits, Vegetable, Meat, Poultry Products. Dairy Products, Confectionery, Biscuits, Bakery Products, Honey, Jaggery and Sugar Products, Cocoa products, chocolates, floriculture Products. Pickles, Papads and Chutneys etc.

APEDA has been actively engaged in the development of markets besides upgradation of infrastructure and quality to promote the export of agro products. In its endeavour to promote agro exports, APEDA, under its Plan Scheme titled ‘Agriculture Export Promotion Scheme of APEDA’ provides financial assistance to the registered exporters under sub-components of the Scheme – Market Development, Infrastructure Development, Quality Development and Transport Assistance.

For registering under APEDA, the applicant should submit the application form within 1 month from the date of undertaking the business. If the exporter of scheduled products fails to register within that time limit due to sufficient cause, such date can be extended only by the Authority. Once the application duly filed and paid by the applicant, the authority will issue Registration -Cum- Membership- Certificate (RCMC). This registration is one-time registration and all the registered members are governed by the rules & regulations under APEDA Act.

RCMC stands for Registration Cum Membership Certificate. It is a membership certificate issued by the Export Promotional Councils (EPCs) or Commodity Boards of India. RCMC is a proof that the exporter is registered with the Export Promotional Council / Commodity Boards. The application for registration under APEDA shall be made within 1 month from the date of undertaking of export.

A person can be registered either as a vendor exporter or as a manufacturing exporter. Any exporter intending to deal with the restricted goods are mandated to obtain the RCMC registration from the Export Promotion Council or the Commodity Board established in line with the products. The Certificate authenticates that an exporter dealing with a certain product is registered with a certain agency or authority authorized by the Government of India.

Every person who is an exporter of Scheduled Products shall obtain APEDA registration. A person can be registered either as a merchant exporter or as a manufacturing exporter.

• ₹ 5000 (exclusive of GST).
• Payment can be made either online (credit/debit cards) or Offline (Demand Draft in favor of APEDA payable in respective cities of APEDA Offices).
• Government fees paid will be refunded by the registering authority in case of refusal of registration.

• Bank A/c statement of the bank account of the firm (for latest 2 months) or Canceled cheque
• Bank Certificate- It is mandatory to obtain Bank Certificate that is duly approved by the concerned authorities. Bank certificate in the prescribed form is needed to support the financial soundness of the applicant.
• Details of registered office, head office and branch office.
• Duly signed and sealed copy of application form.
• Self-certified copy of Import Export Code (IEC) issued by the Director-General of Foreign Trade. Any person or the business type who intends to import or export goods and services from or to India must require an Import Export Code.
• Certified copy of MOA (in case of a company) or partnership deed (in case of partnership firm) or trust deed/Memorandum of Rules & regulations (in case of trust/society).
• Certified copy of MOA (in case of a company) or partnership deed (in case of partnership firm) or trust deed/Memorandum of Rules & regulations (in case of trust/society).
• Details of registration with other Export Promotion Council/Commodity Board, if any.
• Details of the license issued by any sponsoring authority (DGTD, State Director of Industries etc.)
• A PAN is an imperative document for all the businesses or firms, it is mandatory to obtain PAN Number for APEDA Registration.
• List of Products- APEDA does export promotion and development of the scheduled agro products required for APEDA Certificate.

Once all the documents are provided to us online, our experts will work on the application and will get you the APEDA registration certificate. With the objective of simplification of procedures and ease of doing business with effect from 1.8.2015, the issuance of RCMC has been made online using digital signatures.

Since the application for APEDA Registration can be made online, all applicants is required to create an account on APEDA website and fill up the e-form for the same.

APEDA RCMC Registration is valid for 5 Financial Years. After the completion of 5 years, you need to renew your APEDA RCMC certificate. For Merchant exporter:- There will be auto-renewal of RCMC in case of Merchant exporter after making payment of registration fee after five years, no requirement for submission of any document.