APEDA Registration (RCMC): Who Needs It, Process on DGFT Portal, Fees, Documents, Validity and Renewal

APEDA registration means getting an RCMC (Registration-cum-Membership Certificate) from APEDA if you export any APEDA scheduled product such as fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals, meat, dairy, honey, processed food or floriculture. Since 17 July 2023 you apply online on the DGFT e-RCMC portal after getting an IEC. The fee is Rs 5,000 plus 18 percent GST (Rs 5,900), valid 5 years, renewal also Rs 5,900. A merchant exporter needs the IEC; a manufacturer exporter also needs manufacturing proof such as FSSAI or Udyam. Agrochemicals and fertilisers are not APEDA scheduled products.

APEDA is the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, set up under an Act of Parliament passed in December 1985 that took effect on 13 February 1986. It replaced the Processed Food Export Promotion Council, has its head office in New Delhi, and works through 16 regional offices, as the APEDA About page states.

In plain terms, APEDA is the government body that promotes and regulates the export of a defined list of agricultural and food products. The Act gives it a list of jobs, which the APEDA Farmer Connect page sets out. The ones that matter to an exporter are below.

• Registering exporters of scheduled products, for a fee.
• Setting standards and specifications for scheduled products meant for export.
• Financial help and subsidy schemes for industries making scheduled products, including surveys and feasibility studies.
• Packaging and overseas marketing improvement.
• Inspection of meat and meat products at slaughterhouses, plants and storage.
• Statistics and training for the industry.

APEDA also acts as the secretariat to the National Accreditation Board for organic certification, which is why organic export questions often end up with APEDA. We explain that in a later section.

Yes, for practical purposes. When people say APEDA registration, they mean the Registration-cum-Membership Certificate (RCMC) that APEDA issues to exporters of its scheduled products. The APEDA circular of 21 July 2023 uses the words "RCMC for APEDA scheduled products" and ties it to the IEC from DGFT.

Two other terms get mixed up with it. "Register as a Unit" on the APEDA site refers to a separate iTrack link for units, and "Exporter Status" is a lookup page. The certificate you actually need to export scheduled products is the RCMC. If an agent sells you a separate "APEDA licence", ask them to show you the DGFT e-RCMC application number before you pay anything.

For scheduled products, yes. Section 12(1) of the APEDA Act, as quoted in the APEDA Annual Report 2020-21, says every person exporting one or more scheduled products must apply to the Authority to be registered, within one month of undertaking such an export. For products outside the schedule, APEDA registration is not the route.

The annual report quotes the section in full. It is a legal duty on the exporter, not an optional membership, and the RCMC is also what lets you use APEDA's schemes. If you ship only once or twice, confirm with your customs broker or the APEDA regional office whether your consignment is covered before you ship.

Before You Apply: Match your product's HS code to the APEDA product catalogue and the DGFT list of registering authorities, and confirm which one covers it. Register under the IEC of the firm that actually exports, so check the exporter name on your shipping documents before you start.

The First Schedule of the APEDA Act has 14 heads: fruits, vegetables and products; meat; poultry; dairy; confectionery, biscuits and bakery; honey, jaggery and sugar products; cocoa and chocolates; alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages; cereals; groundnuts, peanuts and walnuts; pickles, papads and chutneys; guar gum; floriculture; and herbal and medicinal plants. Rice sits in the Second Schedule.

The APEDA home page shows the working product groups as cereals, fresh fruits and vegetables, processed foods, animal products, organic products, Indian millets, cashew, groundnut, alcoholic beverages, floriculture and seeds, and GI products. Check your HS code against the current APEDA product catalogue, or the DGFT registering authority list, before you decide where to register.

Rice, including Basmati, sits in the Second Schedule, and rice exporters register with APEDA like other scheduled-product exporters.

Any firm, company, LLP, partnership or sole proprietor that exports an APEDA scheduled product needs one, as a merchant exporter (buys and exports) or as a manufacturer or manufacturer-cum-merchant exporter (makes and exports). You must hold an IEC first. The APEDA circular sets only two requirement sets, one for each type.

The APEDA circular asks for the documents above. Keep the firm name, address and constitution exactly as they appear on your IEC, so the application and the supporting proof match line for line.

A merchant exporter needs only the signed and sealed IEC copy. A manufacturer needs the IEC plus manufacturing proof from the agency listed for the product: FSSAI or Udyam registration for most food products, the Department of Horticulture for floriculture and seeds, and the Excise Commissioner for alcoholic beverages.

These come from the APEDA Registration Procedure PDF. Along with the documents, the DGFT portal needs an active IEC, an updated IEC profile, and a linked digital signature token or Aadhaar e-signature to submit the application, as the DGFT e-RCMC page states. Practical tip: set up the digital signature or Aadhaar e-sign before you start the form, because the application cannot be submitted without it.

Get your IEC, update its profile, log in to the DGFT portal, open Services and e-RCMC, declare your main business, pick APEDA as the registering authority, fill the form, upload the signed and sealed documents, pay the fee online and sign the application with your digital signature or Aadhaar e-sign.

1. Get an IEC from DGFT. The APEDA circular says apply for e-RCMC after getting the IEC. Our IEC guide for agri exporters covers that in full.
2. Update the IEC profile. The DGFT page lists an updated profile as a prerequisite.
3. Link your signing method. A digital signature token or Aadhaar e-signature must be linked.
4. Open the e-RCMC service from the Services menu on dgft.gov.in (the link in the APEDA circular).
5. Declare your mainstream business in the application, as the DGFT page requires.
6. Choose the registering authority. For scheduled agri and food products this is APEDA.
7. Choose merchant or manufacturer and upload the signed and sealed documents listed above.
8. Pay the fee (Rs 5,900 as per the APEDA circular) and submit with your signature.
9. Track and download. The portal lets you apply, renew, amend or view RCMC details. To view details you enter your IEC and at least the first three letters of the firm name.

Confirm the current processing time and product panel code on the APEDA/DGFT portal before you apply. Keep your documents scanned and named clearly (for example IEC-signed.pdf and FSSAI-signed.pdf) so any query from the registering authority can be answered the same day.

The APEDA circular gives an online registration fee of Rs 5,000 plus 18 percent GST (Rs 900), so Rs 5,900 in total, for a certificate valid 5 years. Renewal is the same Rs 5,900. Amendments or modifications after issue are free.

The circular is dated 21 July 2023 and APEDA hosts it as its current Registration Procedure PDF. Check the live DGFT payment screen before you pay, in case a notice has changed the amount. Pay only through the official portal payment screen.

The APEDA circular says validity is 5 years. DGFT states the RCMC is valid for five financial years and is deemed valid from 1 April of the licensing year in which it was issued, ending 31 March, unless stated otherwise. Renew through the same e-RCMC service on DGFT. The renewal fee is Rs 5,900.

Validity is counted in financial years ending 31 March, so note the expiry shown on your certificate and diarise a renewal in the last quarter of validity. The DGFT portal offers four services: apply, renew, amend and view details, so renewal does not mean a fresh application from zero. Changes such as a new address, a new product or a change in the name of the firm go through the amendment service, which carries no fee.

For scale: in 2020-21, before APEDA moved to the DGFT portal, the Annual Report shows 6,888 new RCMCs, 1,840 renewals and 3,987 amendments across its seven regional offices. Keep your details current through the amendment service.

The IEC is a general DGFT code you need to export anything. The APEDA RCMC is a product-specific membership certificate you need on top of it for scheduled agri and food products. You get the IEC first, then use it to apply for the RCMC. One does not replace the other.

The IEC guide has the fees, annual update and the link with GST LUT and bank AD code. For agrochemical exporters, the agrochemical export guide shows the whole document chain.

Register with the body that looks after your product. APEDA covers scheduled agri and food products; the Spices Board covers spices; MPEDA covers seafood; the Tea Board covers tea; and CHEMEXCIL lists agrochemicals in its coverage. DGFT names 26 export promotion councils and 9 commodity boards as registering authorities.

See the Spices Board notification, the MPEDA RCMC page, the Tea Board guideline and the DGFT list of registering authorities. DGFT's application asks you to declare your mainstream business, so choose the authority that fits it. If your range crosses two areas, such as a spice blend with dried herbs, confirm with both authorities which one covers your HS code.

No. Pesticides, agrochemicals and fertilisers are not in the APEDA First Schedule or in the product groups on its website. CHEMEXCIL lists agrochemicals in its coverage. For fertilisers, check the DGFT product panel code list for the council that covers your product before you apply.

The CHEMEXCIL FAQ page says membership of the council is a pre-condition for its RCMC, that an entrance fee is paid once and an annual membership fee is due on 1 April, and that the RCMC is valid five years only if the annual fee is paid every year. It also says RCMC registration is needed if you want government incentives and assistance under the Foreign Trade Policy.

Registration with a council is separate from the product registration your buyer's country asks for. For that, read our posts on pesticide registration by country and Indian agrochemical exporters. If you export agrochemicals, the main sequence is in the agrochemical export guide, not here.

If you export organic food products that fall under APEDA's product groups, yes, you need the RCMC like any other scheduled-product exporter, plus organic certification. APEDA runs the secretariat of the National Accreditation Board for organic certification. Organic inputs such as bio-fertilisers are not APEDA scheduled products.

APEDA's home page has Organic Products as its own group, and the About page says it acts as secretariat to the National Accreditation Board. The certification itself (NPOP versus PGS) is a different process; our post on NPOP and PGS for export buyers explains it. Treat them as two layers: the organic certificate proves how the product was grown, and the RCMC is your right to export it as a scheduled product.

They are four different papers. IEC identifies you as an exporter. APEDA RCMC registers you as an exporter of scheduled products. FSSAI or Udyam can serve as manufacturing proof for the RCMC. A phytosanitary certificate is issued for a consignment of plants or plant products to show it meets the importing country's plant-health rules.

The first three are registrations you hold. A phytosanitary certificate is per shipment. Our phytosanitary certificate guide covers who issues it and how to apply. Here FSSAI matters only as a manufacturing proof that APEDA accepts.

APEDA runs the Agriculture and Processed Foods Export Promotion Scheme, with financial assistance in three areas: export infrastructure, quality development and market development. The RCMC also lets you claim benefits under the Foreign Trade Policy where they apply. The Annual Report 2020-21 lists what each component covers.

The table is summarised from the APEDA Annual Report 2020-21. Check the scheme guidelines on apeda.gov.in for the current year, the subsidy rate and who qualifies before you plan around a benefit.

Most delays trace back to the paperwork: a missing or unsigned IEC copy, an IEC profile that is not updated, no digital signature linked, the wrong exporter type, or manufacturing proof that does not match the product group. The table below shows each mistake and its fix.

If an application is returned, read the message on the portal and fix that one item before you reapply.

Choose merchant exporter if you buy finished goods from others and export them under your own IEC. Choose manufacturer, or manufacturer-cum-merchant, if you make the product yourself, or make some and trade the rest. The choice decides which documents you upload, so match it to the invoices that will go on your shipping bills.

A food processor exporting its own packed products would normally apply as a manufacturer and upload FSSAI or Udyam proof. A trading firm that sources dried or fresh produce from several suppliers applies as a merchant exporter. If your business does both, the manufacturer-cum-merchant option covers it, and later changes of status go through the amendment service at no fee.

Keep five things ready: the active IEC with an updated profile, a signed and sealed IEC copy, manufacturing proof if you make the product, a working digital signature token or Aadhaar e-sign, and an online payment method for Rs 5,900. With these in place the form itself is short.

• Active IEC and updated IEC profile, as the DGFT e-RCMC page lists them as prerequisites.
• Signed and sealed IEC copy as a clear scan.
• Manufacturing proof matching your product group in the table above (manufacturers only).
• Digital signature token or Aadhaar e-sign, linked on the DGFT portal.
• Your HS codes and product list, so you can confirm APEDA is the right registering authority.
• Fee of Rs 5,900 payable online through the portal.

After issue you can amend details at no fee through the e-RCMC service. Use it for a change of address, new product lines or a change in constitution. The portal also lets you view RCMC details using your IEC and the first three letters of the firm name, which is useful when a buyer or a bank asks you to prove registration.

Keep a short checklist after registration: keep a PDF of the certificate with your IEC and GST papers, note the 31 March expiry in your calendar, and update the RCMC whenever the product range changes. For a full export set-up, the next papers are covered in the IEC guide, which also links the RCMC with GST LUT and the bank AD code.

Conclusion

APEDA registration is a one-time, five-year RCMC that every exporter of APEDA scheduled products needs, applied for online on the DGFT portal after the IEC, at Rs 5,900 including GST according to the APEDA circular. Choose the right body for your product, keep the signed and sealed IEC and the right manufacturing proof ready, and diarise the 31 March expiry. If your product is an agrochemical or fertiliser, APEDA is not your route; check the DGFT panel code for the council that covers it.