A Registration Cum Membership Certificate (RCMC) is a certificate issued by the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) and/or one of the various Export Promotion Councils (EPC) or Commodity Boards – primarily agencies and organizations that work towards the promotion and development of export businesses and are authorized to do so by the Government of India. It is a membership certificate issued for five years and signifies that the holder of the certificate is registered with FIEO/the concerned EPC or Commodity Board. Some of the popular EPCs include apeda, sepc, gjepc, tea board, eepc, and spices board. The applicant of the RCMC has to declare his or her primary line of business while applying for it, and possession of an RCMC entails an exporter to all the benefits and advantages of the respective parent organization.
As an exporter, you have to apply for an RCMC certificate if you are,
Note that an RCMC is applicable even when you plan to export two or more products that fall under different categories and hence different EPCs.
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To apply for an RCMC certificate, you have to submit the duly filled application form ANF 2C to the EPC that pertains to your export product. For example, if you are a tea exporter, you will apply to the Tea Board, while if you are a readymade garments exporter, you will apply to the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC). Broadly, there are two categories of exporters - merchant and manufacturer. To register as a manufacturing exporter, you have to provide proof of your existing manufacturing facility.
This is the general format of the ANF 2C form:
The information required in the form is quite simple:
To find out which EPC/Commodity Board/Authority your product falls under, you can refer to the updated Annexure 2T of the DGFT, which has the list of the EPCs/Boards/Authorities along with their contact details and details of products falling under their jurisdiction. At present, there are 37 such export promotion councils. However, it is possible that the product you choose to export doesn’t fall under a specific existing EPC. In such a case, you have to apply directly to FIEO. In cases where you have multiple products or your stream of business is not yet decided, FIEO can issue the RCMC under its multi-product group category. However, you also have to additionally register with the respective EPCs declaring your lines of business.
For example, APEDA provides facility for exporters to apply online for its RCMC as a part of Ease of doing Business initiative. Members can go on its home page, and click on "Register as Member", fill up a form and submit their documents. APEDA will verify their details and issue the certificate, which the exporter can then download from its website.
Also Read: Documentation Requirements for Exports From India
First and foremost, you have to submit the duly-filled and signed RCMC application form ANF 2C. Apart from the form, you have to furnish self-certified copies of the following documents,
In the case of a service exporter already in business, three years’ services export data certified by the exporter’s Chartered Accountant has to be provided. Proof of payment of membership fee to the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) also has to be provided.
In case the name of the signing authority does not appear in the IEC/MOA/Partnership Deed/Trust Deed, etc., a self-certified copy of the Board Resolution or Power of Attorney issued in favor of the signing authority has to be provided.