Registration Cum Membership Certificate (RCMC) In DGFT

INTRODUCTION 

RCMC (Registration Cum Membership Certificate) in DGFT is a membership certificate issued for 5 years by Export Promotional Councils (EPCs) or Commodity Boards of India. This certificate is issued as a proof that any particular exporter is registered with the council/Board.

FOR WHOM RCMC IS MANDATORY

Any person applying for:

i) An authorization to import/export restricted items or

ii) Any person applying for any benefit or concession under Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) like duty drawback, duty credit scrips etc.

shall be required to furnish or upload on DGFT’s website in the Importer Exporter Profile, the RCMC granted by competent authority as per the procedures laid down by DGFT in this regard.

Certificate of Registration as an Exporter of Spices (CRES) issued by Spices Board and Certificate of Registration as Exporter of coir & coir products issued by the Coir Board shall be treated as Registration-Cum-Membership Certificate (RCMC) for the purposes under this Policy.

UNDER WHICH EXPORT PROMOTIONAL COUNCIL (EPC)/ COMMODITY BOARD THE EXPORTER HAS TO REGISTER?

Export Promotion Councils (EPCs)/Commodity Boards are organizations of exporters, set up with the objective to promote and develop Indian exports. Each Council/Board is responsible for promotion of a particular group of products/ projects/services as given in Appendix 2T of Appendices and Aayat Niryat Forms (AANF). EPCs/Commodity Boards are also eligible to function as Registering Authorities which are notified by DGFT in this regard to issue Registration-cum-Membership Certificate (RCMC) to its members. There are 28 Export promotion councils and 9 commodities board in India.

Each of the Export promotion Councils and commodities board in India categories itself according to the type of products, for example, Council for Leather Exports is responsible to look after the exports of Leather and Leather products. An exporter shall apply to the EPC/Commodity Board according to his main line of business to obtain RCMC. Further, in case the product line of exporter does not fall under any category, then he might apply for RCMC from FIEO. 

HOW TO APPLY 

An application with the concerned Export Promotional Council (EPC) will be filed using the form ANF 2C. The exporter can be registered under two categories; Merchant exporter and Manufacturing Exporter. If an exporter chooses the option of manufacturing exporter, then he will have to submit proof of that.

Further, following points may be useful to the exporter in regard to RCMC registration:

• While applying for RCMC, an exporter has to declare his main line of business. The RCMC should be obtained from the Export Promotional Council, based on the line of business.  e.g. In case an exporter is dealing in coconut, then he will fall under Coconut Development Board and has to apply for RCMC to the same.

• In case an export product is not covered by any mentioned export promotional council/Commodity Board etc, then RCMC in such case shall be obtained from FIEO (Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation).

• In case of multi-product exporters, not registered with any EPC, or where line of business is yet to be settled, then the exporter shall have an option to obtain RCMC from FIEO.
• In the case of multi-product exporters having their head office/ registered office in north-eastern states, RCMC may be obtained from Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotional Council (except for the product looked after by APEDA, Spices Board and Tea board).
• In case of exporters of handicrafts and handloom products from the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Director, Handicrafts, Government of Jammu & Kashmir is authorised to issue Registration Cum Membership Certificates (RCMC).

• Prospective / potential exporters may also, on application, register and become an associate member of an EPC.

COMPLIANCE UNDER RCMC 

Every exporter shall furnish quarterly return/details of his exports of different commodities to concerned registering authority. In case exporter is registered with FIEO, then he shall also send quarterly returns to FIEO in the specified format.

INTIMATION OF CHANGE IN CONSTITUTION OF BUSINESS OF RCMC HOLDER 

In case there is the change in ownership, constitution, name or address of any exporter, the exporter shall intimate that change to the concerned registering authority within one month of the change.

PENALTY FOR VIOLATION 

The Export Promotional Council may de-register the exporter for a specified period for violation of conditions of registration after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard. 

(The author of this article is a Practicing Company Secretary located at New Delhi and can be reached at ankitasinglaandassociates@gmail.com)

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are solely for informational purpose. It does not constitute professional advice or a formal recommendation. No part of this article should be distributed or copied without express written permission of the author.